Music
Album Review: In Flames ‘Sounds Of Playground Fading’
With a history as long and celebrated as In Flames, each new album is met by fans with great expectations and high hopes. “Will it be as good as The Jester Race or Clayman?” “Will it be something weird and a total deviation from what I’m used to?” Well, considering the fact that In Flames have been releasing studio albums since 1993, it’s impossible to ask them to stay with one sound. First of all, it gets boring for the listener and, second, musicians can’t be pigeonholed like that. Progression and expansion are a natural part of life as well as music. So it is with In Flames 10th studio release, Sounds of a Playground Fading. But does this expansion and progression work? Check after the jump.
The album kicks off with the title track, ‘Sounds of a Playground Fading’. What’s immediately apparent is how good the production sounds. Although it starts with only a clean guitar, you can hear the roundness, clarity and depth of the low-tuned strings. Then the second guitar comes in and we have the beautiful guitar harmonization that In Flames is so renowned for. When the distortion kicks in and the drums and bass enter, it is with such power and immediacy, that I couldn’t help but feel goosebumps raise on my arms. Once the song kicks in and Anders starts his trademark screaming growl, I knew I was set for a full on In Flames experience, one that I’ve been needing without realizing.
The production of this album is spot on with each instrument sounding crisp, full and clear. I could go into details but suffice it to say that while I was listening with my Grado’s, it felt like I was immersed in the music rather than it hitting me head on.
While I found myself loving the whole album, songs like ‘Fear Is The Weakness’, ‘Enter Tragedy’ and ‘A New Dawn’ that showcase the epic grandeur and astonishing melody and beauty that can inhabit metal.
The Final Word: Sounds of a Playground Fading is not just a masterful addition to the In Flames catalogue, it is a triumphant crowning achievement. I cannot recommend this album highly enough.
It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.
Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.
Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.
“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.
“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”
You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…
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