Clayman

In Flames have had a lot of ups and downs over their career, and "Clayman" is definitely an up. I read a lot of the reviews telling people why this album sucks, so here is one saying why it doesn't.

Firstly, Anders Friden's voice works. He has a fantastic death metal vocal sound that goes from a soaring scream to a deep throated growl, with everything in between, often in the same song - a good example of this would be the song "Square Nothing" which also includes some of the only 'clean' singing on the album (unlike their later releases which have a lot more of this evident.)

Musically, the album follows a similar pattern, in that we have hard and fast throughout, interjected with slightly slower elements that pop up every now and then. This, however doesn't detract from the overall pace of the album, and what you have, essentially is a heavy fast paced album that doesn't really let up from start to finish. Right from the get go with the song "Bullet Ride" you get a feel of how the rest of the album is going to shape up. The drumming is fast and relentless, the riffs are pounding and heavy, and the guitar solos hit just the right tone that add the final awesome touch to the sound. I think the best song on this album, which essentiall epitomises the classic In Flames sound has to be the title track. The song Clayman starts off with a driving drum beat, and melodic guitars riffing over the top, with Friden's distinctive guttaral growls kicking in fairly quickly. This doesn't let up the whole track, and at the end you are left with a metal sign raised, and your head banging. You just can't help it!

Incidentally, it was that song, and eventually this album that got me into death metal in the first place, so I have a personal respect for it...

In Flames have done some pretty lame stuff (Soundtrack to your Escape), and I know a lot of metal fans who hate them for this. But as far as an exciting, well paced and musically excellent album goes, you can do a lot worse than Clayman.