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In Flames - A Sense Of Purpose review
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Reviewer:
4.5

936 users:
6.43
Band: In Flames
Album: A Sense Of Purpose
Style: Alternative metal, Gothenburg metal
Release date: April 2008


01. The Mirror's Truth
02. Disconnected
03. Sleepless Again
04. Alias
05. I'm The Highway
06. Delight And Angers
07. Move Through Me
08. The Chosen Pessimist
09. Sober And Irrelevant
10. Condemned
11. Drenched In Fear
12. March To The Shore
13. Eraser [bonus]
14. Tilt [bonus]
15. Abnegation [bonus]

Over the past few years In Flames have been wandering down questionable paths as far as long-time fans are concerned, some abandoned the band completely and the others decided that the new In Flames isn't really all that bad after all, and stuck with them. "A Sense Of Purpose" is a shockingly low blow to the second group of people here as In Flames continue to push towards the twelve-year-old, black dyed fringe bearing individual market - and this time do it in a way that indefinitely is the straw that breaks the camel's back and will not be tolerated by long-running fans.

One month ago "The Mirror's Truth" EP although brandishing a very Korn-esque cover, showed a promising outlook with four heavier, faster and generally better songs. This however has shown to provoke false hope of a good album from the band. Song "The Mirror's Truth" kicks off the album in mediocre form and for about the first minute into "Disconnected" we have that higher tempo and intensity that is frankly one of the only things In Flames do well these days, but just as the once loyal fans of the band will after hearing this, the tempo and attraction the band had runs to the hills to never be seen again.

"I'm The Highway" has a slight kick in it, but generally "A Sense Of Purpose" is an album laden with mediocrity and annoyance. Guitar riffs sound as uninspired as uninspired gets, usually plodding along at some mind-numbingly dull tempo. Anders' vocals are as unique and distinguishable as they always have been, just with an extra edge of whine and angsty teenager thrown in there - lyrics fit the vocal style used, but that is like saying excrement is fitting for a toilet when the audience are hoping for an album of quality, intense modern metal. Both most laughable and representative of In Flames' direction is "The Chosen Pessimist" with its pretentious title, long duration, lyrics that are supposed to be deep and meaningful but come across as plastic and fake, and predictable structure turning up the heaviness towards the end.

So long-time fans will not be impressed with the latest offering of "A Sense Of Purpose", but the direction taken does expose the band even more to the mainstream popular rock and metal scenes. "A Sense Of Purpose" is a very polished album, produced immaculately and sounds very professional - it will be certain to pick up more followers but from a different area to before. Most tracks have melodies running throughout, there is no doubting that In Flames have that charm a band needs in order to acquire a vast following.

With an album of anguish and inner struggles "A Sense Of Purpose" takes on further the direction the band were already taking but just to an extra degree. It has what it takes to become a popular hit among the fringe-wearing community, but for the people who like their metal hard, fast, loud and real, this one is best avoided.





 Written on 26.03.2008 by
Baz Anderson
Member of Staff since 2006
More reviews by Baz Anderson ››

Guest review by
WayTooManyCDs
Rating:
9.4
What a tragedy A Sense Of Purpose is; not because it's hopelessly awful, but because it's been unfairly lambasted for years. Unfortunately, there is no way to correct the damage already done or to change the minds of those who are still mourning the loss of the "Jester Race/Whoracle" era twenty years after the fact, but at least some just dues can finally be given.

Read more ››
published 10.05.2018 | Comments (17)


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Comments: 128   [ 1 ignored ]   Visited by: 895 users
28.03.2008 - 05:46
Rating: 8
+{Jonas}+
I R Serious Cat
Written by Baz Anderson on 27.03.2008 at 19:21

there will always be people that can't hear anything bad said about In Flames but I am pleased there are a good number of other people out there that agree with this opinion,

Well I'm not one of those, I'm not a die hard fan, but I liek In Flames alot.
In my very personal point of view I like this album... I never got into In Flames older stuff, and I really like the "newer" stuff...
I just listened to the album on their MySpace and I liked it. I personally think it's better than Come Clarity, pite "Dead End" and "Take this life" are amazing songs...

