It was with a sense of excitement that I made my way to Sydney for the final show of In Flames first Australian tour. Despite not rating their newest album ‘Soundtrack To Your Escape’ highly, I was still thrilled with the prospect of seeing the band behind such classic albums as The Jester Race and Whoracle.

Before the show I staged an interview with Michael Kordek, the guitarist/backing vocalist of Daysend. While waiting for the interview, I was privileged enough to be able to sit in on Daysend’s soundcheck as they tore through ‘Blood Of Angels’ as well as a brand new song.

As we sat on the balcony outside performing the interview, I could see that the queue to get in was already quite lengthy with another half-hour to go until the doors actually opened. A few raucous roars from some of the lads in the queue showed that this was not going to be an evening of light entertainment.

Daysend took to the stage with the floor lightly covered, it seems most were at the bar when the band actually started. This changed however with Daysend’s brutal, yet melodic metal quickly encouraging others to join the pit; indeed it is to Daysend’s credit that the main floor was packed out well before the end of their set. This was a strong, professional performance, which only goes further to cement Daysend’s reputation as one of the best new Australian metal acts.

American metallers Chimaira were next up. Having been fairly unimpressed with their two albums, I can’t say that I was expecting too much. However, Chimaira live is a different beast altogether. There is an energy that this band put out live that seems to mask the shortfalls in their songwriting. If they can capture this on their next album, as well as continuing in their new thrashier direction, their next effort could be quite special indeed. New drummer Kevin Talley was a stand out performer, blasting his drumkit into submission, and allaying any fears that they would be softer for having lost original drummer, Andols Herrick.

It was to the strains of Dead Alone that In Flames took the stage, the band giving this song an intensity which seemed to be lacking from the album version. There was no let up as the band ripped straight into System from Reroute To Remain. This was an intensity that the band kept throughout the duration of the night, perhaps aided by the fact that Peter, Bjorn and Jesper were racing around the stage like madmen through most of the set, while Anders basically stayed put in the centre.

The setlist, 19 songs in all, read like a latest and greatest of In Flames, with all 7 albums represented by at least one song. The highlight of the evening was actually one of the slower songs, a beautiful rendition of Moonshield from The Jester Race. Rumour has it that this is one of, if not THE last time that In Flames are planning to play this song live, which is a real shame. Especially considering that the same rumour has been circulating about one of the other highlights of the evening, Jotun.

All was not perfect however, as there were a few flubs in Jesper and/or Bjorn’s guitar playing, but most people didn’t notice/didn’t care. The rhythm section of Svensson and Iwers however were flawless, and Anders Friden was near perfect on vocals, the only problem being a slightly questionable attempt at the chorus to Superhero Of The Computer Rage. Most of these flaws could be written off however as being the end result of a long tour.

As the show drew towards the end, the set grew heavier with the more familiar modern tracks of In Flames with strong renditions of all of their recent singles Touch Of Red, The Quiet Place, Trigger and Cloud Connected. During Cloud Connected two people (who I’m assuming were part of the In Flames entourage), a man and a woman, ran onto the stage between Bjorn and Anders, topless. The crowd got a real thrill out the young lady’s appearance. Anders joked after the song and the duo’s departure that they were joining the band permanently. The band then going on to end the show with an excellent version of My Sweet Shadow from Soundtrack To Your Escape.

In all, it was a great evening of metal with the three bands turning in great performances. What more could you ask for?