A Sense Of Purpose

Frantic metal band In Flames can deliver a good melody around the militaristic, precision drumming of Daniel Svensson and the occasionally guttural yelps of frontman Anders Fridén. Whether it's a tight, polished effort like "The Mirror's Truth" with traces of classic metal à la Iron Maiden or especially Judas Priest, In Flames definitely bring a sense of purpose to this record. From there, the group increase the Metallica-ish franticness with "Disconnected" that relies on heavy guitar riffs but a far lighter, almost airy chorus and bridge. This is improved upon later on the album as "I'm the Highway" takes the record to another level. Probably the heaviest track is "Condemned," that again is driven by Svensson and the guitar tandem of Jesper Strömblad and Björn Gelotte…

When Dion DiMucci was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Blues category for 2006's Bronx in Blue, an excellent collection of blues standards, it was an official affirmation that he was "back." In truth, he'd never left, and had been recording all along. He issued a stellar follow-up in 2007's Son of Skip James, a collection of revelatory blues covers and fine new material. The third album in this blues trilogy is Tank Full of Blues. Recorded in a trio setting, Dion produced the album, wrote all but two selections, and played the hell out of all the guitars on it. Tank Full of Blues is a slippery, street-smart, utterly inspired album of blues and roots rock tunes that are free of nostalgia and drenched in history…

In Flames debut album, Lunar Strain, has often been likened to Black Metal and Goth, which is understandable in some ways (Mikael Stanne's croak and the slower, moodier riffs laced with keyboards,) but the fact is, this was just a varied though somewhat disjointed first attempt at creating their sound.
Rooted in Power Metal more than anything, Lunar Strain kicks off with Behind Space, the albums most concise, aggressive song. A great folk melody ends Space and we move on through the title track, Starforsaken, and Dreamscape, of which the first two are fine examples of this album's merit, though the latter is my least favorite from this record. On to the apex of the album, the two parter, Everlost…

This 98-minute documentary, written, produced, and directed by Adele Schmidt and José Zegarra Holder of the Washington, D.C. area's Zeitgeist Media, begins and ends at the 2011 Rock in Opposition festival in Carmaux, France, and between those two bookends tells the story of this idiosyncratic movement – or style, or whatever you want to call it – that was birthed in the late '70s and has against all odds persisted on and off to the present day…