And for the first time I disagree with a review of yours my friend.
It's a very personal point of view I guess
----
"Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie

http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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28.03.2008 - 06:03
DoomGuard
hahaha i knew this album was gonna flop...
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28.03.2008 - 07:41
bluemobiusx
Account deleted
The old In Flames fans will be disappointed the new will have to decide, and other than that it's up for you to make up your mind. Here is the deal, don't expect anything like they did 10+ years ago, that's stupid. If they haven't done something like that since then, then they aren't going to now. Second, expect something different. RTR, STTYE, CC, and now ASOP have all had very different sounds. I think it's a little unfair to say In Flames are being mainstream or trying to sell out. I mean...if anybody deserves a little fame don't you think it's the band who has been working their butts off for a better part of two decades now. Jeeze. I mean, these guys are in their mid 30s now. They aren't going to be the angry death metal creating people they were in their youth. Their albums are going to sound more mature and pollished. I personally was a little undecided about the album after one or two listens, but now I'm enjoying it. For some reason it moves me. I feel a connection with the music. Sure I like my really brutal death metal, I like my black metal, I like the raw melodic death metal, and thrash metal, but every now and again you need to realize metal is more than just about being brutal, sometimes its just about having fun too. I feel like I can have some fun with this album. I can sing along with it easily. The guitar melodies are catchy, and the songs seem to connect. Sometimes you just need to let loose and forget trying to be some elitist and enjoy the simpler things. This album is far from a masterpiece, but it's not that bad, definitely does not deserve the 4.5 rating given. I think somewhere in the range of a 7 is about right.
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28.03.2008 - 12:36
Valaskjalf
Account deleted
Written by Guest on 28.03.2008 at 07:41

The old In Flames fans will be disappointed the new will have to decide, and other than that it's up for you to make up your mind. Here is the deal, don't expect anything like they did 10+ years ago, that's stupid. If they haven't done something like that since then, then they aren't going to now. Second, expect something different. RTR, STTYE, CC, and now ASOP have all had very different sounds. I think it's a little unfair to say In Flames are being mainstream or trying to sell out. I mean...if anybody deserves a little fame don't you think it's the band who has been working their butts off for a better part of two decades now. Jeeze. I mean, these guys are in their mid 30s now. They aren't going to be the angry death metal creating people they were in their youth. Their albums are going to sound more mature and pollished. I personally was a little undecided about the album after one or two listens, but now I'm enjoying it. For some reason it moves me. I feel a connection with the music. Sure I like my really brutal death metal, I like my black metal, I like the raw melodic death metal, and thrash metal, but every now and again you need to realize metal is more than just about being brutal, sometimes its just about having fun too. I feel like I can have some fun with this album. I can sing along with it easily. The guitar melodies are catchy, and the songs seem to connect. Sometimes you just need to let loose and forget trying to be some elitist and enjoy the simpler things. This album is far from a masterpiece, but it's not that bad, definitely does not deserve the 4.5 rating given. I think somewhere in the range of a 7 is about right.


dude music doesnt have to sound like this shit to make it "fun". I get "fun" out of listening to good music with credibility and innovation and music that inspires me. Whats fun about listening to a once-great vocalist whining away like some amateurish 18 year old kid with his fringe in his face trying his hand at metal for the first time? NOTHING....and usually i dont give a rats ass if bands are shit - there has to be a balance everyone cant be great but when one of the greats sink like this thats when i get pissed...

...and i know its stupid to get pissed off cozz everyone will just say "in flames changed get over it" yet it still amazes me that 8 years ago they produced something like Clayman with metal anthem after another and now they actually manage to bring out a whole album with like 15 songs which ALL suck. I mean they dont even have ok songs anymore cozz that fucking Anders wont stop doing a Jonathan Davis!

Nothing of In Flames appeals to me anymore..even when the "not so frequent" solos do appear in their songs its spoiled by their atrocious and over-friendlied guitar sounds.

4/10 - Of which all counts towards production so musically its probably 0/10
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28.03.2008 - 14:00
addiction
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.03.2008 at 01:31

Written by Baz Anderson on 27.03.2008 at 19:21

there will always be people that can't hear anything bad said about In Flames but I am pleased there are a good number of other people out there that agree with this opinion, I've never written such a negative review before


Sorry, but it is the in thing to dis In Flames as much as possible. There will always be people that can't hear anything ordinary or good being said about In Flames because that is just not sooo done. This is probably the most mainstream review I have read on this site yet.


