"Sounds of a Playground Fading" by In Flames - Serious Review

Originally written June 16, 2011

The last few years have been pretty controversial for In Flames. In 2008 they released their 9th studio album A Sense of Purpose to a rather unanimous "Meh". I became of fan of the band around the time this album came out, and I can attest that, compared to everything they'd made before, it was pretty underwhelming. While the album before it, Come Clarity, wasn't amazing, it still had the signature power and energy that In Flames have been known for, that just seemed lacking on ASoP.

2 years later, and the founding member of In Flames, Guitarist Jesper Stromblad, left the band in order to deal with his own personal demons. This lead more than a few fans to claim that In Flames was officially dead. Though really, you'll need a quick history lesson to get up to speed on that debacle.

Essentially, back in the early 90's there were 3 bands that all formed around the same time, in the same city of Gothenburg, Sweden, and they became known as the godfathers of Melodic Death Metal. These 3 bands were In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At The Gates. They didn't necessarily start the sub-genre, but they were the ones who defined the sound and made it big. In Flames would stick with roughly the same sound for what would come to be called their "Golden Era", with their first 5 albums (Lunar Strain, The Jester Race, Whoracle, Colony, Clayman) but come 2002, things took a drastic change.

Starting with their 6th album, Reroute to Remain, they would begin utilizing a more modern sound, taking influence from Alternative Metal more and more with each release. This has caused a huge schism in the fanbase, between fans of "Old" In Flames and "New" In Flames. Needless to say, the founder's departure only exacerbated the whole thing. This meant that there was more than a bit of pressure for the band, now a 4-piece, to bring something big with their 2011 release Sounds of  A Playground Fading.

And believe it or not, they did.

Since I've already made this review needlessly longer than it needs to be, I'm not going to give a lot of info for each track, just a basic breakdown and my opinion on it.

Track 1: Sounds of a Playground Fading
This song starts off with an acoustic intro, followed by a good hard dose of stadium rock inspired guitars. It's clear straight away that this album has better production than ASoP did, especially towards the drums. The guitars sound very reminiscent of the last album, but that's not a bad thing since the major problem wasn't how the album sounded, but how it never went anywhere. Here, things are starting off damn strong with Anders Friden giving probably the best vocal performance he's done since Clayman. The riffs are full of energy and this is overall just a great way to start things off.

Track 2: Deliver Us
This is the lead single of the album, and it definitely shows in the sound. While it's not a bad song by any means, it lacks the atmosphere of the rest of the album, opting for a more metalcore inspired, synth heavy sound. Anders makes use of layered vocals to do what he's been relying on for the past few years: Scream-singing. It's essentially where he records the vocals twice, once with clean singing, then once with a harsher, screaming tone. This sets up for a unique, but at times off-putting effect. He uses it at other points on the album too, but for some reason it's just more conspicuous here. Still the song is enjoyable, even if it is pretty weak in comparison to the rest of the album.

Track 3: All For Me
This song starts off with another acoustic intro that quickly gives way to a powerful, bombastic quitar riff that builds up the energy brilliantly. This song is a bit different from it's predecessors, in that when the chorus comes around, it doesn't feel like the typical chorus, but rather just feels like a logical progression in the build up of the song. The highlight here is Anders' vocals, which are in top form and full of more emotion than the entirety of A Sense of Purpose combined. He's utilizi ng the scream-singing again, but with very few exceptions, it's used spectacularly here, channeling the melancholy of the lyrics with the kind of Power I've rarely heard from him before.

Track 4: The Puzzle
On this track, In Flames pauses from the overall melody-driven songs that the last 3 songs were, and instead goes for a more break-down heavy track to spice things up. And while I'll usually criticize a band for making a song like this, it strangely works here. Maybe it's the fact that the drums keep up such an energetic pace that it keeps things from slowing down on the rest of the track, or that Anders is still in top-form Vocally. Whatever the reason, the entire song is loud, full of passion, and the outro is just wonderful.

