Style: Melodic death metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: The moment where In Flames found their sound
Thoughts: This EP is a definitive moment for In Flames. not only does it contain some of their best songs, but also it's where they figured things out and defined their sound.
Stand Ablaze opens the album and it's everything I love about the band. The piano intro leading into a magnificent melodic riff before the band starts going full speed ahead. We have a new vocalist, so we're missing Mikael's signature sound here but the session guy does a decent enough job.
The real star of the show here is the riffs. The melodies are signature In Flames "What if Iron Maiden played death metal?" They weave in and out of each other with the twin guitar harmonies alongside great melodic leads. There are so many fantastic riffs in Stand Ablaze that it's nearly impossible to speak ill of the song.
The rest of the EP is decent enough for what it is, but Stand Ablaze is the true star of the show. We do get a bit of acoustic work in Ever Dying and some nice melodic leads in the title track, but overall they aren't up to the standard set by the opener.
Side B of this record has some rarities from around the time the EP was released, they are a cool novelty to have, but a vast majority of my time is spent on side A. Listening to In Flames early albums again makes me nostalgic for this golden age of melodic death metal, before the dark times... before the band changed.
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