Maximum Metal Rating Legend

I know they've named the style that In Flames plays, but if you aren't familiar with it, "Gothenburg death metal" won't mean anything to you. Basically, it's a blend of total brutality with beautiful melodies and In Flames does it well on this disc.

The lead singer usually sounds like he has laryngitis on his smoker's voice, so you have to be willing accept some fairly harsh singing. Heavily distorted guitars are way up in the mix pounding you in the face like a boxer on crank, but within most songs is a soothing melody chorus played by lead guitar and usually keyboard that is anesthetic to the beating you take from the verses. It's a bit hard to notice when your being pummeled by the initial riffs, but it's there and I think that's why I found the disc to be highly enjoyable.

The songs seem to be only about two subjects--being stuck in life's rut or about being original and making your own path in life. Thankfully, the lyrics were included in the cd booklet. Some of the songs are a bit indistinguishable, but with 14 solid tracks provided, Reroute to Remain paradoxically leaves you satisfied with the beating it dishes out.
I don't know if it's something in the water, but Sweden seems to have a knack for producing some incredibley talented metal bands. One of these is bands is In Flames, a five piece that started in 1990 and has since gone through several lineup changes. Today, In Flames is currently riding a huge wave of popularity among metal fans in the US and across the world. Their latest release is "Reroute to Remain," a bludgeoning disc filled with 14 tracks of amazing riffs, thundering drums and interesting lyrics and vocals.

The guys in this band make no qualms about utilizing their talent and showing it off on their CD's. It's not just your normal power chords hidden behind a wall of effects, it's intelligent, different, unique and original. It's all backed up by some insane speed-demon drumming and a bassline that perfectly fits each and every song. The vocals oftentimes sound like the guy has a frog in his throat but I've heard worse. The vocalist (Anders Friden) proves he can sing on slowed down acoustic tracks like "Dawn of a New Day" and "Metaphor."

It's easy to tell that the band has old school metal influences with their progressive sound. However they haven't completely abandoned all the new technology and sounds that often appear on today's current metal discs. The band incorporates some keyboards and some other effects to give it their own flavor. They even use a cello on "Metaphor."

All in all there's hardly any bad things I can say about this CD. It's a nice change of pace for metalheads and the only thing I regret is not getting into this band sooner. Definitely give this band and this CD a shot.

--Alcohollica 1.21.03