12.04. 2006 Munich, Zenith
In Flames / Sepultura

wauw... these smart shoes and red & black striped socks are the latest fashion hype of the all eternal thrash metal culture. Including a smart tie and a proper rasta hairstyling. And the visual brand of the In Flames is created. 
Lately there has been a lot of fuss about the swedish group. And on or the other musiclover, who is not quite familiar with this sound  has asked himself, what's so special about them compared to many of their collegues, who sound pretty much the same. Yeah, most of them....

And yep... they are different. And this is not because of the smart shoes and the sexy socks and the tie. The magic word is structure. In Flames have created an individual style and this structure - concerning the stageshow as well as the music itself. But while you know exactly what is meant by the show, you might need a few seconds to figure out the system behind the songs after a thrashy intro.

Yiippiieehh, - the bonfire is exploding including a thunderstorm in the truest sense of the word. And it is so bombastic, heavy and original, that many ears within this venue are dancing Tango. The enthusiasm is enormous. And some of us slaughter themselves by flying through the air towards the holy stage which is secured by some serious looking bodyguards. But bodyguards are only humans as well and they do not have eyes in the back. That's why one of these corpses is landing on me, pulling me down and letting me kiss the ground. I desperately try to get some straight and decent pics, and I pray and hope that there's nothing wrong with me exept a few bruises. We get christened with beer. But who cares. Beer is good for your hair, - so what?! Though I'm glad und grateful, when the battle of Waterloo, oh pardon.... in the photopit  is finished.

’Come Clarity’ is out since february, and since them the swedish export is shooting off. They supported Judas Priest last year, but now they are on a triumph march 'round Europe and the rest of the world. And they really deserve it, because they are special. The IN Flames might not really be, what you call high quality musical standard but the sound of the scandinavians has got edges and tunes which stick in your ear, and you can even sing the refrains along with. And this is rather unusal for a thrashmetal act.  They even got a thrash - power ballad on the setlist, - hard to imagine, but it's true.   

To be honest I had have some doubts about them, and if they were able to play a headliner show at this year's Bang Your Head festival in Balingen in June. But now I know better. They certainly are qualified to do so, with lots of energy, bonfire and thunderstorm, sexy stripy socks and - to repeat myself a excellent sound structure.

Sepultura, the metalgod bless 'em, but nowadays without their past cult status, when even two Cavaleras heat the oven. Today none of them is in the band anymore. And hey mates, I can't help, but something is missing. It's not the music in first place, it's the aura from past days, which is missing a bit. Yeah, of course the lights are not so voluminous, when you're just playing the support role. To be honest, the light cercumstance are such a disaster, that my camera is almost freaking out to get at least some decent pictures. 
However, Sepultura, or what is left of the band, including a frontman, who rather reminds me on a jamaican Reggae sunshine boy, who is sitting on a sunny sandbeach in Negril or Kingston, smoking his little Mariihuana pipe and flirst with some pale blonde beautis, - are trying hard to hold the standard. Okay, they do in a way. Not what's up to the rather poor amount of blonde beauties in the audiance (aprox. 4.000 tonight) but what's up to the still - Die Hard Sepultura Fans. Great. Because as long as they are happy with the south americans, there is still a place for them on the thrashmetal sky - even without the Cavalera family.