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In Flames - The Mirror's Truth review



Reviewer:
N/A

152 users:
6.75
Band: In Flames
Album: The Mirror's Truth
Style: Alternative metal, Gothenburg metal
Release date: March 07, 2008
A review by: Baz Anderson


01. The Mirror's Truth
02. Eraser
03. Tilt
04. Abnegation

So In Flames return after "Come Clarity" and the huge tour that followed a couple of years ago to much anticipation. Anticipation from die-hard fans for their next instalment from the jesters of Gothenburg, and also on the other side anticipation from casual onlookers to see just how bad they have got these days.

"The Mirror's Truth" comes to us one month before the release of the next chapter in the In Flames story in the form of the full-length album "A Sense Of Purpose". This EP contains four tracks totalling not even quarter of an hour. The opening, title track to this CD is also the opening number of the forthcoming full-length but the other three tracks do not make any more appearances than on this teaser of a release.

Everyone knows the direction In Flames have taken in recent times and it would seem generally, people are used to this fact but whenever you come face to face with a cartoonish cover of this nature the only thoughts evoked are those that this band is aiming at the audience Korn did back in the 90's. Musically there is no standout track on this EP but there are no real bad ones either, the four tracks present quite a heavy side to In Flames that many people will be glad to hear. Of course we have our usual In Flames-isms, there is no lack of melody, Anders' distinctive voice is still ever-present as are the guitars and usual song structures that are much the same as they have been for the past few albums.

"The Mirror's Truth" is a nice little release although its main purpose is to draw attention for the full-length that will make its release early next month. This CD is easily accessible for young newcomers and very likeable. You would hope "A Sense Of Purpose" can continue this wave of positivity, but you will just have to wait and see how your expectations compare to the release everyone has their eyes on in a few weeks time.





Written on 06.03.2008 by Member of Staff since 2006


Comments page 2 / 2

Comments: 36   Visited by: 490 users
25.03.2008 - 23:18
ß
Problem?
I don't really consider anything after Clay Man Melodic Death Metal.
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25.03.2008 - 23:31
b0000mst1ck
Written by [user id=31443] on 25.03.2008 at 21:31

in flames was never bad. the sound goes emo??, i think you dont know... they are the best melodic death band ever.

in flames have been far from melodic death metal since clayman. they may have been nu-gothenburg for a few years but come clarity, the mirror's truth, and (soon to be) a sense of purpose should convince anyone that they're now far from that genre, as well. at best, i'd tag them as alternative metal. if carnal forge is considered as such, in flames should be, too. especially since carnal forge's latest is harder than anything in flames has come out with since clayman.
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27.03.2008 - 19:38
muikaslin
Account deleted
gothenburg is a not very old genre, i know everbody is talking about that now. also sonic syndicate is gothenburg, now even in flames. do think in flames wouldn't be melodic death, if there wasn't goethenburg??
of course, the metal got less hard, youre absolutely right. but i dont agree with "melodic death hast to be hard". i like them. i like if people say they are melodic death.., if it makes you happy, i say ok i like goethenburg. but is this true?...
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27.03.2008 - 23:08
b0000mst1ck
Written by [user id=31443] on 27.03.2008 at 19:38

gothenburg is a not very old genre, i know everbody is talking about that now. also sonic syndicate is gothenburg, now even in flames. do think in flames wouldn't be melodic death, if there wasn't goethenburg??
of course, the metal got less hard, youre absolutely right. but i dont agree with "melodic death hast to be hard". i like them. i like if people say they are melodic death.., if it makes you happy, i say ok i like goethenburg. but is this true?...

in flames would be neither MDM or gothenburg, no matter what genres existed at this point. gothenburg is a fairly new genre, yeah, but it's a mixture of all styles of metal, from grindcore to death to thrash to melodic death. bands like mors principium est, fall of serenity, scarpoint, or darkane are gothenburg because they fuse influences from a bunch of selective genres, even metalcore, but they leave the clean vocals aside. it's kind of like the melting pot of metal, or a hybrid, persay.

i really don't think you could dub in flames or sonic syndicate as gothenburg. like i said in my last post, i'd consider in flames to be alternative metal. their sound has reached a point that's comparable to korn or system of a down, as well as their overkill with clean vocals. when speaking about melodic death metal, it has to be heavy, else it wouldn't be "death". if it isn't, it's simply melodic metal. as for sonic syndicate, i consider them to be metalcore...through and through.

i found a thread on MS a while ago about "nu-gothenburg", and how it's a less heavy form of gothenburg. bands like the haunted (rEVOLVEr and on) and soilwork (figure number five and on) fall into that genre, so you could possibly say in flames play that type of metal as well. either way, they're a far cry from true gothenburg IMO.
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28.03.2008 - 23:16
muikaslin
Account deleted
yes, but if you say these bands are gothenburg, or even metalcore". metalcore is a mixture too, punk, metal you know.
i wouldn't put in flames together with system. they are completely different. the drums, the guitars, vocals. everything. the way of playing, genre... but of course both i greath bands. i heard system fours years ago, it was the beginning of listening metal and so on. i wouldn't say they are rock, but more rock than in flames-like

melodic metal sounds nice,
i don't think they are alternative, of courss death has to be hard, but they were and now they got melodic too. if you say hard,. i think you mean the vocals?
sonic syndicate... i agree with the meaning metalcore. if you listen to bullet, youre right. but killswitch or caliban... so different. metalcore is a great genre. but maybe they are a part of it.,

now i have to ask you, do you like in flames? , when not what doyou?
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29.03.2008 - 01:21
b0000mst1ck
i see what you're saying. alternative metal is a wide open genre because it's "alternative". some people on MS would call tool and SoaD alternative metal, but they're both distinctively different and uncomparable. IMO it's only called alternative metal because, when referring to the music, it doesn't fit into any other style.

at this point i'll retract what i said about in flames being alternative metal because i'd have to say they fall into nu-gothenburg more than alternative. the reason being that they used to be considered gothenburg/melodic death metal, then eventually went soft and started taking influences from nu-metal. the same goes for soilwork and the haunted. they kind of created their own sub-genre of gothenburg because they couldn't hang with the big dogs...lol. nonetheless, it makes sense to me.

they may have been melodic death or gothenburg at one time, but they eventually crossed over to a sound that's a lot different. perhaps they're metalcore, or maybe nu-gothenburg. all i know is that they aren't comparable to the typical melodic death/gothenburg you'd find out there. as an example, listen to a sense of purpose, then listen to anything by a band that's tagged as MDM or gothenburg. (i can give you examples if you're interested. just PM me if you want.)

as for metalcore, all of those bands you mentioned have similarities in their music. the endless contrast between growls/screams with clean vocals, the simplistic song-structuring thanks to punk/hardcore, and so on. no matter what, no band will sound exactly like another, but you'll always find aspects of each band that are comparable to others that fall into the same genre.

as for myself, i like anything previous of RTR; colony and clayman being my favorites. i also like STYE a lot. i don't hate in flames, i'm just a critic because i feel there's a difference between a band's sound maturing alongside the musicians, and forcefully changing your sound for more exposure.
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