In Flames

Sweden's In Flames have risen to the top of the European death metal elite. The band has made a career out of releasing top-notch melodic death metal that nods to the metal gods of yesteryear (Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween) and Clayman is another winner. A touch more melodic than their past releases, helped by the introduction of keyboards into their musical mix, the 12 songs are all winners, even though "Pinball Map" is quite similarly structured to the WASP classic "I Wanna Be Somebody."