In Flames - Come Clarity (Ferret Records)

When I found out about In Flames’ switch to Ferret I was surprised, to say the least. Are they really lacking that much street cred? Apparently not, because In Flames isn’t doing too bad at home. They walked away with the Swedish Grammy’s Exportation award, being the first metal band to ever do so. I was really doubting their future direction following Soundtrack to Your Escape. Melodic metal done bad gets you in Fred Durst territory. Come Clarity, however, gets back to what caused today’s parade of cookie cutter metalcore bands to rip them off in the first place. The choruses are catchy as ever, synth leads still pop up out of nowhere, acoustic guitars fit their way in the arrangements and the leads still get harmonized to Iron Maiden-esque metal finger proportions. I still feel like the Ferret influence is apparent in the Derek Hess sketches and track five, “Scream,” the Throwdown b-side. Listening to Come Clarity is like stumbling upon an Ikea after wandering for days in the frozen wastelands of the Swedish tundra. This is In Flames bringing out their a-game once again. Production is slick, although I would still prefer Studio Fredman to Bergstrand’s work.

– Tyler Moore