Not much to say about about this one, although I was pleasantly surprised.
This album does have an official video it's not very good, the song or the video.
First off, the art doesn't work for me. Derek Hess art says Converge, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, American Hardcore, Hellfest poster, maybe. Not Swedish metal. I definitely own this CD, but I don't know if I ever listened to it, and I blame, in part, the artwork.
The music, though, is not actually that bad. It's a little standard for the mid-aughts, so there weren't really any standout tracks for me, but it's fairly aggressive and face paced. The writing is pretty good and the guitar performances are on point. I think I would really like this record if it weren't for the vocals, and if I'd listened to it more when it was new, I'd probably have liked it then, too.
The clean vocal performances are getting better. Not my cup of tea, but Anders is doing better, I guess. They're moving away from over-dubbing and effects-drenching the vocals, and it's less whiny. His screams, however, are more whiny. There are alot dirty scream/talk and scream/yelling vocals, and A TON of breathing into the microphone. Not a 5 star vocal performance.
As I listen to this record, I don't mind it, but it occurs to me that this is about when American Metalcore bands started to be less breakdowny and more just metal. When I should have been listening to In Flames, I was listening to this:
And this:
And This:
And This:
There's just no comparing. That said, this is the best In Flames record since Colony, shocked as I am to say it. Although the title track is pretty awful, and Your Bedtime Story is Scaring Everyone is TERRIBLE, just a waste of time, I think I sort of stand behind this record.
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