After two long years, In Flames are back with their new studio album. I was blown away by Clayman and I still listen to it very often and consider it to be one of my best record ever. The balance between melody and agressivity was, simply put : perfect ! So I was very curious to see if In Flames would be able to do something of the same quality, and who knows : maybe better ?

One thing is sure, the songs are very catchy and from the first listen, which wasn't the case with all material included in Clayman. So is it better ? worse ? ... well actually none of these 2 options apply here. It is different, really different. We now discover a brand new sound, with many new elements like clear vocal choirs during choruses adding a very gothic feeling in some of the songs. Vocally the album is absolutely perfect, the balance between clean and semi-brutal (or even plain brutal) vocals is very nicely done and in overall the album is much more aggressive vocally than it's predecessor. We're back in the days of Colony or even Whoracle (if you set aside clean vocals that is). Screams can be absolutely perfect and very brutal, like in the second track System. Riffs are always razor sharp, and guitar work throughout the album is as always mindblowing ! It sure enhances both the aggressive edge than the melodic edge of this excellent band. The chorus is usually more soft, more accessible than the verses part, and that slowly but surely becomes the band's trademark. The song-writing is brilliant, very complex and very mature. Although the main chorus lines are quickly assimilated by the listener, it takes many spins to discover all that this diamond album has to offer. This new approach reminds me a bit of Soilwork, they too are changing their style slowly but surely, and In Flames are certainly getting towards a new direction while still sounding true to their roots in the same time. I've got the feeling that this album will set a new path for the future of the Gothenburg Melodic Death Metal scene. There even is a full clean vocal song in this new opus : a nice kind of ballad, with the luxury of bagpipe in the background (at least I think it is)...

The production is once again reaching toward perfection ! The artcover is a reflect of this change of direction. Seriously, would you have guessed that the next In Flames would have a white artcover ? Nope, and I think that In Flames goes for the unexpected with this release, in order to surprise us and offer us something really different while still sounding like In Flames. Well : mission accomplished, from all points of view.

If you liked Clayman, there's no doubt you'll like Reroute To Remain, as the balance between melody and agressivity is almost the same. We observe the same for clean against brutal vocals, although vocals can be much more brutal here from time to time, and I'm sure that all fans of In Flames won't complain about that fact. I personally think it's too soon to decide which album I prefer, but one thing is sure, this Reroute To Remain is a new step for the band, and this album a killer one. In Flames will most certainly attract more fans with this new "gothic" feeling present on many songs, and they'll keep the actual ones with an album that offers you 14 new brilliant songs, a brand new sound and the eternal aggressiveness that this band only knows how to deliver. Now I only hope that it won't take 2 more years for the band to come up with a sequel of Reroute To Remain, cause when a band delivers such near-perfect (well, Clayman is perfect !) albums : 2 years in between each of them almost seems like an eternity. Jokes aside, it was sure worth the wait. A buy-or-die album, without a glimpse of hesitation.