Clayman

The blog the rest of the week is going to focus on metal.Today it's some Gothenburg Sound Metal. In Flames along with the likes of Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates furthered the melodic death metal sound that became known as the Gothenburg Sound. In fact In Flames and Dark Tranquillity actually swapped vocalists early on in their careers. While the hardcore In Flames fans have their favorites rooted in their early records, my favorite is 'Clayman'. This was the first 'metal' album I bought. For me this album is solid from the track opener 'Bulletride' to the closer 'Another Day In Quicksand'. Some critics will call this their sellout record, but I think it's the band that pushed them into a new fan base. Enjoy this slice of melodic death metal.

This is one of my favorite metal records, not just cause it was my first real metal album. This actually was the last CD I bought in California before I left for Missouri for the first time. Leaving high school and finding all this new metal was really great. I still love finding new bands and finding a new favorite. I've in a way outgrown what In Flames has become, although 'Come Clarity' was a solid record, it seems the newer stuff is just too mainstream. Nevertheless one of the last shows I saw while in Missouri was In Flames. Oddly enough there were supporting Slayer. I wasn't there to see Slayer, I really just showed up for In Flames. They played a solid set, showcasing some of the newer tunes off 'Reroute To Remain'. I got to chatting up some folks that had driven a few hrs to see the show. We decided to bail a few songs into the Slayer set and go outside by the buses to see if we could get our In Flames CDs signed. Sure enough we did. I had the pleasure to talk to Peter, Anders, and Jesper. Anders was cool enough to have the entire band sign my 'Clayman' CD. We joked around with Jesper for liking 'The Phantom Menace' and talked touring with Peter. It was one of those moments for me where I was kinda dumbstruck. It was the first time I had got to meet a band I really dug. It also started my signed CD collection. Still have that CD signed and proudly displayed some ten years later.

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