In Flames "A Sense Of Purpose"

A Sense of Purpose is the ninth studio album by Swedish metal band In Flames. The album was released first in Japan on 26 March 2008 with 15 tracks and later in Europe on 4 April 2008 through Nuclear Blast and through Koch Records in North America on 1 April. This is the last album with Jesper Stromblad, at this point the last original member. He quit in February 2010. The album debuted at number 1 on the official Swedish album chart. On 21 May 2009, the song "Disconnected" became an available download for the video game, Guitar Hero World Tour.

Similar to previous In Flames albums, A Sense of Purpose showcased the band's influence to combine many elements such as rich keyboard use and distinct melodies, with thrash and heavy metal sounds. A Sense of Purpose contains the band's longest recorded song to date, "The Chosen Pessimist".

In an interview with Björn Gelotte, he had this to say about the album:

“ It’s awesome. It’s energetic, melodic, pretty much in the same vein. But we always try to mix it up a bit and try to put some dynamics into the songs, even though they are very intense. If you’ve heard the previous ones, you pretty much know what vein we’re going to be. It’s just a matter of small experiments in different songs. ”

The album was released in a limited edition boxset version of which only 1500 copies were made. This release became available on the same day as the European release. A limited edition Digipak came with a making-of DVD. In the documentary, it is stated that they recorded 17 songs and used 12 for the album and another three for the single. This makes two previously unknown songs that have not been released yet.

Before the album's release, In Flames launched a special fansite called the Jesterhead.com which featured exclusive contents about the band.

The album also received a Parental Advisory label, making the album the only In Flames album to have explicit lyrics since Lunar Strain except for the song "Watch Them Feed" from their Trigger EP. The artwork for the album cover was done by Alex Pardee, who has created all the cover art for The Used and Aiden's album Conviction. The album is the first studio album since Clayman to feature the band's icon, the "Jester Head", on the cover art.

The lead single "The Mirror's Truth" was officially released on 7 March 2008 and was featured in the video game Madden NFL 09. In Flames released two other singles from A Sense of Purpose: "Alias" and "Delight and Angers".

On 10 April the album debuted at number 1 on the official Swedish album chart.[13] It also debuted at number 28 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In 2009 the album went gold in Sweden.

Spelling error on the back lists the Jesterhead fan club as 'Festerhead'.

Videos were made for "The Mirror's Truth", "Alias" and "Delight and Angers".

Recorded at IF Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Mixed at Skip Saylor Recordings in Los Angeles, California.

Mastered at Marcussen Mastering Studios in Hollywood, California.

Keyboards and programming performed at Wasteland Studios.