i completely agree with Marcel on this one...and to be honest i really dont get why people are surprised by the album at all....this is the 4th!!!! album in this direction they have released...when will people finally get it...it is getting quite annoying...how many albums do you want to accept the fact that In Flames will never be the same again and accept their music the way it is now? dont do comparisons with the past...they are futile...
----
alive in the superunknown
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28.03.2008 - 15:47
Baz Anderson
staff
well that's nice that so many people are showing an opinion here, but I stand by what I put in the review. I don't follow trends of thought or anything like that, I just find this album bland, boring and uninspired. I don't invest much of my normal thought into In Flames, I am not someone with a chip on my shoulder, I just find this a bad album.
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28.03.2008 - 16:42
BlankFile
I agree with the reviewer. For me In Flames doesn´t exist anymore since... well Soundtrack to your escape. Rerout to Remain is still listenable. But from there In Flames only made shity music. The old In Flames are dead. Period.
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28.03.2008 - 19:32
Rating: 3
enumaelis
Agree with BlankFile. RTR still listenable.. but after that...
But I dont agree completely with Baz Anderson... 4'5 for this new one is too much!
At the end of the year I really have the feeling that I listen lots of quite forgettable albums that doesnt have any originality or interest or they are just bad, and I think this is one of the lowest rates I have seen in punctuations in this page. Almost all albums I see here have more than 7, and I as I told, at the end of the year most of the cds I listen stay there like..
"ok.. that album was not bad (but no intention to listen again)".. or "I wont listen again that crap"
So.. what I mean.. I really think the new In Flames' one deserves a lower rating like 2 or 3.
----
http://enumaelis.blogspot.com/
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28.03.2008 - 21:58
Ernis
狼獾
I wonder who the penguin-headed entity with ears/hair tufts is supposed to be that is appearing on the cover art of the band these days....
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28.03.2008 - 22:22
Rating: 3
enumaelis
Written by Guest on 28.03.2008 at 21:46

Written by enumaelis on 28.03.2008 at 19:32

Agree with BlankFile. RTR still listenable.. but after that...
But I dont agree completely with Baz Anderson... 4'5 for this new one is too much!
At the end of the year I really have the feeling that I listen lots of quite forgettable albums that doesnt have any originality or interest or they are just bad, and I think this is one of the lowest rates I have seen in punctuations in this page. Almost all albums I see here have more than 7, and I as I told, at the end of the year most of the cds I listen stay there like..
"ok.. that album was not bad (but no intention to listen again)".. or "I wont listen again that crap"
So.. what I mean.. I really think the new In Flames' one deserves a lower rating like 2 or 3.


I think the reviewer meant to say NEGATIVE 4.5

Well, I thought it was a punctuation of x about 10, so 5 would be passed
----
http://enumaelis.blogspot.com/
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29.03.2008 - 04:55
Rating: 8
+{Jonas}+
I R Serious Cat
Written by Ernis on 28.03.2008 at 21:58

I wonder who the penguin-headed entity with ears/hair tufts is supposed to be that is appearing on the cover art of the band these days....


I've been wondering the same
----
"Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie

http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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29.03.2008 - 12:24
Harlequin
I'm actually wondering how a band that wrote remarcably good lyrics on earlier albums, f.e. the lyrics of Colony impressed me at the time and still do in a way, has dropped to such a low lyrical level.
----
00:40 - Doomface
Mikael Akerfeldt doesn't age like humans do.
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30.03.2008 - 00:50
Rating: 6
Passenger
Lost To Apathy
4.5 is too much, and this coming from someone who liked RTR and STYE. I was actually fooled by the EP, I don't get the logic of leaving the best songs you have out of your new album, but that's In Flames for you these days. The Chosen Pessimist, in particular, is the most flat song I've ever heard, there's NOTHING there, void, complete void of ideas, musicality, attitude. And to think I once thought In Flames would never dissapoint me...
----
You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it ~ Mean Streets
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30.03.2008 - 06:53
Rating: 3
enumaelis
Written by Passenger on 30.03.2008 at 00:50

4.5 is too much, and this coming from someone who liked RTR and STYE. I was actually fooled by the EP, I don't get the logic of leaving the best songs you have out of your new album, but that's In Flames for you these days. The Chosen Pessimist, in particular, is the most flat song I've ever heard, there's NOTHING there, void, complete void of ideas, musicality, attitude. And to think I once thought In Flames would never dissapoint me...

4'5 / 10 is really too much for this album
----
http://enumaelis.blogspot.com/
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30.03.2008 - 12:00
gojko88
The review is shit. If you can't appreciate the newer sound of In Flames, why write a review? That is as if I started writing reviews for all power metal releases, they would all end up around the same mark. This album is fantastic and definitely In Flames' best output in this century. But this album simply isn't meant for those who cannot see beyond the "Kornesque" cover.

All in all, fans got a great album, and haters got nothing
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30.03.2008 - 13:12
Nor
Account deleted
Great review! I thought I'd give this a try, but after the first track I didn't want to listen to the rest.

