I first heard of In Flames about five years ago when I picked up their album Clayman. Musically you could draw small comparisons to heavy metal legends like Testament, Iron Maiden and Slayer - but there was something even more appealing. In Flames were one of the pioneers of what became known as the Gothenburg sound termed "Swedish Thrash" and would go on to inspire bands such as Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage. You can hear the bands unique blend of the intense and melodic in those band's sound.

A year after I bought Clayman, In Flames released Reroute to Remain. Despite having a couple of notable tracks it paled largely in comparison to it's predecessors Clayman, Whoracle, and Colony. Reroute to Remain suffered from too much nu-metal influence and the next album, Soundtrack To Your Escape only continued the trend. And I wondered why a band who'd created such good albums would head in a direction that did little justice to their talent?

I now see that every album they have made so far was an experiment and stepping stone necessary to bring them to this point and this album! Come Clarity is In Flames best album to date and an example of true metallic glory! Their sound has come full circle here and announces In Flames return to the cutting edge. Honestly the only two words that came out of me after hearing this album were "Holy Shit!"