Classic Album Anniversary: In Flames - Subterranean (1995)

"My spine shivers with the touch of your lips...
My pale skin turns red when we kiss...
Piercing your nails deep into my back...
As I slowly kiss your ivory neck..."

Subterranean is an EP Swedish melodeath pioneers In Flames released 20 years ago. As numerous EPs by other bands, this release has faded into obscurity and is mostly remembered by die-hard fans of the band's early works. Is this lack of attention justified or is Subterranean a hidden gem in the In Flames catalog?

Subterranean was recorded at a time when In Flames was still just a project and lacked a stable line-up, having to hire session members in order to record and perform live. This release features founding members Jesper Strömblad (guitar), Glenn Ljungström (guitar) and Johan Larsson (bass), along with session vocalist Henke Forss and session drummers Daniel Erlandsson, who would later join Arch Enemy, and Anders Jivarp of Dark Tranquillity. Henke Forss' vocals are more black metal-sounding than future frontman Anders Fridén's, and his lyrics include a lot of romantic imagery (as seen in the quote from the title-track above), which would be more at home on a gothic metal album. In other words, his style wasn't a good fit for In Flames, so it's not surprising that the band didn't keep him.

The songs are typical mid-90s Gothenburg metal with guitar harmonies, harsh vocals and double bass drumming, as well as folky acoustic sections. Opener "Stand Ablaze" is arguably one of the greatest In Flames songs ever, as the guitar melodies in the last 1½ minutes are pure ear candy. It's also the only song on the EP that is known to have been played live, although it hasn't been resurrected since 1999. "Stand Ablaze" sets the bar so high that the remaining four tracks can't live up to it, although the title-track is pretty good. "Everdying" ends with a nice acoustic outro, but it also feels slightly tacked-on. "Timeless" is an instrumental filler track and "Biosphere" isn't particularly memorable.

The reissue comes with four bonus tracks: two of them are demo versions of songs that would be recorded for The Jester Race, but with different vocalists, and the other two are cover songs. "Dead Eternity" sounds fairly close to the album version, with the exception of Jocke Göthberg's voice, which sounds fairly black metalish like Henke Forss'. I actually prefer his performance to Anders Fridén's strained vocals on the final version. "The Inborn Lifeless" features Per Gyllenbäck on vocals, and it's an early version of "Dead God in Me" with different lyrics and a shorter ending - not as good as the album version, but it's interesting to hear a different take on a familiar classic song. The cover of Metallica's "Eye of the Beholder" is almost identical to the original song, with the exception of the faster tempo and some additional screams in the chorus. Guest vocalist Robert Dahne tries to sound like James Hetfield, but the results are horrendous. In Flames manages to inject more of its own sound into Iron Maiden's "Murders in the Rue Morgue", but this cover isn't amazing, either.

The problem with Subterranean is a lack of focus: if In Flames had been a proper band at the time the EP was recorded, they could've refined the songs more. However, as the bonus demo tracks show, In Flames was taking steps towards the sound that made them famous on The Jester Race. Subterranean isn't an essential release by any means, but "Stand Ablaze" is definitely worth listening to, and the EP can be recommended to those who love The Jester Race and want to hear what came before it.

Rating: 3/5