This is just who they are now and they’ve been pumping out this kind of material (and doing it well) for 15 years (longer than they were a true to form melodic death band). To address both points, the “new” In Flames isn’t new anymore. People from the ’90s In Flames camp keep complaining about the “new sound” and some wish that the next album will be more “true to form”. Now that that’s settled, onto the review: For me, In Flames stopped being In Flames in 2001 when they released Reroute to Remain. Since that point, they’ve been known to me as In Waters- a Swedish pop metal band with some excellent melodic death guitar work that comes and goes.
Let’s get one thing out of the way first.