IN FLAMES

When a band is well-known, it often willingly or not goes through stylistic shifts (or shifts in emphasis within the same style), which invariably produces a guaranteed split in the fan camp. IN FLAMES are no exception -- among the Swedish band's long-time followers, there are many who consider only the early albums to be the real deal. Everything else is inevitably branded as "commercial" and sometimes ostentatiously disparaged during get-togethers over a beer. There are, of course, grounds for complaints -- the Swedes' music has become noticeably more polished over time, with increasingly more room given to clean vocals. However, for a while, these downsides of the band's trajectory were offset for me by the quality of the material being created. But the penultimate album made me wonder for the first time where all of this was heading. And it ended up (at least for now) with the hollow "A Sense Of Purpose." If you ignore the authorship, this is typical modern metal in the "finest" traditions of an alternative channel: we'll sing for you in clean vocals, throw in some screaming here and there because it's cool, and the guitar chugging will send you into a frenzy. I understand that screaming for IN FLAMES isn't a nod to fashion -- it's their heritage -- but the result doesn't change: a polished and frustratingly "boyish" album that stands out in no way from the stream of equally gray releases. I am very disappointed.