In Flames - Sounds of a Playground Fading

Of all thing this morning, reviewing the latest entry from In Flames, Sounds of a Playground Fading. To be quite honest, I won't judge this album in an entirely harsh manner. Why? They don't have two guitarists. The original lead player's gone and we're left with one. I must admit. Just on the opening title track, not effing bad, not bad at all. If you liked their Come Clarity and A Sense of Purpose albums (my favorites), it starts off with that same type of sound.

Their first single, Deliver Us, summons the sonic style of their previous album, Soundtrack To Your Escape, which is yet another favorite album of mine. If there's one observation I'm making, two songs in and there's already guitar solos! This I like, especially since guitar solos or anything close to that would be something you would expect from their earlier work.

All for Me is one of their more Alt. Metal tracks that involve more of Friden's singing and a much less of his screaming. I must say, his voice sounds more of his own and crispier. Before he used to sound more like Rob Zombie.

Puzzle goes back into their heavier sound and faster tempo and definitely holds that Come Clarity sound. Has a nice little breakdown that involves a backing riff with a subtle but very present guitar melody. I would say that the touch the guitars give to it compensate for the absence of Stromblad's keyboard/synth skills.

Fear is the Weakness further shows that In Flames, while they possibly may turn away their earlier fans, are dealing with what they got. For me, they manage to find that balance of accessibility while maintaining that aggressive touch.

Where the Dead Ships Dwell has Friden on a gritty clean vocal style. It happens to have some light synth touches due to some good guitar effects. It goes well and yet again another song with a guitar solo.

I'm gonna put a parenthesis on this for a second, as my dad would say. Some may be wondering about the subject matter within the lyrics. Like the last 2-3 albums, In Flames has here a constant line of lyrics that deal with struggle, desire for purpose, deliverance and meaning of life. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they have a better sense of emotiveness towards this kind of subject than hipsters and indie rockers. There, I said it.

The Attic has a very dark sound to it. It starts off with a really nice clean bluesy lick. It has Friden pulling a Jared Leto by doing some whispering but it works so well. The song has a different and very ambient dynamic to it.

Darker Times moves the train right back up to speed. It's a straight up metal track akin to A Sense of Purpose. Once again, a guitar solo. At this point, this is the fourth song with a guitar solo. No, it has two guitar solos. How they have managed to maintain their modern sound with even the absence of a 2nd guitarist/keyboardist will forever be beyond me but I say this, they rock.

Ropes is my favorite track just from the start. It's attention-grabbing and has Friden at his cleanest on vocals. Yet again another solo. Short but sweet. Yet again another touch of ambiance due to guitars and it works.

Enter Tragedy channels their more aggressive end. Friden delivers both the screams and the singing and, at times, sounds like both. Guitar solo yet again. If there is anything akin to vintage In Flames, it's the guitar solos, short long or otherwise. Even in this song, there is no shortage of dual melodies.


Jester's Door is a very quiet and ambient track. It's apparent that it was written in respect to Stromblad's departure, given that his leave from In Flames is to put an end to an addiction that he's needed to rid of.

A New Dawn is the following track that picks up the ball and runs with it. Funniest thing is how you have the previous track being all somber and sad and this track is like, "well, now that it's out of the way, lets get rockin'!" -- pretty funny. It has a nice middle section that invokes a touch of classical with violins and a clean guitar solo section before it picks up the crescendo with a more vibrant touch in the solo and slows back down. While one of the softer songs by In Flames, I appreciate the thoughtfulness behind the song. They give you the aggression, slow it down to something slow, somber yet soulful and then just push the aggression meter back up gradually.

Liberation is closing track. The choice of a softer song to end it is definitely uncharacteristic of In Flames and might ever scare some fans away. I can deal with it. It's a decent alternative track. Not my favorite but it's nice. It has yet another guitar solo. You didn't think they'd end this fiasco without one eh?

Out of this album I appreciated a few good things here. The guitar solos make up for albums worth of their absence from their formula. In the absence of keyboard synths, Bjorn puts that guitar to real good use and manages to create good ambiance of the likes that take the space the synths/keys once did. They managed to take the best of their sound from the last 2-3 albums and make something pleasing to the ears. Ultimately, they managed to not pull a Reroute to Remain and end up with a messy mixdown.

+ guitar solos
+ ambient guitars
+ varied composition

- softer material that will turn away diehard fans
- absence of keys/synths
-it's a short album