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User
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Last Active 01-10-23 6:34 pm
Joined 10-27-13
Review Comments 33,875
| What 𝟏𝟓 Years of In Flames Does to a MFer
Over the course of the last few weeks I felt the need to listen to this extensive discography once again. My tastes still evolve all the time and I've become a lot more charitable and true to my heart, especially over the last year. In Flames was, together with System of A Down and Nightwish, one of the three foundational metal bands of my youth which shaped my taste for heavy music. I'm still a massive fan of all three of those bands and I feel grateful that I can still enjoy pretty much all my childhood favorites to this very day without resorting to disingenuous excuses like calling shit guilty pleasures or whatever. Having established that, it's pretty self-evident that this will be a very positively-slanted list. I do like most of their releases to some degree, yes even the more recent ones. | | 1 |  | In Flames
Whoracle
5/5
Packed from front to back with bangers and timeless dual guitar harmonies, this shit is the absolute peak of folk-tinged melodic death metal.
fav track: Jester Script Transfigured | | 2 |  | In Flames
Colony
5/5
Their most effortlessly brilliant album. Everything just flows on here, it's over in an instant and you want to spin this glorious thing again.
fav track: no standouts, all bangers | | 3 |  | In Flames
Clayman
4.5/5
The last album of their classic era. Actually not quite sure where to put this one. All of these are immense earworms but the simplification continues from Colony and makes some of these tracks feel a bit one-dimensional in comparison. Still one hell of an album, flows like hot butter, catchy as all fuck. Also might have the best production of their career on this album, still sounds crisp as fuck to this day.
fav track: no standouts, all bangers [2] | | 4 |  | In Flames
Come Clarity
4.5/5
Their best of the post clayman era, just tons of absolute ragers on this thing. Possibly also the most mainstream recognition they got here with Take This Life appearing on Guitar Hero 3. Good for them. I love this album despite its minor inconsistencies.
fav track: Crawl Through Knives | | 5 |  | In Flames
Reroute to Remain
4.5/5
Only brought down by its production, every track on here is a banger. Incredibly nostalgic jam, still vividly remember farming raptors in Guild Wars for literal weeks while jamming this.
fav track: Free Fall (an earworm for the ages) | | 6 |  | In Flames
Used & Abused...In Live We Trust
4.5/5
Quintessential mid era live DVD. Honestly might be the best way to experience the tracks from Soundtrack To Your Escape, the energy levels were cracked all the way up at this show. It just fucking goes fam! | | 7 |  | In Flames
A Sense of Purpose
4/5
Definitely their most unique sounding album of the 00s, the melodies on here feel distinct. Enjoying this more every time I jam it, even 14 years after release. The Chosen Pessimist being a standout here as an experimental attempt that really worked out well (unlike Wallflower). Further of note might be that this was the first In Flames album I experienced the release of, so I would naturally feel some special kind of nostalgia for it.
fav track: I am the Highway | | 8 |  | In Flames
Sounds of a Playground Fading
4/5
I once returned home from a raging drinking party the next morning. On the way home I put on this album and felt its essence with every fiber of my being, tears streaming down my face. Having had one of my most memorable experiences with music with this, I’ve got a huge amount of emotional memory tied up here. Fantastic effort even this late in their career, its best attribute might be the flawless sequencing, it's a very diverse album, flows like butter.
fav track: Where The Dead Ships Dwell | | 9 |  | In Flames
The Jester Race
4/5
A logical development coming from Lunar Strain & Subterranean. The folk parts have been retained but are now directly integrated into the song structures instead of often being relegated to their own tracks (some might’ve called those interludes or even derisively, filler). This development would culminate in the perfection of whoracle.
fav track: December Flower | | 10 |  | In Flames
Lunar Strain
4/5
After all these years, this album still sounds surprisingly punchy. I really dig all the folk flourishes and interludes here, they aged really gracefully. Definitely the best debut out of the classic Swedish mdm bands.
fav track: Dreamscape | | 11 |  | In Flames
Subterranean
4/5
Same amount of quality on here as they had on Lunar Strain, but with more straight up bangers and less folky elements.
fav track: The Inborn Lifeless | | 12 |  | In Flames
Sounds From The Heart Of Gothenburg
4/5
This is definitely their best official live DVD release in terms of production and sound. I'm still of the opinion that the newer songs work better in a live environment than on disc. Proof of them still retaining a high level of quality in the 2010s when it comes to live performances. | | 13 |  | In Flames
Soundtrack to Your Escape
3.5/5
Almost pains me to put this so low comparatively. I see this as some sort of prototype album for Come Clarity, a lot of the metalcore elements are already present here but the production is decidedly weaker, more on RtR levels, guitar tone is kinda grating and the songwriting is less varied. Still some standouts here, Devil In My Closet feels like a successful precursor to The Chosen Pessimist, for example. Definitely some classic In Flames bangers on here but this is probably my least favorite 00s In Flames album, it just feels a little too internally derivative.
fav track: Superhero of the Computer Rage | | 14 |  | In Flames
The Mirror's Truth
3.5/5
Don’t have quite the same amount of nostalgia attached to the tracks on here as I have for the ones on its mother album, but this is definitely on the same level of quality.