Track 5: Fear Is The Weakness
This track has been described by several reviewers as "synth-heavy" but I just don't see it. The intro riff does have some smatterings of a synth in it, the rest of the song is pretty much just guitar, bass, and drums. This is however the first song that feels most reminiscent of past material. Not in a bad way, but rather in a way of paying homage to some of their earlier albums (specifically Reroute and it's follow-up Soundtrack To Your Escape) with the melody sounding like it would fit in perfectly on STYE.

Track 6: Where The Dead Ships Dwell
Now this is a track I would call synth-heavy. If the last song was similar to STYE then this song could probably a bonus track off of that album. There's a very atmospheric sense to the whole song, especially in the way Anders does his clean vocals. Several reviewers (myself included) have used the word "melancholy" to describe the tone of SoaPF, and nowhere is it more clear why than here, with the synthesizer's presence adding an eerie nature to the whole thing.

Track 7: The Attic
This is the first song to deviate from the overall sound of the album. It's quiet, slow paced, the vocals are subdued, and oh yeah, the melody is carried almost exclusively by accordion. It's certainly different, but it does a damn good job of channeling the bleak nature of the lyrics (which is only 2 verses, no chorus or bridge.). It's a stripped down, slightly experimental song that the band hasn't really tried since Come Clarity's "Your Bedtime Story is Scaring Everyone" way back on '06. Despite the inherent eccentricity of it, the track works damn well, and I can definitely see it being used as a halfway marker at live shows.

Track 8: Darker Times
This song is similar in several ways to "The Puzzle", not least of which being that it again has the melody take a backseat to a more "Chugga-Chugga" style riff. Like "The Puzzle" this is miraculously pulled off very well, and the melody does make itself known during the chorus, as well as the last half of the song. There's also a part of the lyrics that has become sort of an inside joke among fans. You see, Anders, for whatever reason, seems to love using the word "plan" in songs. It's occurred several times, and here it's especially egregious when he repeats 3 times in a row "I Have a Better Plan!". But smirk worthy lyrics aside, this is a damn good song with 2 guitar solos and a lot of great guitar work from Bjorn Gellote, as well as a rather interesting outro that I can' really describe.

Track 9: Ropes
Some have called this song "Swim" 2.0, due to it's intro's similarity to the song "Swim" off their 5th album Clayman. And while there are several similarities betwixt the two, "Ropes" is still a damn good song in it's own right. For the verses Anders uses purely clean singing (that's right, no scream-singing until the chorus) and it's definitely an adjustment to get used to it. It's just kind of...bizarre that the guy who recorded "Morphing Into Primal" is actually singing hear. Though this won't be the last time this happens on here.

Track 10: Enter Tragedy
This song...just doesn't hit me like the rest of 'em do. There's lots to like here: the guitar work's good and reminds me a lot of some of the songs off of Come Clarity which I really enjoyed, Anders vocals are fine, no shakiness or anything, and there's plenty of energy. It's just that, when they get to the chorus everything just kind of feels muted. It's like this is where there should be this big, epic sounding chorus, and instead it's kind of a step down from the rest of the song. it all just comes off as a bit one-note. Not something I'd necessarily skip on relistens, but not something I wanna sing along withe either.

Track 11: The Jester's Door
You remember how I said "The Attic" was slightly experimental? Well that's nothing compared to "The Jester's Door". The first quarter of the song is essentially the sound of creaking floorboards and a whistle. Then a slow accordion starts up, followed by 2 verses delivered by Anders in spoken-word in an almost stream-of-consciousness speech referencing the departure of Jesper Stromblad. As he delivers the last line, suddenly the synth breaks loose alongside the accordion in a semi-tribal beat for the last minute. It's strange, nothing at all like the songs before or after it, and damned if it's anything short of beautiful. Second-favorite song on the album.

