Clayman is the fifth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released via Nuclear Blast on 3 July 2000. It has a dark theme, with most of the lyrics dealing with depression and internal struggles. Clayman is the final In Flames album to feature their original melodic death metal sound. The band would later start to experiment with other styles on their next release, Reroute to Remain, gradually progressing these more experimental elements across their future releases later into the 2000s. Like on some songs on the previous album Colony the band tuned their guitars to drop A# on the songs Pinball Map and ...As the Future Repeats Today.
| Clayman | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 3 July 2000[1] | |||
| Recorded | 31 January–? 2000[2] | |||
| Studio | Studio Fredman, Gothenburg | |||
| Genre | Melodic death metal[3] | |||
| Length | 43:44 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| In Flames chronology | ||||
| ||||
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 produced for the songs "Pinball Map" (directed by Tamara Jordan) and "Only for the Weak".
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Rock Hard | 9.5/10[5] |
In 2005, Clayman was ranked No. 448 in Rock Hard magazine's book "The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time".[6] In 2020, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 2000 by Metal Hammer magazine.[7]
In 2020, "Bullet Ride", "Pinball Map", "Only for the Weak", and the title track were re-recorded for a 20th-anniversary edition of the album. Fan responses to the re-recordings have been mixed.[8]
Track listing
editAll lyrics are written by Anders Fridén; all music is composed by Jesper Strömblad and Björn Gelotte
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | "Clayman" | 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 |
| Total length: | 43:44 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Strong and Smart" (No Fun at All cover, also in 2000 Japanese edition) | 2:22 |
| 13. | "World of Promises" (Treat cover) | 3:49 |
| Total length: | 49:55 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Only for the Weak" (Live version) | 4:51 |
| 13. | "Pinball Map" (Live version) | 4:30 |
| 14. | "Strong and Smart" (No Fun at All cover) | 2:22 |
| Total length: | 55:27 | |
Apart from remastered versions of the original songs, the 20th Anniversary Edition features the following tracks:
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Themes and Variations in D-Minor" (instrumental) | |
| 13. | "Only for the Weak" (Re-recorded) | |
| 14. | "Bullet Ride" (Re-recorded) | |
| 15. | "Pinball Map" (Re-recorded) | |
| 16. | "Clayman" (Re-recorded) |
Personnel
editIn Flames
edit- Anders Fridén – vocals
- Björn Gelotte – guitar
- Jesper Strömblad – guitar
- Peter Iwers – bass
- Daniel Svensson – drums
Additional personnel
edit- Charlie Storm – programming, synthesizer
- Christopher Amott (Arch Enemy) – guitar solo on "Suburban Me"
- Fredrik Nordström – additional programming, synthesizer, recording, production
- In Flames – recording, production
- Axel Hermann – artwork, layout
- Tobias Lundgren – photography
Charts
edit| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] | 48 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] | 16 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[11] | 69 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] | 26 |
References
edit- ^ "Metal Archives".
- ^ "((the official In Flames homepage - http://www.inflames.com))". inflames.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2000. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Palmerston, Sean. "In Flames - Clayman". Exclaim!. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ "Clayman - In Flames". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
- ^ Albrecht, Frank. "RockHard: Review anzeigen" (in German) (158). Rock Hard. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Rensen, Michael; Kühnemund, Götz (2005). Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Rock Hard. p. 30. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
- ^ "The Top 20 best metal albums of 2000". Metal Hammer. Future plc. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "In Flames Re-Recorded "Clayman" and the Internet LOVES It". 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – In Flames – Clayman" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – In Flames – Clayman" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – In Flames – Clayman". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 September 2020.