In Flames - Reroute To Remain Review
Contents |
General Information
Original Author: Steve25
Artist: In Flames
Album: Reroute To Remain
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Year: 2002
Tracklist
1. Reroute To Remain
2. System
3. Drifter
4. Trigger
5. Cloud Connected
6. Transparent
7. Dawn of a New Day
8. Egonomic
9. Minus
10. Dismiss the Cynics
11. Free Fall
12. Dark Signs
13. Metaphor
14. Black & White
Introduction to the album
Many have said that In Flames took a huge risk with Reroute To Remain, and they are probably right too. However some risks are worth taking and after the success of this album i don't think they will regret it. Sure In Flames did lose a fair few fans who loved their old sound however they gained manly new fans who fell in love with the style they produced from Reroute To Remain.
If you are a fan of In Flames old stuff but not into their newer sound then this album probably won't be for you. Personally i have liked almost everything that In Flames have produced and this album certainly didn't let me down.
Main Sound
(9/10)
Reroute To Remain moves away from Clayman a little bit especially where the "melodies" are concerned. You feel that In Flames decided that they wanted to concentrate a bit more on guitar riffs instead. A perfect example of that would be Cloud Connected off of this album. However that doesn't mean that they were completely taken out. In Flames still use guitar solos etc. This may put some people off if you're not really into heavy metal riffs but they haven't gone too far in the opposite direction. The vocals fit perfectly in each of the songs and in my opinion the drumming has got even better from their previous album Clayman. With 14 tracks which are all great to listen to you'll have your ears occupied for a while. I like this album because it always seems like something different is always happening in each of their songs. I do tend to get fed up with listening to metal songs where bands just seem to do very similar songs. You can tel lthat In Flames really put a lot of thought into their songs. They even put in little fine details that really give the songs a boost.
Guitar sound
(8/10)
Guitar work is different then Clayman however this doesn't mean that it is bad. I have given 8 for this because there isn't as much lead work in this album which i really did enjoy on the Clayman album. When i was told that it was more rhythm work than solo i was kind of worrying that it wouldn't be much good but i was pleasantly surprised to hear that it still sounded great. The guitar riffs in this album are great they really fit the music and set the mood of the song very well. And the solos they do are still great. But it is the rhythm playing that catches your attention the most rather than the solos i found.
Vocals
(10/10)
Anders Friden has a great voice for metal and it fits perfectly for this album. It really adds to the mood, is powerful and well controlled i think. I find a lot of the time vocals in metal sound like they don't really belong there. Or at worst they sound like it's just random screaming. The vocals deffinatly go with the music and he knows when to scream and when not to. He has a great voice either screaming, rough or singing. For me the most noticeable songs for vocaling was Free Fall, Metaphor and Cloud Connected.
Overall
(9/10)
This album is great and although i don't think it is their best it is certainly a good addition to my metal collection and i still regularly listen to this album. The music all fits together perfectly i can't think of one moment in the album which i really didn't like the sound of. As said before fans of In Flames older music may not like this but if you've perhaps heard tracks off of Soundtrack and liked it this shares a similar sort of style to that. I can't see an awful lot wrong with this but some may be put off by In Flames preferring to use more riffs than melodies in their guitar work. However if you're a fan of both i think you'll be very satisfied here. You can tell this album took a lot of effort it shows in pretty much all of their songs. Just listen to the recommended tracks below to see what i'm talking about.
Recommended Tracks: Cloud Connected, Free Fall and Minus