Track 12: A New Dawn
This song is nothing but a 6-minute love note to their "Golden Era" material. The leading riff sounds like it'd fit right in with the songs off of Colony. Everything sounds powerful, and Anders gives a good number of the sparse growls on this album. They also made use of a 5-piece quasi-orchestra to accentuate the interludes, and while I dislike using it there's only one word to describe the effect: EPIC. It's far and away my favorite song on the album, and I cannot praise it enough.

Track 13: Liberation
Ohhhhhh boy. This is where things get a bit sticky. In Flames purists will hate this song. I mean fucking loathe. This will be the song "Old" In Flames fans will point to as the biggest evidence of In Flames "selling out". And you know what? to hell with them, this is a damn good song. It's by no means a metal song, rather it's more comparable a hard-rock ballad than anything else, probably the softest non-acoustic song in the band's history, but it's also a beautifully composed, emotion driven, well crafted song and does an awesome job closing out the album. Anyone who refuses to listen to it because it's not "metal" enough for them is doing themselves a disservice.

Overall, this album is more than the much-needed return to form I had been hoping for. After nearly a decade of experimenting and working to find a new sound, In Flames has managed to make a strong, enjoyable album that pays respect to their roots while simultaneously defining themselves for a new decade. If you're hoping for another Whoracle or Jester Race, than you're spit outta luck, but if you want a solid, powerful, melodic metal album, than you'll love Sounds of A Playground Fading.

"Stand Up And Fight" by Turisas - Serious Review

 Originally written Monday, February 28, 2011

Stand Up and Fight is the 3rd full-length album from Finnish Folk-metal stars Turisas. The band entered the studio in March of last year, and effectively lived there for several months, hammering out and polishing their most ambitious release to-date. The band stated before started production that their plan was to make this the album where they started headlining tours, as opposed to the supporting roles they'd played up until then, and It shows. The album is extremely ambitious, incorporating real horn and orchestral recordings as opposed to the samples used in their previous album The Varangian Way.

Track 1: The March of  the Varangian Guard
Those horns I mentioned earlier? They're what starts this album out, and they immediately know what you're up for. This is an album that's going for a BIG feel. Turisas want you to feel like you're experiencing an epic tale of power and fantasy, and they definitely achieve it. This song tells you exactly what you're into; liberal use of violins, trumpets, and a choir backing the riffs that Jussi Wickström belts out on nearly every track. Those looking for a more conventional sounding metal album may be turned off, but for fans of Turisas' other work, this song won't disappoint.

Track 2: Take The Day!
This is, pure and simple, a stadium rock song. It's still got the metal overtones, especially with Tude Lehtonen's drumming, but at it's core I'm sure it's here to give the band something to get every butt at their shows out of the seats. There's a powerful, and more importantly LOUD bridge that absolutely blazes with energy. There's several bits in the beginning that act as build-ups to it, and it gets you pumped for the rest of the album.

Track 3: Hunting Pirates
While some Turisas fans would probably have my head for it, this song is reminiscent of the sound of the band Alestorm. Not to say that they're aping off of somebody else' s style, but it seems more an homage to the Pirate-themed metal band's jaunty aesthetic. Netta Skog shows her skill on the accordion during this song, with much of the aesthetic of the song coming from her.

Track 4: Veretoi! -  Prasinoi!
This track is pure, unleaded fun. Many times folk-metal bands make a more "dancy" tune, it ends up breaking the mood of the album, either by sounding too odd compared to the rest of the album, or the song being too one-note. Neither happen here, with the whole song keeping the feeling of the album despite it being (for the most part) much more upbeat. It's certain to become a favorite at their shows.

Track 5: Stand Up And Fight
This was the first and only single released for the album prior to release, and oddly enough it's probably the most forgettable track on the disk. It's still and enjoyable song, but comes off feeling too long, as if the band had the song done, but decided to slow it down to pad out the album. Not to say it's "bad" per se, but compared to the songs around it, it just isn't anything special.

