### In Flames: Reroute to remain

#### 26/10/02 || Lord K Philipson

Back in the early 90´s I dated this chick who turned out to be my life´s best fucken mistake. Not many good things came out of that 6 months extravagant trip in heaven, but one of the few good things that really came out was myself writing a damn good album that never got released and the fact that she turned me into In Flames.

Well, it´s no longer the early 90´s but I still date chicks by default and still have interest in In Flames, though I might add that their “Clayman” album didn´t really make me cum in my pants. Neither did the chick I mentioned a sec ago (I came everywhere BUT the pants to make a short story…eh…shorter), but that´s another topic.

Fuck you. I drift away from the topic as much as I want.

I always dug the style of In Flames. For most of the time they always keep me interested in what they´ll come up with next. Melodic metal doesn´t get much better than this nowadays. Just bear in mind the bands they have spawned lately… Soilwork, who I personally think are not that interesting and.. then we have… more bands. Look them up yourself, I have better things to do. So what does In Flames have to offer this time around? Not much new, not that I would want them to change anyways. This is a very solid album which beats the fuck out of “Clayman” for sure. Lots of hooks and memorable riffing which is as natural with In Flames as the beard in my face. And Anders vocals are definitely better than ever on this one. The clean vocals are ace, the sound is ace, all of the songs are not ace, but most of them are. I was in the studio visiting these brothers as they were laying down the basstracks for the album and already back then it sounded very promising. After hearing the completed version over 20 times now I must say I´m satisfied with the result. I usually crave alot more Dark Funeral in my shit, but this is an effort they can stand proud of.

In Flames probably have some of their fastest shit ever on this album, maybe it´s due to playing with Slayer and Slipknot, among others, during the past year or so? We know Slayer did the trick for Entombed when it comes to that.

In Flames are known for always releasing quality-albums and this is no different to the rule. We have the semi-brutality, the oh-so well-known In Flames-trademarks, aka the melodies, that made them famous (you will never have me believeing their success is due to the bassplaying, wee…). The first time I listened to this album I had a feeling it would grow on me after a few listens, and ofcourse I was right.

This is what you´d expect from In Flames, a solid metal album that won´t dissapoint anyone who ever were into them before. Or anyone into melodic quality-metal for that matter. In Flames still are the undisputed champions of the melodic Gothenburg scene. Though Dark Tranquillity is giving them a run for their mummy nowadays…

I know I gave DT´s new album a 7 and a half rating… I´ll give this one the same score actually. ” – But you said that In Flames were still the champions bla bla…”.

Yeah, I also said “fuck you” earlier in this review. In Flames always released quality-albums, DT did not, that´s what I base my opinion on.

I should have stuck to the “fuck you” part only and skipped the explanation, that would have looked more metal. Ok, forget you read that.

Fuck you.

There we go.

7,5/10

- Information
- Released: 2002
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Website: www.inflames.com
- Band
- Björn Gelotte: guitars
- Daniel Svensson: drums
- Peter Iwers: bass
- Jesper Strömblad: guitars
- Anders Fridén: vocals

- Tracklist
- 01. Reroute To Remain
- 02. System
- 03. Drifter
- 04. Trigger
- 05. Cloud Connected
- 06. Transparent
- 07. Dawn Of A New Day
- 08. Egonomic
- 09. Minus
- 10. Dismiss The Cynics
- 11. Free Fall
- 12. Dark Signs
- 13. Metaphor
- 14. Black & White