I've been a fan since "The Jester Race", so I've pretty much heard it all with these guys. Seriously, IMO it's sad for a longtime fan to watch their (de)evolution. "TJR", "Whoracle", "Colony" and "Clayman" along with the "Subterranean" and "Black-Ash Inheritance" EP's are all very good to excellent. "R2R", "STYE" & "Come Clarity" just have that feel of a band letting modern influences (both musically and commercially) dictate their direction. Sad, sad state of affairs.
Anyway, on to my mini-review cross posted from the Royal Carnage Forum:
Ok, listened to this again and have the following quick thoughts by song:
1. - Take This Life, Good. Modern sounding but catchy and heavy, with a chorus that sucks you in and for once doesn't make Anders' clean vocals sound like total crap (studio magic obviously). But I really like it.
2. - Leeches, Pathetic. Seriously, garbage is more appealing that this turd.
3. - Reflect the Storm, Above Average. Believe it or not, I like Anders' clean vocal parts much better than the growls on this one, but it works and has a nice, escapist feel to it.
4. - Dead End, Average. The female vocals are nice, but doesn't really lift this track up from the doldrums of boredom. I enjoy the guitar melody solo, but other than that it's very forgettable.
5. - Scream, Pathetic. See the "Leeches" comment - Good Lord, it just sounds like it was made up on the spot and recorded in 2 hours or something. No imagination, just noise and filler.
6. - Come Clarity, good. Now this I like. If it wasn't for Anders' horrible clean vocals during the verses, I'd enjoy it tremendously, but those rotten, whiny, toneless verses ruin what could've been a fantastic song. Love the chorus, love the guitars, like the desparate sounding atmosphere.
7. - Vacuum, Above Average. Catchier, more evolved version of the "modern" In Flames sound (which of course doesn't mean much, but a nice little diversion nevertheless). Nice melodious guitar solo.
8. - Pacing Death's Trail, Good. One of the better tracks on the album, this definitely has the old school In Flames sound circa the "Colony" era. Wish more of the tracks showcased this style. Crunchy, melodious and formulaic In Flames the way I like it.
9. - Crawl Through Knives, Above average. Similar in "old school" style to 'Pacing Death's Trail' with another nice, melodious chorus but again drowned out by some pathetic clean vocals from Anders on the bridges before the choruses. When will he ever learn?? Nice otherwise.
10. - Versus Terminus, Average. Heavy hitter, semi-melodious chorus, not much else. No substance, but not horrible either. Pass.
11. - Our Infinite Struggle, Below average. Monotonous, generic sounding melodic death metal followed by a soft "oh look how versataile and evolved we are" solo. Devoid of creativity.
12. - Vanishing Light, Average. Nice energy, but again, just no substance and straightforward. One melody riff repeated ad-nauseum. Might make a nice live song, but nothing I'd want to listen to over and over again.
13. - Your Bedtime Story is Scaring Everyone, Total Crap. I have no idea what the point is of this piano laden, static filled instrumental, but regardless, it does absolutely nothing for me and is an asinine way for such a formulaic band to end their album. Even diehard fanboys must be left scratching their heads, with everyone else just shrugging and moving on.
Final Verdict: 5.5 out of 10 for a few shining moments and some small glimpses into the history of what once was one of my favorite bands. The lack of creativity begs for a cliché ridden summation, so here it is: Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Jason
