Clayman

It is pretty easy to get bogged down in pointing out where a band started to go downhill, and truth be told, the thought itself lends itself to a preconceived bias that may or may not actual do justice to a particular album. Nowhere is this more present than in the case of In Flames’ middle era, where theories of when things began to either suck or sellout abound. But the principle target of a lot of the older fan base’s indignation seems to be that of “Clayman”, and like the ones thrown at its two predecessors, the condemnations are both equally accurate and inaccurate. In fact, apart from maybe a slightly larger amount of electronics being employed and a little less acoustic work, the only thing that separates this from “Whoracle” and “Colony” is that it was released right before “Reroute To Remain”.

In defense of this album’s detractors, it is undeniable that Anders Fridén’s vocals have been getting progressively worse, but this album still bears very little resemblance to the emo nonsense that seeped into the band in 2002. The energy level and enticing mixture of elaborate riffs and consonant harmonies is all but exactly at the same level as “Colony”, and the songwriting is equally as formulaic and geared towards easy consumption. The drum work on the part of Daniel Svensson cooks quite nicely and gives the whole album a similar power metal tendency in line with its predecessor. The only real point of contrast that is really of note in the overall character of this album is a somber character that permeates the production, which comes off as more solemn than the semi-chaotic commentary on religion that dominated their 1999 offering.

But putting aside the defensive statements with regards to In Flames’ 5th offering, “Clayman” is a good collection of catchy, highly digestible songs that flirt with the melodic sweetness of middle era Nocturnal Rites, but with a heavier tone than even that of “Afterlife”. The better moments tend to be when the songs stick to cooking at mid-tempo or faster and not getting into quiet ballad sections where Fridén’s whispered and semi-clean vocals flirt heavily with Robb Flynn circa “The Burning Red” territory, but even the quiet sections found in “Bullet Ride” and “Square Nothing” are loaded with enough hook driven guitar melodies to all but offset the revolting narrator. Be it the infectious and utterly brilliant afterburner of a cooker “Clayman”, the slow grooving and depressingly heavy “Only For The Weak”, or the Stratovarius-like anthem “Suburban Me”, the rule of the day with this album is good songwriting and it is consistently upheld with few exceptions.

Opinions may vary, but ultimately this album is equally as worthy of the semi-orthodox tendencies of In Flames as anything else they’ve done since “The Jester Race”, and consistency would demand that this only be condemned for the same reasons as any of those other albums. From my perspective, this is another good example of the compatibility that developed between power metal and Gothenburg which was further explored by a number of Finnish bands, and also Skyfire. Apart from the lackluster vocal performance, which is still caught somewhere between a bad Chuck Schuldiner and a whinny nu-metal approach to screaming, there is very little to complain about, and much to be enjoyed.