In Flames – “Battles” [Album Review]

Back in the day, Swedish metal band In Flames were one of the groups pioneering the “Gothenburg” sound, a style which, to this day, still influences many an act. Well, it’s now 2016 and the veterans are about to drop Battles, their twelfth offering , and demonstrate again how they’ve outgrown their melodi-death routes and morphed into a bona-fide mainstream metal band.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still heavy as shit and frontman Anders Friden shows he can still scream with the best of them, but Battles, like much of the recent In Flames material, is a slick, modern affair filled with polished, big-sounding melodies and crisp, crunchy modern metal bite. “Drained”, “The End” and “In My Room” see the Swedish metallers combine the two elements to create a huge-sounding end result whereas “Here Until Forever” is the “ballad” of the album, packed with emotion and one which lyrically sums up perfectly the personal direction of Friden on Battles.

Fear not old-school In Flames fans because, while they are becoming rarer, there is still the odd banger on here and, as is the case in hand with “Underneath My Skin”, In Flames can still hit the throttle when they want to, with a more traditional sounding metal song. Bringing up the rear of the album is the epic seven minute soundscape that is “Wallflower” before Battles heads down the home straight with the gloriously anthemic melodi-metal of “Save Me”. A fantastic way to end Battles, “Save Me” shows that the Swedish metal band are in for a massive year in 2017.

Battles Track Listing:

01. Drained
02. The End
03. Like Sand
04. The Truth
05. In My Room
06. Before I Fall
07. Through My Eyes
08. Battles
09. Here Until Forever
10. Underneath My Skin
11. Wallflower
12. Save Me

Run Time: 47:45
Release Date: November 11, 2016

Check out the track “Through My Eyes”