fav track: Eraser | | 15 |  | In Flames
The Tokyo Showdown
3.5/5
The "classic" live album, sound quality is alright but very bassy and "low register" (no idea what the technical term for that would be, I'm no sound engineer) which can make this a duller experience than it could've been. Look out for little musical easter eggs like the Raining Blood riff in their Scorn performance. | | 16 |  | In Flames
I, the Mask (Arcade Version)
3/5
Improves on the original album by making the melodies actually fit with the style of music. I don’t hate Anders' vocals as much as some others tend to, but I can’t deny that this makes a good case for why he could keep it down low a bit more sometimes. | | 17 |  | In Flames
Siren Charms
3/5
Perfectly fine album. Although this definitely marks their downfall into mediocrity, the record still does enough right and different to stand out from the rest of the pack to warrant repeated listens.
fav track: When the World Explodes | | 18 |  | In Flames
I, the Mask
2.5/5
Opens with a couple of strong tracks but devolves into similar territories of mediocrity in the second half which had already plagued Battles. An improvement, but fails to reach the “good” status.
fav track. I Am Above | | 19 |  | In Flames
Battles
2/5
This album won't offend me unless I pay attention to the lyrics, it's mostly passable and catchy alt metal that can be enjoyed passively but that's it. The only track that truly stands out is Save Me, which feels like a hold-over from SoaPF in places, minus the awful lyrics. Oh yeah, production on this also kinda sucks.
fav track: The End | | 20 |  | In Flames
Down, Wicked and No Good
1.5/5
I don't mind their cover of Wicked Game (they did stay pretty close to the sound of the original and that song is obviously amazing, so, fair) but the other three covers are pretty bad, definitely a low point in their discography, if not THE low point. | |
Flugmorph
03.01.22 | Dedicated to Funeralopolis, In Flames was his favorite band m/ | Kusangii
03.01.22 | Poggers | CottonSalad
03.01.22 | Glad to see some love for 6 - got me into a lot of their material when I was just discovering melodeath | Flugmorph
03.01.22 | hell yeah cotton, essential IF stuff right there m/ o7 | alamo
03.01.22 | nice querido | Josh D.
03.01.22 | seeing TJR so low, I am pulling out my gun | bgillesp
03.01.22 | 9 is 1 and 7 is 2, but overall a nice ranking | JDubb
03.01.22 | Hell yes. m/ | hangth3dj
03.01.22 | Also one of my favourite ever bands. Came in somewhere around the Clayman/RtR era but I've pretty much abandoned them ever since Siren Charms.
I would bump Jester Race up and Sense of Purpose significantly down, but other than that a pretty solid ranking.
| InFlamesWeThrash666
03.01.22 | Always nice to see some fanboism for this band. Nice ranking birdman
Got my ticket to see them like 3 years ago and still nothing. They never rescheduled that tour | wojodta
03.01.22 | Surprisingly, I agree with almost this entire list. I'd have 7 in the top 5 and Lunar Strain at the bottom though. | Flugmorph
03.01.22 | "7 is 2"
well bgillesp, at least i respect that take m/
@InFlamesWeThrash666 keep on hoping mate, it'll happen eventually m/
@wojodta hell yeah fam m/, wonder why lunar strain would be so low for you though | Storm In A Teacup
03.01.22 | I realized last week that Siren Charns is actually a 3.5 or a 4 to me. Crazy. | Flugmorph
03.01.22 | you go champ, maybe I'll be there one day aswell | wojodta
03.01.22 | Lunar is so different from their other albums and it just never clicked with me. It's not terrible. I just think it's kinda boring. I'd rather listen to Battles or Siren Charms than Lunar.
I used to hate Siren Charms, but it's risen to ok. I still think it's one of their worst, but it's decent enough. | TheTripP
03.01.22 | Good ranking, other than that beautiful 9 is indeed a 1. | Storm In A Teacup
03.02.22 | It's easy to say Siren Charms is in the bottom half tier of In Flames albums but it has some very consistent back to back to back great songs which incredibly seperates it from being compared to the rest of the bottom half of their discog. | ToSmokMuzyki
03.02.22 | bruh theres so much passion here i cant even complain 10/10 perfect list | Flugmorph
03.02.22 | :3 thanks smok | rockarollacola
03.02.22 | Whoracle is definitely #1 | Dedes
03.02.22 | Colony and Come Clarity are most certainly my favorites but man were they on a hot streak.
Tbh I think the only record they ever had that was downright somewhat bad would be Soundtrack to Your Escape. Felt like there were some very awkwardly integrated numetal elements on it. | Flugmorph
03.02.22 | interesting take, you think soundtracks is worse than their last three records? | Flugmorph
02.10.23 | Forgone would be my new #10 here probably. | DarkSideOfLucca
02.10.23 | 9 is 1 dawg cmon now
but 1 and 2 are 2 and 3 | Flugmorph
02.10.23 | jester race low key overrated | DarkSideOfLucca
02.10.23 | Flug ur mom overrated, high key | Flugmorph
02.10.23 | ouch | DarkSideOfLucca
02.11.23 | Oh damn bump, sorry for ending it on that note lmfao
ur mom gr8 | Flugmorph
02.11.23 | yaaay, thanks lucca ♥️ | Flugmorph
11.28.23 | still probably the best list on sputnikmusic.com | Zac124
11.28.23 | Completely agree with your description of 19. Drained is pretty good though and Wallflower is actually quite catchy despite its flaws. It was my first In Flames album and my opinion on it has only ever declined lol. Weirdly nostalgic though so I find a passive listen somewhat enjoyable. 9 at 9 is quite the take. |
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