Track 6: The Great Escape
This song starts straight out building up to a powerful, frenetic, and dark sound. This is the first track to feature Mathias Nygård growling a lot, and he pulls it off well. As a whole it's a big step up from the title track, with a much more layered sound, as well as reintroducing the Stadium Rock feel from Take The Day! I again feel it could have been shortened some, as there's a section towards the end that very much feels like it's padding out the length. Still, a strong track with a lot of energy.

Track 7: Fear The Fear
Hands down my favorite song on the album. It's long, epic, powerful, and feels like a microcosm of the entire album. It's got Mathias giving what is possibly his best vocal performance to date. The songs starts out loud, but then falls to a slowly building guitar strum that's almost reminiscent of Refused's song New Noise. The tune is majestic, bombastic, inspiring, and just about every other positive adjective I can think of. The song changes tempo and rythm numerous times, but it never feels uneven or sporadic, feeling very much like a journey in itself.

Track 8: End of an Empire
On each of their albums, it kind of become a tradition to put a long, epic, and choir-heavy track near the end of the album, and Stand Up And Fight doesn't break the streak. While Fear The Fear was long, it had a fast pace that kept it from feeling like it was 6 minutes. The opposite is true of End of an Empire, but that's not a bad thing. It's slow, but never feels boring, and overall feels much more somber. The first minute and a half are a soft, piano heavy ballad, with the guitars not kicking in proper until the 100 second mark. Everything about this song feels grand.

Track 9: The Bosphorus Freezes Over
Often bands will end an album with a loud, long, and energetic song to close everything out. Turisas decided to go a different path. The beginning of The Bosphorus Freezes Over is soft, and feels like something one might hear in a ballet. The drums slowly kick in, and Mathias performs the whole thing in somber spoken-word. The entire song feels like the aftermath of a great battle, sad but with a kind of catharsis about the whole affair.

Overall, Stand Up And Fight is an ambitious undertaking that's full of energy, power, intelligence, and most importanly emotion. Some long-time fans may be turned off by the more polished feel, but anyone interested in an album with a big sound should most certainly check it out.

"Ukon Wacka" by Korpiklaani - Serious Review

Originally Written Saturday, February 12, 2011

So yeah, I'm bored and just downloaded the latest album of a band I like, so I decided what better way to entertain myself than to shamelessly spread my uninformed opinion across the interwebs? I'm going to do a track-by-track review/breakdown of the latest Korpiklaani album "Ukon Wacka" and I'm sure nobody will actually care. :D

Track 1: Louhen Yhdeksäs Poika
So yeah, the titles and lyrics are in Finnish, and as I rarely take lyrical content into consideration, I'm not translating them. I'll just be going my own impressions of the songs.
Louhen Yhdeksäs Poika does its job of opening the album VERY well. From the opening fiddle to it's close Louhen  really starts getting you pumped for what's ahead. It's fast-paced, with Jonne Järvelä barely taking a breath between verses, and the drums smashing out a furious, almost tribal beat that always reminds me these guys used to be named Shaman

Track 2: Päät Pois Tai Hirteen
The second track slows things down a bit, opening with a guitar-accordion combination that's become a staple of Korpiklaani's folk-metal sound. While the song is enjoyable, and I get the feeling it would be fun as hell to sing along with in Finnish, it feels kind of lackluster compared to the opening track. I think my problem comes with how sort of one-note it feels until the end.

Track 3: Tuoppi Oltta
This song is very much a call-back to the folk music origins of the band. This is evidenced by the fact that the melody isn't set by the guitars, vocals, bass, or drums. It's set by the violins and flutes that dominate the first third of the song. The whole thing sounds like a reminder to their long-time fans that while they've gone from straight Folk to Folk Metal, at the core their music's unchanged.

