{"id":76438,"date":"2019-02-26T13:00:08","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=76438"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:25:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T13:25:05","slug":"review-in-flames-i-the-mask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-in-flames-i-the-mask\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: In Flames &#8211; I, The Mask"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-76439\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-30x30.jpg 30w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/In-Flames-I-The-Mask-Artwork.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Bursting onto the scene way back in 1990, <strong>In Flames<\/strong> were one of the big players in the Swedish death metal scene. By the time \u2018<em>Soundtrack to Your Escape<\/em>\u2019 was released in 2004, they had largely left the pure metal sound behind, embracing the alt-rock elements, which have coloured their music since. New album \u2018<em>I, The Mask<\/em>\u2019 takes a step back and is a solid slice of accessible metal, perhaps not their most adventurous work, but with plenty to enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>Returning producer Howard Benson helps keep the songs rounded and fleshed out, giving the record a familiar overall sound. It bites in the right places, accentuating the delicious crunchy guitar tones favoured by Bj\u00f6rn Gelotte and Niclas Engelin. Again, Anders Frid\u00e9n worked with a vocal coach and, while you still miss the sharp snarl of his earlier days, his singing voice is better this time around, mostly avoiding the awkwardness of recent albums. Despite fairly simple lyrics, the presentation is heartfelt, but he doesn\u2019t always choose the greatest melodies, working best when he mixes together his various styles.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"IN FLAMES - I, The Mask (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x0sujFluBlE?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Kicking the record off in style, the opening suite feels inspired and powerful with forays into death metal territory. The title track and \u2018<em>I Am Above<\/em>\u2019 are gloriously old school, full of twisting riffs and aggressive vocals. Sadly, after such a formidable start, it\u2019s a shame they can\u2019t sustain the momentum and the midsection is dragged down by the drab \u2018<em>In This Life<\/em>\u2019. Wisely, it\u2019s followed by the much heavier \u2018<em>Burn<\/em>\u2019 which grabs desperately at the sound of their early days, although it doesn\u2019t quite grasp it.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, closing tracks \u2018<em>All the Pain<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018<em>Stay With Me<\/em>\u2019 recapture the earlier magic. Throwing in an array of sharp ideas and great refrains that guide the album to a suitably epic conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>So, while flashes of brilliance crackle through \u2018<em>I, the Mask<\/em>\u2019 overall it is a fairly safe outing. Good, but you know they can do better.<\/p>\n<p>3\/5<\/p>\n<p>\u2018<em>I, The Mask<\/em>\u2019 by <strong>In Flames<\/strong> is released on 1st March on <strong>Nuclear Blast Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In Flames<\/strong> links:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.inflames.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/inflames\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/inflames_swe|\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/inflames\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ian Kenworthy (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhisperingSand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@WhisperingSand<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;a solid slice of accessible metal, perhaps not their most adventurous work, but with plenty to enjoy&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":76439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,16618,15621,551,209],"class_list":["post-76438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-i-the-mask","tag-ian-kenworthy","tag-in-flames","tag-nuclear-blast-records"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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