Loved this band since first hearing the Lunar Strain effort, highly rate Colony and Clayman and Reroute to Remain. However Soundtrack to your escape was painfully bad (methinks taking the steps on reroute too far) - then Come Clarity was heavily infected with the taint of EMO, and Anders thinking he can sing despite his being excellent only for screaming.
Then we come to A Sense of Purpose; to sum it up, listening again to every album pre Soundtrack, it just feels like they are holding back on the aggresive creative front. It's nothing not heard of before, whilst it is siginature In Flames it is by no means vintage.
It is a good listen for any fan but will soon slip to the back of far greater In Flames albums. One can only, feel in the wake of bands like Arch Enemy and Gojira who are marching on with the sound, that In Flames will find themselves in a similar position to Fear Factory and Machine Head around 2001, only time will tell if they can turn it around like the afforementioned greats.

Many have turned their back on In Flames, others have just discovered them but love or hate them, In Flames currently sit as one of the biggest bands in metal today. A Sense Of Purpose, they're ninth studio album, sees the band blatantly turn their back on their Melodic Death Metal routes for a more conventional metalcore sound but do In Flames as a band still serve a sense of purpose? While Come Clarity had an almost industrial futuristic touch to its sound, A Sense Of Purpose is much more earthly be that with the occasional bleeps and samples. Anders still writes with the gritty passion he always has and that's none more evident than in Disconnected and Alias. One thing that features too often and not to any great pleasure is the regular placement of almost acoustic solos which strips down the In Flames sound to a weak stature. I'm The Highway sounds so Americanised its quite shocking, almost something As I Lay Dying have created but as the aforementioned has stated In Flames as their biggest influence, maybe it should be the other way round. Move Through Me emulates that sound of nuclear night and sees In Flames revisit that industrial touch of their past which I personally love. Everything on here is done to a fine standard but fails to truly shock or impress you. In Flames' peak is a hard one to better and they're currently putting out fantastic songs but nothing to better the classics of they're past such as Only For The Weak, My Sweet Shadow and Pinball Map. Maybe by the time they're next album out A Sense Of Purpose will contain a classic In Flames anthem but at the moment its just another fine catalogue of songs from the metal pioneers that are In Flames.

omg! what an album! everysong on it is great! all round great listen! and a definate inporvement from there last album! so yer comes with a DVD aswell so awesome value!

I question anyones taste if they talk this album down... the "biggest letdown since St. Anger" is a bigger joke then funeral for a friend being the surprise band at download a few years back!!! This album is even better than Come Clarity

Somewhat sick of fanboys that start hacking in flames off for not mimicing the jester race. This album is outstanding, i've been a fan of in flames since their coming, and to 1 star this album is a sin. The direction they've been heading is brilliant, I fail to see what there is to dislike ;o
Outstanding, Brilliant album, a must have.
6 stars.

I was very excited to get this album and for the first time after listening to an In Flames album I felt disappointed. I had no problem with their albums before this as Come Clarity is one of my favorites, but I think this has to be one of there worst. It sounds as if they are running out of ideas as most of the songs sound quite similar and boring. Alias is the only song I really like and I would keep listening to. This album is definitely aimed at their newer fans and will probably dissapoint many longtime fans. I can only hope that their next album will be better than this.

I too have been a fan of In Flames ever since their instrumental demos were played on the Friday Night Rock Show on Radio one with Tommy Vance.

Yes the new album is more commercial than previous albums, but is still full of the old fashioned IF melodies which we all love.

I think that most of the songs would struggle to match the stuff from Whoracle and Clayman etc which was on Live in Tokyo but it is a decent album in its own right!!

Don't get me wrong, I live for in flames, have a Jester tattoed on my shoulder and their music means alot to me.
But this album was the biggest let down ever, perhaps even bigger than St.Anger.
I respect in flames for trying something different but I hope they will never make another awful album like this. this is spitting on all the earlier albums they have made.

May you find your way back In Flames.

Being a long standing fan of In Flames has been an arduous journey. Starting with albums like Whoracle and Colony, I have obviously been spoilt, as I have listened to In Flames slowly go down hill more and more.

A Sense of Purpose finally took the last part of my biscuit.

I have never known In Flames for slow "meaningful" songs that don't go anywhere, ASOP is absolutely littered with them. The lyrics seem to be as though Anders has turned 16 again (perhaps to appeal to his new audience) and it upsets me when a band loses their whole direction. I have watched the band "mature" and seen the narrow focus they once had for hard guitar work and solid metaphorical lyrics disappear and it is a real shame.

What has gone from being a solid Melodic Death band in the late 90's, to a thrash ridden mess of an album. I thought I would never go off In Flames, but after A Sense of Purpose, Come Clarity and Soundtrack To Your Escape, they have finally made me decide to buy no more of their albums.

Do you want a reasonable insight to In Flames? Go and listen to Jester Race, Whoracle or Colony.

its simple buy this freakin album there amazing band i have all there albums and this one is awersome dont be daft and not buy this album the cover looks like it was drawn by a 10 year old but thats about it every song gets you hooked alias has to be the best track but there allllll good!!!!!!!!!!!!