Band:	In Flames
Album:	A Sense Of Purpose
Style:	Alternative metal, Gothenburg metal
Release date:	April 2008

01. The Mirror's Truth
02. Disconnected
03. Sleepless Again
04. Alias
05. I'm The Highway
06. Delight And Angers
07. Move Through Me
08. The Chosen Pessimist
09. Sober And Irrelevant
10. Condemned
11. Drenched In Fear
12. March To The Shore
13. Eraser [bonus]
14. Tilt [bonus]
15. Abnegation [bonus]

What a tragedy A Sense Of Purpose is; not because it's hopelessly awful, but because it's been unfairly lambasted for years. Unfortunately, there is no way to correct the damage already done or to change the minds of those who are still mourning the loss of the "Jester Race/Whoracle" era twenty years after the fact, but at least some just dues can finally be given. Measuring from today, In Flames were 1/4th of the way through their career when they moved from making music that offered a very somber, individual experience to music that a group of people could easily enjoy together without needing a PhD in The Evolution of Underground Metal to appreciate it. And what a ride it has been.

Don't think I'm discounting their early years in any way here; In Flames were a once-in-a-lifetime band that made music unparalleled in the black metal genre to this day. It's difficult to overstate how much they changed metal, being one of the primary influencers in the melodeath boom from the late '90s into the 2000s and credited as the pioneers of the Gothenburg style. Being considered an equal to Emperor in a time when Emperor was at the top of the metal world is evidence enough of why so many fans never left the vortex of brilliance they crafted with their first few albums.

It's hard to accurately place why, but Clayman largely received a pass from old-school In Flames fans despite the album very much feeling like extreme nu metal. Reroute To Remain, however, is when everything went topsy-turvy and the band became almost unidentifiable. The shift had been foreshadowed but the extent of the change wasn't anything anyone, myself included, could have imagined. It was still a solid album, and one I listened to on continuous repeat when I was in college, but there was no denying it was aimed at a completely different audience than their earlier material. Many older fans felt betrayed and refused to even give them the time of day. Soundtrack To Your Escape being an inconsistent mess didn't help either.

It was in the wake of this fallout that Come Clarity and A Sense Of Purpose came along to try to prove the new direction wasn't some affront to be shunned but rather an incredibly innovative band continuing to be just that. Come Clarity was certainly a big improvement from their last album and I remember metal fans in my personal life who barely knew anything about underground metal raving about In Flames because of it. To me, A Sense Of Purpose continued the direction of Come Clarity but made the formula even tighter, crafting an album without a single bad song on it. This is not something I say lightly either; most of my favorite albums have at least one track I don't care for, so to enjoy everything on an album is incredibly rare for me.

What was truly shocking to me is how "The Chosen Pessimist" became one of my best friend's favorite songs from pretty much the moment he first heard it and how he was angry at me for not sharing it with him sooner. It is definitely one of the heaviest emotional moments of the In Flames's discography and being in such a juxtaposition to the rocking music around it only makes it that much more special. If nothing else, this one song was able to demonstrate that their new direction wasn't empty mainstream-pandering schlock, but music trying to hit on a different level that wouldn't have been possible with their original style.

- In Short - Is A Sense Of Purpose perfect? No, as with anything, if you look for flaws, then they're there, but does it deserve the scorn it seems to receive? Not at all, in my opinion. Every song has a hook that will drag you in and keep you coming back, the entire album is strong from front to back, and a few individual songs help to elevate the experience to another level. There is a generous balance of clean and rough vocals, along with Jasper's trademark "somewhere in between" range that is the driving force of nearly every song no different than it was in their earliest days. Well worth a listen.

For A Taste, Check Out: "Drenched in Fear", "The Chosen Pessimist", "Sleepless Again"