Five Former Members Of In Flames Unite In The Halo Effect

Also, probably not going to go down well, but I actually hear a little of Cyhra in THE stuff. Particularly the melodic intros. In 'Feel What I Believe' I can imagine Jake's vocals coming in just as the intro section ends. The major difference between the two is that in THE the melodies and riffing are more intricate and interesting than Cyhra, whose songs on NHIH in particular run out of stream as soon as the intro is done. THE manages to keep things interesting throughout.

Yeah, not too surprised. I think THE is more like what Jesper wanted Cyhra to be in the beginning. Or maybe he thought it would be more like Hammerfall than MDM. THE is actually metal though, and the front man is actually metalhead, not a radio rock wannabe, so that helps.
 
THE production isn't on Clayman level, but what is? God-tier production and musical skill that we may just have to accept as a one off. Personally I don't have any issues with THE production, it sounds fine. It certainly isn't ruining any of the songs for me.
It sounds flat to me but I guess I’m in the minority.
 
Yeah, not too surprised. I think THE is more like what Jesper wanted Cyhra to be in the beginning. Or maybe he thought it would be more like Hammerfall than MDM. THE is actually metal though, and the front man is actually metalhead, not a radio rock wannabe, so that helps.

LtM is a curious kaleidoscope of ideas, jumping between MDM style riffing, power metal, alt metal, and everything in between. It never settled on an identity, but it was a nice taster of what could be. We all presumed the second album would be more consistent and focused, and technically it was... unfortunately it was consistently boring and uninspired. A shame.

It sounds flat to me but I guess I’m in the minority.

All I can say is I've heard far worse! It would have been awesome if THE had gone to Nordstrom and tried to recreate that classic era MDM production, but I think there's some heat between Jesper and Nordstrom, so probably never an option sadly.
 
Finally got round to listening to The Needless End, man what a great song, probably either favorite or second favorite of the singles so far. Very much hearing the aroma era DT coming through on this one but with some early IF riffs here and there. If In Flames inevitably underwhelms then at least Days Of The Lost is shaping up to be a great throwback album
 
Yeah I have no worries about The Halo Effect at this point, album is going to be killer without a doubt. It'll likely go:

Days of the Lost



IF latest effort









Cyhra III
 
To me, the missing is perfect. I can hear all the instruments (which is good) and the different layers. I don't see any flaw in it.

But, I guess, that depends on the source and the equipment used.
 
also Days Of The Lost
and Shadowminds
also that acoustic outro on Shadowminds is Black Ash-Inheritance acoustic medley's twin brother, lol
 
Last edited:
new song live, quality is as shit as in the State Of Slow Decay recording


Love that opening! Reminds me a bit of Starforsaken. Sound quality is terrible overall but I really like what I can hear. Sounds like this one is going to be another killer track.
 
also Days Of The Lost
and Shadowminds
also that acoustic outro on Shadowminds is Black Ash-Inheritance acoustic medley's twin brother, lol


Outro on Shadowminds is great, and so is the intro before Days of the Lost. I hope that's on the album somewhere!
 
  • Like
Reactions: mindd
Love that opening! Reminds me a bit of Starforsaken. Sound quality is terrible overall but I really like what I can hear. Sounds like this one is going to be another killer track.
Indeed, opening is bad ass. Reminds me of At The Gates - The Swarm. And it’s a very driving song, a good one.

The sound quality is bad, but the songs seem to have more energy and power live than the recordings. I’m getting more convinced this is going to be a great album.
 
This one sounds great.

Arrgh, why isn't the album coming out sooner!?
 
If you count that bad quality live version of The Last of Our Kind we've actually heard 6/10 of the songs on the album now. The only ones we haven't heard yet are 'Conditional', 'Gateways', 'A Truth Worth Lying For' and 'The Most Alone' - plus any potential bonus tracks.
 
If you count that bad quality live version of The Last of Our Kind we've actually heard 6/10 of the songs on the album now. The only ones we haven't heard yet are 'Conditional', 'Gateways', 'A Truth Worth Lying For' and 'The Most Alone' - plus any potential bonus tracks.

About that...
Gateways
A Truth Worth Lying For
 
  • Like
Reactions: DE4life
About that...
Gateways
A Truth Worth Lying For


Both sound great, that fucking sound quality though :bah: either the sound was travelling badly at the festival or dude's phone is from 2007.

Also Jesper was smiling! Nice to see, I've almost forgot he was capable of that

Seeing the guys all hugging each other at the end of Shadowminds gave me some feels, not gonna lie. They look really happy. Mikael was the last to leave the stage, seemed to really be taking it all in.
 
I tried to listen to the songs but it's a bit painful. Jesper uploaded a reel on Instagram with the band entering the stage.
 
Both are good, but A Truth Worth Lying For just kills it. A proper MDM single material.

Not sure if this will make sense, but THE just hits all the right buttons with me. They are making listenable songs with nice hooks while still retaining that note of seriousness and a bit of depression or something behind. And basically, that is what MDM is supposed to be - do death metal using epic, catchy riffs and chords progressions and Iron Maiden-esque melodies.

It is easy to stray from that path into metalcore, alt whatever, into radio-friendly trash or boring evil-sounding riffs when you run out of ideas etc.

I don't know, there is just a general feel-good vibe around this band that just resonates with me. I mean, how can you not love it when you see a bunch of guys you like and respect back on the stage plus Mikael Stanne who is so into it like he is 18 and this is his first big stage in life?

P.S. I'm a sucker for cool little harmonized acoustics, so that helps as well.
 
Both songs sound great. I wasn't a huge huge fan of Shadowminds or Days of the Lost, but maybe those are the weaker (to me, anyway) exceptions on an otherwise strong album.