Album Review. In Flames - I, The Mask (2019)

When in 2010 the main composer Jesper Strömblad left In Flames, fans put a cross on band. And to be honest, I was surprised that guys are still playing, because I thought that “A Sense of Purpose” is their latest album. But they work, perform, and even created their own fest in their native lands.

In terms of creativity, In Flames had serious problems, starting with a change of composer links and ending with strange experiments with the vocals of Anders Friden. After listening to Siren Charms (2014), I was disappointed. Naturally, following the group' discography was noticeable that guys move away from melodic death metal to more mainstream currents, and this is depressing. And “Siren Charms” in general turned out to be the most slurred and unsure work from all that these Swedish musicians did.

Studio work “I, The Mask” seems to ignore “Battles” of 2016 and continues tradition of the above material. Only this time, guys gathered, stopped suffering from musical impotence and gave out something really worthwhile. Everyone was hoping for a comeback, but they made it clear to us that the second “The Jester Race” would not happen.

Friden praised studiotape in all interviews, as if he were the best thing In Flames had done in his entire career. And so, listen to the song "Voices":

When the singles came out, I kicked up. Comparing with the last material presented to us, these compositions inspired melancholy about the past. In the first songs “I, The Mask” there is aggression, Anders growling, even guitar riffs became much smoother, fatter and more interesting. Damn, under this music I want to go crazy and shake my head.

Conventionally, tracklist can be safely divided in two. The first half is an energy beating right into the nerves, the second is a snotty and beautiful melancholy with the hated of a frontman clean vocal. But here I want to correct myself. I liked both the music and the manner of Friden singing. This voiceless man began to gradually pull out the his parts, sometimes it's sounds bad, but the general canvas without serious splinters. Here I highlight “Follow Me”, “(This Is Our) House” and “All The Pain”.

In addition to alt-modern reefs and the inherent guitar melody of In Flames, worthy of respect that guys for solo accompaniment and acoustic moments that I love so much in their early work. In general, it was interesting to listen to "I, The Mask". A studiotape can't be called bad, just turn it on, listen and try to abstract from all that guys did before.

And in the end one of the best tracks in my opinion on the whole record. Enjoy listening: