In Flames – Colony

90’s was such a wonderful era for extreme music that many purists still hate for impurity or adulteration of elements and styles but whoever likes music beyond sub genres find this decade so brave and thrilling that is impossible for any fan to avoid to explore and in the end to be charmed from…So it was back then during the 90’s when a new wave of death metal  was ready to explode from underground to mainstream hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden. The holy trinity of the genre were no else than At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity and In Flames now commercially successful and highly acclaimed by fans worldwide became the pioneers and the forefathers of the melodeath.  I guess the pinnacle of At The Gates is “Slaughter of the Soul”, Dark Tranquility’s “The Mind’s I“ and as for In Flames it hesitates between Colony and “Clayman”. Personal preference 1999’s Colony.

Colony is the fourth studio album by In Flames, released on 21 May 1999 via Nuclear Blast Records. It is the first In Flames album to feature the band’s classic line-up; Björn Gelotte switched to lead guitar, to replace Glenn Ljungström, and Daniel Svensson filled the drummer position left vacant by Gelotte. Peter Iwers became the new bass player, replacing Johan Larsson (with Anders Fridén and Jesper Strömblad remaining on vocals and rhythm guitar respectively, this lineup remained unchanged until 2010).

For me is a safe shelter to return as I have literally heard it a thousand times in a row in a difficult time for me 20+ years ago being my only company and friend playing unstoppable in a now to be considered ancient technology Sony cd player and besides my personal view it is actually the album that made In Flames huge. And that makes it really important record. This would be also the first time the Swedes would down tune their guitars from C standard on previous album with “Ordinary Story” and “Colony” being tuned to drop A#, something they would continue on future albums. The album features 9 plus 1+1 gems, pure amalgam of great songwriting, a bunch of ultra-catchy choruses, a plethora of Maiden riffs, some excellent harmonies, soaring melodies, wide rage vocals from rasping growls and screams to clean, rich bouncing distorted twin guitars, neat and audible bass lines, minimalistic good sounding drumming cleverly keeping in time with the riffs and leads, with the crystal clear production helping in the final mix to distinguish the improvement and the evolution in this section, sporadic use of synths/keyboards, some wisely used acoustic guitars, and the perfect balance of melody and death (Gothenburg style) ferocity and power. The album deals with various aspects of religion, society, and spirituality, from the somewhat positive light of Embody the Invisible and The New Word, to the more negative “Zombie Inc.” and “Scorn”. Colony features a faster, tighter, and more energetic approach to the music than displayed on the previous album, “Whoracle”, though the song-writing approach is actually similar If not the same. The title of the song “The New Word” is subject to debate. According to the track list on the back cover of the original 1999 release, the official In Flames web site, and the lyrics printed in the original 1999 CD booklet, the correct title is “The New Word”; however, according to the heading of the lyrics printed for the song in the original booklet, the track list on the 2004 re-release, and the official Nuclear Blast Records web site, the song is called “The New World”. The 2009 re-release Colony: Reloaded did nothing to clear up this issue, with the insert and the booklet containing the same inconsistency as the original 1999 release. The song’s lyrics themselves, meanwhile, suggest that “The New Word” is indeed the correct title. “Pallar Anders Visa” is a cover of the Swedish folk song “Pallars-Anders visa” which can be roughly translated as “song of Anders the thief”. It is also an instrumental, just like the bonus track, “Man Made God”. The guitarist Bjorn Gelotte talked about it in an interview: It’s an old Swedish traditional song. Really old. “Pallar Anders” is a name, but it means “Anders, the guy who steals apples” and it’s his song. I don’t know how to translate it. The song ”Embody the Invisible” appears in the soundtrack for the 2003 video game Tony Hawk’s Underground. The tracks “Behind Space ’99” (here in a darker and more dramatic version dare to say better than the original) and “Clad in Shadows ’99” (which are only available on different issues of this album) are both remakes of the tracks first heard on “Lunar Strain”, although “Behind Space ’99” excludes the acoustic guitar outro present on the original version. Highlights: the emblematic opener “Embody the Invisible”, “Scorn”, the memorable and catchy “Ordinary Story”, “Zombie Inc.” that plays with a variety of tempos, “Coerced Coexistence” and “The New World” that features a guest slot by former Europe guitarist Kee Marcello. Hand on heart no fillers here only killers.

Colony a genuine masterpiece paved a path for global visibility and recognition but In Flames  probably turned way to fast in the wrong direction trying to catch the train of Lamb of God, Korn, Coal Chamber and Disturbed when they dumped a tour with Moonspell and Dimmu Borgir playing alongside Mudvayne, Killswitch Engage, and Slipknot. Turning back time never felt right to me, a I never think or starry a discussion with the famous ‘what if’ for In Flames; we carry on with our mistakes often lay with our failures and sins but the journey seems easier with triumphs like Colony being the soundtrack of it.