Track 4: Lonkkaluut
This is the first track on the album I debated on skipping when I was re-listening. It's not that the song's bad, but it's very average. There's nothing very memorable about it, with the melody feeling very much like other metal songs I've listened to, and nothing that attention-grabbing about it. As I'm a completionist when it comes to things that aren't school work, I decided to listen to it anyway, and while I can't say I'm sorry I did, it's still nothing that really sticks with me afterward.

Track 5: Tequila
This was the first song I heard off of Ukon Wacka and you can bet it got me pumped for the album. The song brings back the high energy of Louhen Yhdeksäs Poika and acts as sort of a spiritual Sequel song to the lead single Vodka from their previous album Karkelo, which happened to be the first Korpiklaani song I ever heard. It's the second shortest song on the album, clocking in at 2:42, but it packs a lot into it, with drum beats that sound more like a drum circle than something produced in a studio, a loud call for more alcohol from the singer, and a healthy dose of accordion thrown in for good measure. Definitely a song to play at a party

Track 6: Ukon Wacka
This is one of the more interesting tracks. It's a slower pace, which usually works as a detriment for this band, and it has elements of metalcore in it, which usually works as a detriment to anything ever. And yet, while I wouldn't say this is my favorite songs on the album, it definitely catches my interest for the entire length of the song. It's a bit heavier than those preceding it, and sounds a lot more despondent (there's a section about 3 minutes in that's reminiscent of a funeral march), the song never gets depressing. Of all things, by the end it comes off sounding happy.

Track 7: Korvesta Liha
Here we meet another song that I'm tempted to skip during re-listens. It's fairly generic in the beginning, taking nearly half its time to get to anything musically interesting. The middle minute is pretty fun, with nice dash of flute thrown in that I appreciated, but it's over pretty quick back to a very familiar guitar melody. I again can't say it's a bad track, but it's painfully average, to the point that I find myself skipping the first 45 seconds to get to something more enjoyable.

Track 8: Koivu Ja Tähti
The first minute of Koivu Ja Tähti reminds me of a song you'd hear in an old Scandinavian bar...only distorted and warped to the point it sounds foreboding. The song, while good, sounds very strange from these guys. There's a section of the track that I actually thought was from a Blind Guardian song. There's nothing wrong with it, and It's a marked improvement from Korvesta Liha, but a bit off-putting this late into the album. I can't really put down exactly what my problem with it is.

Track 9: Vaarinpolkka
If Google Translator is to be trusted (up for debate) the title of this song translates to "Grandfather's Polka" but it's anything but your grandpa's music. It's the shortest track on the album, and an instrumental. Now I usually dislike instrumentals, since they're usually just a place for the guitarists to show off, but amazingly enough I think Vaarinpolkka may be my favorite song off of Ukno Wacka. It's got tons of energy and fun packed into it, staying just long enough to get the blood pumping without over staying its welcome.

Track 10: Surma
The final song on the album proper, as well as the longest track at 6:20, Surma closes out the album in true Metal fashion. It's starts off slow and folksy, with a wooden flute playing a tune, a fiddle joining in, the drums starting up, and finally all 3 guitars kicking in. With the intro fading out, Järvelä bursts in with the vocals at a break-neck speed that makes the opening track sound like a ballad, followed by a scream to the heavens. It's powerful, epic, and comes off sounding like an old warrior regaling us with an old battle Tale that you know isn't true but still sounds amazing. (Okay I have no clue where that little bought of waxing poetic came from) The song fades out, and the album's over with.

Bonus Track: Iron Fist
...Until the bonus track, a Motorhead cover no-less, comes in. And boy does it break the mood. Again I'm not saying it's a bad song, it's problem is inherited by virtue of being a cover, and a cover of an English-speaking band. I can understand wanting to do tribute to a famous Metal band, but it doesn't mesh with the overall feel of the album, and really feels like something to put on with a single or EP. Still, it IS a bonus track, so I guess I can't complain too much.

Overall, Ukon Wacka is a good album, but it's nothing game-changing. It's more of what Korpiklaani have made in the past, but I certainly can't call that a bad thing.