In Flames – ‘Take This Life’

After releasing two mediocre nu-metal albums, melodic death metal staple In Flames could’ve called it a day.

The band is one of the pioneers of the “Gothenburg” sound and has the two ground-breaking albums “Colony” and “Clayman” in its discography. No one would have held it against In Flames if they turned in 2004.

However, “Take This Life,” a single off of the 2006 album “Come Clarity” captures the intensity and melody of the band’s pre-2001 work. With blazing guitar licks, a hailstorm of drum beats and crushing screams that carry a tune, the song is In Flame’s reassurance to its older fan base that it is still capable of writing respectable metal songs.

From the beginning hammer-on and bend riff to the articulate 16-bar solo in the bridge, “Take This Life” is a song written to be played by the metal-lover on their own stereo. The song is not written as a pretentious experimental metal song or as an attempt to appease the tame traditions of radio-rock: it’s purely the opposite.

Lyrically and instrumentally, this song is a message to the fans that stuck with the band through its nu-metal phase.

The band never forgot how to rock; it was just playing the field.