Reroute to Remain

Well I myself (and many others) consider this to be In Flames' first bad album. Its no lie either. A new sound is brought into the equation with this one, and a more mainstream approach to the music world seems to be present.

The first track which is the title track is one of the more tolerable songs on the album. The intro is really nice sounding and the verse is rather agressive and bold. Some good leads are also in the package. But the chrous is what makes the song loose some points. "system" and "drifter" aren't anything special. "System" comtains a whiny, soft chorus which isn't exactly pleasing. "Drifter" kind of has a hardcore feel to it in my opinion. But again, nothing special.

"Trigger" and "Cloud Connected" are the two singles of the album. "Trigger" is tolerable to some extent, with a catchy chorus and nice solo. "Cloud Connected" is one of the worst songs on the album. This song clearly opens its arm to radio play, and has some of most annoying clean vocals I have heard in a metal band. The solo however isn't a complete loss.

"Transparent" is fairly decent. Has a bottom-heavy feel to it, which isn't exactly In Flames formula, but its not as bad as it could be. "Dawn of a New Day" has a weird sound and structure to it. Clean vocals all the way through that certainly do not to the song justice. This is almost on the level of poorness as Cloud Connected.

"Egonomic" has some really neat riffs and leads in it. This song is certainly one of the better on the tracklist. It kinda contains that of the classic In Flames sound. "Minus" falls into a similar catagory as Egonomic. Has some good leads, and a great solo towards the end. Even though it does contain clean vocals, they are tolerable. Those are probably the best two songs on the album.

A track I have mixed feelings about it "Dismiss the Cynics". An unusual title, and has a tiny bit of an atmospheric feel to it in some parts. Not a god awful song, but it certainly isn't the best on the album. "Free Fall" is a complete loss. With a horrible sounding intro, and opening vocals that sound like Jonathan Davis. It does contain a short thrashy riff or two at some parts. But its not enough to make up for the extreme poorness of the track.

"Dark Signs" isn't great, but rather tolerable. Has some nice lead work, but not enough goodies to make it really stand out. "Metaphor" is by far the worst In Flames song.....wait......one of the worst songs I have ever heard. Nuff' said. Finally the album ends with " Black and White" which has absolutly nothing special about it, and fails to be a good album closer.

With all this, Reroute To Remain falls very short of what a good melodic death album should be. By the sound, it is obvious that In Flames are heading towards a more mainstream and dare I say...."Nu Metal" direction. With about 4 or so actually good songs out of 14....this one is a moaner.