Sounds of a Playground Fading - In Flames

Having only just gotten into In Flames this was a first for me. I was drawn in by their single "Deliver Us" which is a moody dark song with a very catchy chorus, however it is apparent that this one song is definitely not a song to base the whole album on! Overall the album is vary varied, some parts of the album are brilliant with melodic harmonies and more clean approach from vocalist Anders Friden such as "A New Dawn" and "Fear is Weakness" whereas other songs such as "The Attic" are very obscure. The final track "Liberation" is a dark horse, it has a very strange intro but has a heavy but almost poppy chorus (which is highly catchy and moving at the same time). You can tell that this album has a much more mainstream feel to it and is perhaps a move in a new direction for the band, but this has upset some of the bands more heavy fans who have downplayed the album on the basis of one song ("Deliver Us"). My advice is to listen to it again, there is a whole aspect to grasp with this album, the point is not to be stupendously heavy, the album rides on emotion which is portrayed well through guitar harmonies and Anders' unique vocal style. For fans of more heavier styles maybe stay clear of this one. The production on the album is very good, everything is audible. My only slight grumble on the production side is perhaps they could have record Anders a bit better as he sounds rather raspy in places where I feel there should have been a bit more emotion.

Sounds Of A Playground Fading - In Flames 7/10