In Flames – Sounds of A Playground Fading

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In Flames might be on a new label (moving from Nuclear Blast to Century Media), but as far as Sounds of A Playground Fading is concerned, there’s nothing particularly new to report. Sadly as expected, In Flames continue their shift away from their melodeath roots towards a watered down alternative metal sound, and not really conjuring anything exciting in the process. Moving from death metal to alternative isn’t necessarily bad, as plenty of other bands have proven. However, many of these bands have succeeded because their new sound has allowed them to fully expand their horizons and produce genuinely intriguing music. In Flames, on the other hand, don’t seem capable of making their current sound feel anymore interesting than their classic material. In fact, Sounds… comes across as an alternative mainstream band trying to branch out into melodic death, rather than the other way round. The classic melodeath riffing we’ve come to attribute to In Flames is often present – but the sound of the guitars are so watered down now that it feels suffocated. In the end this sounds like it wants to be a melodeath record, has been produced to be an alternative metal record, and honestly fails at being either.

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Death Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, In Flames