I don't understand why people seem so desperate to cling to them, there are hundreds of melo-death bands that haven't turned into 13-year-old-girl-emo-wankery.
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30.03.2008 - 19:46
Destryphior
I have to say, music doesn't have to be metal to be good, there's lot's of great non-metal bands. Sadly In Flames isn't one of them. I really like every album till STYE, (which believe it or not is one of my favorite IF albums) the sad part is that Fridens so called singing is getting more and more annoying, ASOP actually gave me a headache. Please In Flames you don't have to go back to doing your old style as long as you get rid of Fridens voice and get some more volume for your instruments, how's 'bout releasing some instrumental versions
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30.03.2008 - 19:49
DragonSlayer
Account deleted
On-the-spot review! In Flames latest offering is absolutely mediocre, with horrible vocals and uninspired riffs. If people are looking for top-notch melodic death metal look no further than Nounema, Insomnium and Dark Tranquillity. IMO, those 3 are the current pinacle of the genre. In Flames? In Flames are just another example of bands that follow the easy path and call it "progress"...
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30.03.2008 - 21:24
Baz Anderson
staff
Written by gojko88 on 30.03.2008 at 12:00

If you can't appreciate the newer sound of In Flames, why write a review?

Nuclear Blast don't send me their albums for the fun of it, now do they? hahaha
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30.03.2008 - 21:34
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
elite
Written by Baz Anderson on 30.03.2008 at 21:24

Written by gojko88 on 30.03.2008 at 12:00

If you can't appreciate the newer sound of In Flames, why write a review?

Nuclear Blast don't send me their albums for the fun of it, now do they? hahaha


I actually agree with you now, hahahha.
I can't understand that people say someone isn't allowed to review an album if they don't appreciate it. What's the point then?
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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31.03.2008 - 05:51
lucideyes
Account deleted
I think the album is great. Not as powerful and creative as their early days but mediocre new In Flames is better then no new In Flames. Enjoy new music even if it might not be as great as past music. Besides, with no new albums there are no new tours. In Flames puts on a great show, especially when they whip out their old, golden songs.

Some of the songs have passion in them, such as "Delight and Angers". You took down "The Chosen Pessimist" and kicked it around, but I think It's awesome that they came out with an epic (long) and quite progressive sounding song. Their songs have been short and I found interesting that they are exploring such things in "The Chosen Pessimist".

4.5 is harsh. That's how I felt at first but after listening to it over 6 times over a few days, I am now totally feeling it.

I would give it a 6.5 right now, but it's still early and that could change for the better or worse as I keep listening to it.
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31.03.2008 - 05:59
lucideyes
Account deleted
IN FLAMES WE TRUST!!!!!
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31.03.2008 - 13:53
Locke
Account deleted
ASOP = audible rape
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31.03.2008 - 18:43
Ahto
I totally agree with the review!
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01.04.2008 - 09:04
reload3591
I couldn't agree more, it's a 4.5. I loved RRTR and STYE, and I was at first a little skeptical of Come Clarity, but it grew on me. The new album is unlistenable. It's not metal, it's not In Flames, it's...I don't know what it is. If they could just go back a little bit to when they were still fast and aggressive (and hungry), they would have me again (ala Take This Life / F(r)iend).
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02.04.2008 - 03:06
SlaytallicA
Lycanthropy
F*ck! How In Flames got this level? Can they go any deeper?
----
One Pound Of Flesh, No More No Less, No Cartilage, No Bones, But Only Flesh...
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03.04.2008 - 12:48
Spyroid
Rosetta Stoned
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 26.03.2008 at 20:43

Well, IMO that's always better than yet another song about being true to metal, slaying dragons and rescuing princess (which of course is even more fake and plastic)


What is so fake with singing about dragonslaying and metal-loving? You mean Rhapsody aren't dedicated? Common - they've even made up a saga about which they are singing, do you think that they actually hate that and only do it to get fans or something?
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03.04.2008 - 12:58
Lethologica
As most of you, I found this album very uninspired and boring. Of course I didn't expect something different, we know that they have changed their style and I don't think that its bad. It is much better than sticking closely to something and not progressing/evolving as a band. I liked RRTR, STYE and Come clarity. But this just couldn't grow on me. And I will agree with the person that told about the lyrics. There's one actually that made me laugh: "I feel like shit, but at least I feel something"

Anyway, the album disappointed me and I agree with most of the things the reviewer mentioned.
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03.04.2008 - 23:00
MetalManic
I like how the metalstorm reviews accurately emphasize the decline of this once mighty band. At the same time, 'In Flames' are heavliy promoted on the MS main page. Ironic. The $ keeps things running I guess
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04.04.2008 - 10:15
Herzebeth
I agree with the Review...

I saw it coming since their last albums I even reviewed one...but people started spitting on my knees then....
----
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