In Flames "Clayman (Japan, Toy's Factory, TFCK-87214)"

Clayman is the fifth album by Swedish metal band In Flames. The album was released by Nuclear Blast on July 25, 2000. Most of the lyrics deal with depression and internal struggles. The album's cover art is based on Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man drawing.

The Jester Head appears in the background, both on the cover, and in the album booklet itself. Music videos were made for "Pinball Map" (directed by Tamara Jordan) and "Only for the Weak".

In 2005, Clayman was ranked No. 448 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

In 2020, "Bullet Ride", "Pinball Map", "Only for the Weak", and the title track were re-recorded for a twentieth-anniversary edition of the album.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Anders Fridén; all music is composed by Jesper Strömblad and Björn Gelotte.

1. "Bullet Ride" 4:42
2. "Pinball Map" 4:08
3. "Only for the Weak" 4:55
4. "...As the Future Repeats Today" 3:27
5. "Square Nothing" 3:57
6. "Clay Man" 3:28
7. "Satellites and Astronauts" 5:00
8. "Brush the Dust Away" 3:17
9. "Swim" 3:14
10. "Suburban Me" (featuring Christopher Amott) 3:35
11. "Another Day in Quicksand" 3:56
12. "Strong and Smart (No Fun at All cover)"  2:20  

Time:  46:09

Recording information:

Recorded and produced at Studio Fredman.

Fredrik Nordström – additional programming, synthesizer, recording, production

In Flames – recording, production

Axel Hermann – artwork, layout

Tobias Lundgren – photography

In Flames "Colony (2014 Reissue, Special Edition Digipak, Germany, Century Media, 9984908)"

Colony is the fourth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released on 21 May 1999 via Nuclear Blast Records.

It is the first In Flames album to feature the band's classic line-up; Björn Gelotte switched to lead guitar, to replace Glenn Ljungström, and Daniel Svensson filled the drummer position left vacant by Gelotte. Peter Iwers became the new bass player, replacing Johan Larsson. With Anders Fridén and Jesper Strömblad remaining on vocals and rhythm guitar respectively, this lineup remained unchanged until 2010.

In 2021, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999 by Metal Hammer magazine.

The album deals with various aspects of religion, society, and spirituality, from the somewhat positive light of "Embody the Invisible" and "The New Word", to the more negative "Zombie Inc." and "Scorn". Colony features a faster, tighter, and more energetic approach to the music than displayed on the previous album, Whoracle, though the songwriting approach is similar.

The title of the song "The New Word" is subject to debate. According to the track list on the back cover of the original 1999 release, the official In Flames web site, and the lyrics printed in the original 1999 CD booklet, the correct title is "The New Word"; however, according to the heading of the lyrics printed for the song in the original booklet, the track list on the 2004 re-release, and the official Nuclear Blast Records website, the song is called "The New World". The 2009 re-release Colony: Reloaded did nothing to clear up this issue, with the insert and the booklet containing the same inconsistency as the original 1999 release. The song's lyrics themselves, meanwhile, suggest that "The New Word" is indeed the correct title.

"Pallar Anders Visa" is a cover of the Swedish folk song "Pallars-Anders visa" which can be roughly translated as "song of Anders the thief". It is an instrumental, just like the bonus track "Man Made God". Guitarist Björn Gelotte talked about it in an interview:

It's an old Swedish traditional song. Really old. "Pallar Anders" is a name, but it means "Anders, the guy who steals apples" and it's his song. I don't know how to translate it.

The song "Embody the Invisible" appears in the soundtrack for the 2003 video game Tony Hawk's Underground.

The tracks "Behind Space '99" and "Clad in Shadows '99" are both remakes of the tracks first heard on Lunar Strain, although "Behind Space '99" excludes the acoustic guitar outro present on the original version.

This would be the first time the band would down tune their guitars from C standard on previous album with "Ordinary Story" and "Colony" being tuned to drop A#, something they would continue on future albums.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Anders Fridén, except where noted; all music is composed by Jesper Strömblad, except where noted.

1. "Embody the Invisible" 3:37
2. "Ordinary Story" 4:16
3. "Scorn" Björn Gelotte, Strömblad 3:37
4. "Colony" 4:39
5. "Zombie Inc." 5:05
6. "Pallar Anders Visa" (instrumental) 1:41
7. "Coerced Coexistence" 4:14
8. "Resin" 3:21
9. "Behind Space '99" 3:58
10. "Insipid 2000" 3:45
11. "The New Word" Gelotte, Strömblad 3:18
12. "Colony (live)"  4:30  
13. "Ordinary Story (live)"  4:07  
14. "Scorn (live)"  3:45  
15. "Man Made God"  4:11  

Time:  58:05  

According to Björn Gelotte Pallar Anders visa is "an old Swedish traditional song. [...] "Pallar Anders" is a name, but it means "Anders, the guy who steals apples" and it's his song". "Pallar" is a synonym of "to steal" in Swedish.

"Behind Space '99" (and also the bonus track "Clad in Shadows '99") are remakes of the original 1994 tracks, then sung by Mikael Stanne.

"Embody the Invisible" appears in the soundtrack of the video game Tony Hawk's Underground.

Official music videos:

- Ordinary Story

- Colony

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at Studio Fredman, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Mastered at the Mastering Room, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Göran Finnberg – mastering

Andreas Marschall – front cover illustration

In Flames "Soundtrack To Your Escape (Japan, Toy's Factory, TFCK-87346)"

Soundtrack to Your Escape is the seventh studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released on 29 March 2004.

The album was criticized by longtime fans because of a major change in musical style. However, the album was seen by many as a natural progression from Reroute to Remain and was critically praised by critics such as Metal Hammer and Kerrang!. It reached number 3 in Sweden, number 45 on the American Billboard 200 chart (the band's first album to reach the Billboard 200), number 2 on the Top Heatseekers chart, and number 7 on the Independent Albums chart. This would mark the first album where the band would exclusively use drop A# tuning and abandoning the C standard tuning of previous albums.

The album is available in both a regular jewel case version featuring 12 tracks and a limited edition digipak with a bonus track, "Discover Me Like Emptiness". The Japanese version has an additional live track called "Clayman".

A special edition, which includes a bonus DVD with live footage and videos of the singles "The Quiet Place" and "Touch of Red", was also released. Music videos were produced for the songs "My Sweet Shadow", "Like You Better Dead", "Borders and Shading" and "F(r)iend".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Anders Fridén, Björn Gelotte, and Jesper Strömblad.

1. "F(r)iend" 3:27
2. "The Quiet Place" 3:45
3. "Dead Alone" 3:43
4. "Touch of Red" 4:13
5. "Like You Better Dead" 3:23
6. "My Sweet Shadow" 4:39
7. "Evil in a Closet" 4:02
8. "In Search for I" 3:23
9. "Borders and Shading" 4:22
10. "Superhero of the Computer Rage" 4:01
11. "Dial 595-Escape" 3:48
12. "Bottled" 4:18
13. "Clayman (live)"  4:02   

Time:  50:58

Videos were made for "The Quiet Place", "Touch of Red", "Like You Better Dead" and "My Sweet Shadow".

Recording information:

Recorded in Denmark except drums, recorded at Dug-Out Studios, Uppsala, Sweden.

Mixed at Galaxy Studios, Mol, Belgium.

Mastered at Cutting Room, Stockholm, Sweden.

Niklas Sundin – album cover

Daniel Bergstrand – audio engineer, audio production, engineer, mixing, producer

Björn Engelmann – mastering

Örjan Örnkloo – keyboards, programming, engineering, mixing, sampling