Hello everyone, it's Monday, which means it's time for another edition of my Monday music series.

As always we begin with a sampling of some excellent metal. This week our metal dosage comes courtesy of In Flames. We've featured In Flames before, but only their older work. In Flames began as one of the main pioneers of melodic death metal alongside Dark Tranquility, At the Gates, and Opeth. However after about 4 albums of classic melodeath they began transitioning into something else, something more infused with the American Numetal aesthetic. I happen to think the end product of this transition was negative, but that isn't to say they didn't make some good music on the way down. This song comes from their seventh studio album, Soundtrack to Your Escape. This is "My Sweet Shadow"

Now let me come clean to you here. I am not, repeat NOT a Snow Patrol fan. I tend to think of them as a watered down ripoff of Coldplay, who are themselves a watered down ripoff (at least originally) of Radiohead. That being said, I still love this song of theirs, "Chasing Cars."

Recently I finally got to listening to a Chance the Rapper mixtape in full, and my goodness, I was completely floored. His mixtape Acid Rap is probably one of the most extraordinary efforts by an underground (at the time) rapper I've ever heard. Every track is popping with energy and inlaid with a sincerity that can't be forged. Chance is trying to love his life, and thinks you should too. I had a hell of a time deciding on which song to feature, finally settling on this contemplative, wistful track, "Acid Rain," which among other things features a line so mic-dropping it has to be repeated ("And I still be asking God to show His face")

Some of you may recognize this next song as the theme for the History Channel TV series Vikings (which is excellent, by the way). This is "If I Had a Heart" by Fever Ray:

And up last, but certainly not least, I'm hitting you with an extra dose of metal, this of the more contemplative variety. I mentioned Opeth earlier, and it's worth showcasing what happens when a melodic death metal band changes in a different way, in this case transitioning into something more like progressive rock. This is one of my favorites of theirs, "Hours of Wealth."