In Flames – Sounds from the Heart of Gothenburg

Label: Nuclear Blast  Playing Time: 90 min  Release: 23rd September 2016

In Flames were the heroes of my youth. Albums like „Colony“, Reroute to Remain“ and especially „Clayman“ blew me totally away in those days (and they still do). But the latest albums of the Swedish band did not inspire me. Therefore I had high hopes that In Flames would present a nice overview of their whole career and that the one or the other more recent song could enthuse me when be played live. But both hopes are not being fulfilled here. In Flames are just playing 4 songs from the albums mentioned above. So those of you who like old school In Flames, just like me, can skip this one without hesitation. That’s it about the playlist.

Concerning the sound, I expected a real blast. But I got disappointed in this matter as well. In my opinion, the room sound is much too loud in the mix. The result is that the audience screaming sometimes sounds louder than the band playing. This is authentic when playing Rock in Rio, but not at the recording of an indoor show. Not such a big deal if this was the only flaw in the sound mix, but the second result is that the sound of the instruments, especially the guitars, get much too much reverb. It takes all the power and aggression from the recording. Therefore this album becomes an expendable for friends of newer stuff as well.

www.inflames.com