I disagree, they change in sound just has to do with their evolution as a band. They honestly have yet to release a bad record. The melodies found on Reroute to Remain, Soundtrack to Escape and the like are pretty extraordinary. Absolutely cannot wait for the new album. As a side, i'm not dissing on the old stuff, Jester Race through Clayman was amazing as well. Lunar Strain and Subterranean don't count IMO

I totally disagree with you on this one. Even though Colony is probably my favorite album from them, I love their new stuff too. Even with the knowledge that the new album will be mostly clean vocals (at least according to Anders via somewhere on the web), I will still love it. He may not do the growling vocals as much (pre R2R) but the band is still heavy and very distinctive. I would never consider them metalcore. They blow bands like Killswitch and As I Lay Dying out of the water IMO. Lyrically and musically, I would say they are going anywhere but "downhill". The whole concept album thing needed a rest. There are no repetitive themes of lost love, melancholy, or cheesy self-impowerment lyrics found in most metalcore these days. They are progressive, and while I admit different isn't always better, I think the changes they made have been great. They are still technical, talented, and a great band. Can't wait to seem 'em at Mayhem this year!

A third disagreement as well. Reroute to Remain is my fave by them. Their metalcore phase is just as good, if not surpassing, their melodic death metal phase.

Given that this is an In Flames thread I was kind of expecting disagreements.

In Flames are the perfect example, of a group that that were part of a genre such as melodic death metal, which helped to inspire a genre such as metalcore. Metalcore is far more commercially successful than melodic death metal ever was. Its no surprise that to achieve commercial success, In Flames adopted the more commercially viable sound that they had helped to inspire. Whether a group is commercial sounding or not, makes no real difference to me anyway, as some of my fav groups are pretty commercial, In the case of In Flames, I`m just saying they really lost their metal soul and have just contented themselves to mediocrity.

They`re certainly a lot better than any of the metalcore bands out there, but I wouldn`t say any of their recent albums warrant that view.

Just out of curiosity, what are some of your favorite songs by In Flames?
My top 5 favorite songs are:
1. Colony
2. Crawl through Knives
3. Pinball Map
4. Jotun
5. I'm the Highway

My top 5 would be:

1. Stand Ablaze
2. Artifacts of the Black Rain
3. Daed Eternity
4. Embody the Invisible
5. December Flower

Good choices (especially #4) but admittedly I have yet to give Subterranean enough of a listen because the lack of Anders. I will have to check it out.

You should check out Subbterranean, imo, it's their best album. Especially the one with the two bonus track covers of Metallica and Iron Maiden.

^^sure

I gave Subterranean a couple of listens last night and I liked it. It does sound a little aged though, and I'm not a huge fan of the temporary vocalist. I also liked the newer version of Dead Eternity better. But a good album nonetheless