There is less lead guitar work and more of a focus on milder tempos including acoustic medleys with a lot of aura behind them. I'd say that after their next album entitled "Clayman", I lost interest in the band because they changed their style of music too much to the point to where I'd just want to say that they (like many other bands) sold out. I don't feel that way about "Colony" because it's still within the melodic death metal category. Even though there are some songs with clean throat also, they still maintained themselves into being true to their roots.
The guitar riffs are at a milder tempo, but they still have some aggression behind the music whereas on "Clayman", it's a little "happier" sounding. Noteworthy guitars, same lyrical concepts i.e. astronomy and fantasy, plus music that only features solid melodic death metal. This album is slower than "Whoracle" in terms of the tempos, but like I previously said a solid release within the metal genre. A lot of chord progressions, some tremolo picked riffing (but not as much as "Whoracle"), and a milder vibe to the music.
"Whoracle" was way more noteworthy than this one and I was surprised that it got a lower overall rating than "Colony". It was probably due to the recording quality (like I said) and a more solid drum work than it's predecessor. I'd have to say that I liked "Whoracle" more, but I'm not saying that it's a total waste to pick up this album for yourself. It's definitely vintage In Flames, just milder and still featuring some form of aggression to the music.
In summation, "Colony" is definitely an album get if you're a melodic death metal freak like me. As I previously stated, it's not as noteworthy as "Whoracle", but it's still good musical outputs and overall musicianship by the band. Strange tuning on the guitars though, but they still kick butt with the rhythms. I think that a combination of clean/distorted guitar riffing was well put out here, but not as good as "Whoracle" or even before that "The Jester Race".