This shouldn’t be such a big deal. Anyone who is stunned by In Flames’s seemingly sudden shift to easily-digestible alt-metal hasn’t been playing very close attention. This has been a long time coming.

In Flames, renowned for originating the Gothenburg sound, also known “melodic death metal” or “melo-death” started as a studio project for Jesper Strömblad (then of Ceremonial Oath). The debut “Lunar Strain” was kind of all over the place with folk instrumentals alongside brutal metal. Their signature sound consisted of relentless drumming, growled vocals and melodic guitar leads. By their fifth record “Reroute to Remain” they had introduced melodic choruses with cleanly sung vocals.

The harsh verse/melodic chorus pattern continued until album #9, “Sounds of a Playground Fading”, which also marked the departure of Strömblad. With more rock oriented songwriting and clean vocals being featured more prominently it was their most accessible to date. “Siren Charms” picks up where they left off and pushes even further in that direction.

For the first time ever In Flames is suitable for rock radio.

This is especially apparent in the first single “Rusted Nail” which has a huge chorus. There’s also a pair of power ballads in “When The World Explodes” and “With Eyes Wide Open”. If you shelled out for the deluxe edition, you’ll get the oddly uplifting “Become The Sky” as the bonus track. The overall feel is more mid-tempo with throwback “Everything’s Gone” acting as the only true rager.

One jarring curiosity is how much louder the title track is mastered compared to the rest of the album. It’s distracting to say the least and I wonder if the record was rushed out the door.

I didn’t get into the band until seven or eight years ago, so I’m not clinging as tightly to their old stuff as some of the die-hards. I found plenty to like here and have enjoyed witnessing the band’s evolution. Old-school In Flames fans will love or hate “Siren Charms”. But there’s no denying that this is their most accessible record to date.