Five Former Members Of In Flames Unite In The Halo Effect

[DE4life]

In some instances sure, but THE guys have come out and straight up said the album is a homage to the genre, so it's not really a stretch to assume they had some pretty strong influence from the past as well.

 

[drawntoblack]

Influence - sure, but I don't believe for a second they went and intentionally borrowed bits and pieces from Swim or whatever other songs were named. If you want to write music that sounds like and stays within the norms of Swedish melodeath, the margins within which you are confined to navigate are really not as wide as someone might think, same melodical shapes and motives keep popping up and intertwining. It's also very easy to step outside into something that sounds too cold, too evil, too technical or whatever. There are only so many natural minor melodies that are not too busy, with pleasant, smooth sounding voice leading.

To further drive the point home, most people consider these Jesper-esque melodies the signature of the genre. Jesper is a decent songwriter but he is truly exceptional when it comes to writing melodies. He comes from a classical violin background who took all that scandinavian folk theoretical knowledge and transcribed it to a guitar. That's why it's impossible to emulate him, those are some very unique childhood influences. Look at all the early 2000s american metalcore bands, look at Trivium and those other bands - they all tried to emulate it and they missed the mark by a mile.

 

[eochaid]

They have said it several times. That what they did is what they know best. There's no need to revolutionize the whole genre. It's about coming with good songs that people will enjoy.

 

[Jester Slave]

Nobody keeps the hype about anything as time passes. I've just came home listening to Clayman in my car. I love the album. Do I feel as hyped about it as the first time that I listened to it? Well, no. Because I came to know well the songs. Is still an album that I listen to on a regular basis? Every month. Will I feel the same about THE? Of course I will. Because it's not only an amazing album, it also has all of the elements that I love about melodeath. The only thing that could change my mind was for them to have released the acoustic tracks that they used for the live shows because that would have made it a 10/10 album.

So you never had the case of records or songs from records either growing on you with time or or being less hyped about them with hype. That is most certainly an interesting take, because I don't think many people actually possess the ability - if it's even possessable - to not be biased towards anything when they first watch, play or listen to it.

There's also such a thing as a nostalgia bias, and I think you're displaying some of this with Whoracle. Now as you know I love Whoracle and it's a 9/10 record for me, but it's not like Whoracle has significant tempo changes across the board. No more so than DotL anyway. The only time it really slows down in any meaningful way is JST and WWTM, the same way DotL does with Gateways and In Broken Trust. Otherwise the album is very much a mixture of mid/faster tempo tracks. As far as vocal variance goes, I mean... come on, man. Anders 'talking/mumbling' vocals can be juxtaposed against Mikael's clean vocals and basically have the same amount of coverage across both albums, so again, I think this is just nostalgia bias.

You also have to consider Days of the Lost is not really in the same MDM sphere as Whoracle. It's far closer to the early-to-mid-2000s MDM scene which tended to gravitate more towards traditional heavy metal than the folky/DM mixture heard in TJR and Whoracle. That sound is extremely unique and hasn't really been duplicated since, so I don't know if you can really do a straight comparison between these albums anyway. For me it would be like trying to compare Character, Fiction or Come Clarity to Whoracle. Yes they are technically in the same genre but does it really make sense?

My nostalgia bias is with the R2R-STYE-CC trio. Everything pre-Clayman (aside from Moonshield and Everlost pt. 2 maybe) was ignored for me for a while, and the first full release I have actually seen through was ASOP. I get what you mean by nostalgia bias, as Reflect The Storm was like the 2nd or 3rd IF song I was ever sent via MSN Messenger, so for the longest time I thought it must've been among the band's most famous song, then long story short, that song stick with me through nostalgia bias, while the only people who actually remember it even exists are probably on this board.

No nostalgia for Whoracle though, but since it's not the IF thread: songs like Jotun, WWTM or JST are amazing songs - not knocking on the other tracks, but those feel kinda special. And my point is that it's not about the tempo, because listen to Jotun then Episode 666 and tell me they left you with almost the same impression. They didn't, even though they are among the more similar tracks on the record, so it's like the least favorable comparison to state my point. Or look at Soilwork: yeah, they are doing the same thing for a while now, so in the grand picture we do feel fatigued with them at least a little, but if you treat some of their best records on an indiviual basis, they have been making a lot of great songs per record without having to switch the tempo up too much, ie. they didn't include a ballad just for the sake of having a ballad on the record, so it's not strictly about tempo is my point.

Take Last Of Our Kind for example around the 1:10 mark. Now listen to the beggining of the chorus on Feel What I Believe, also around 1:10. Now back to LOOK 1:10 and start to sing the FWIB chorus, or just listen. Switch back between them a couple of times maybe. Are they the same? No, and maybe you hear what I hear, maybe you don't, but the record has many of these moments for me where I get the feeling "I've been here before". A banger 4-song EP could be made from these 10 tracks. There are some great ideas sprinkled around, but sometimes it feels like everything is just one note.

As for the singers, I'd take a unique and bumpy (Anders) or pristine (Björn) singer over an (almost) entire record of this monotone stuff. I'm not even saying it doesn't have its place, but once again, look at Gateways and tell me it would not have been better with a singer who "dies on the stage" with his performance. That song is left without a crescendo which should've been delivered by a singer, as the rest of the band more than brought their talent to that song. Imagine OFTW being sang that way... and even that performance by Anders I'd say was maybe a bit too dramatic, or theatery, but goddamn if that isn't the final piece of the puzzle that hooks you in.

 

[eochaid]

So you never had the case of records or songs from records either growing on you with time

Mate, we've just told you that we yet like the singles more than when they were released. It's almost as if you never read what we write.

You need to stop projecting your insecurities about SC on us. You came to realize how shitty it is and want everyone else to share that feeling of deep disappointment. Of betray. You want to fill the hole that's left in your heart with some sympathy coming from us.

But this is not the day neither it's the place.

 

[Jester Slave]

Mate, we've just told you that we yet like the singles more than when they were released. It's almost as if you never read what we write.

I did read it but I am talking about the whole record. A 4 or 5 song EP cut of this record would include Feel What I Believe and Shadowminds.

 

[eochaid]

And we have talked about the whole record all of the time. The songs only serve a purpose as examples of what we meant.

It's ok if you don't like it. I can understand that. But, man, seriously, let us live the hype of the moment and be happy that we found an album that we will be able to enjoy even after that hype is gone.

 

[TheJestersDoor]

I think I actually lost brain cells reading the last couple of pages.

 

[DE4life]

It's something we traditionally call the Slave effect.

Here's something to improve matters

 

[eochaid]

Lets be honest, Slave and IF releasing whatever songs are the two things keeping this forum alive.

 

[DE4life]

THE and Cyhra have contributed somewhat in recent years as well. Stopping the forum from being totally dead between IF album releases, at least.

 

[eochaid]

Yes. But, when they release good music, conversations end too soon because we agree about almost everything.

 

[Xpyro125]

You guys are way overvaluing this record and in a months time will knock down your scores by 1.5-2 points. It's not a bad record but holy shit these scores and reviews about the record are in some massive fanboy territory. Not as bad as the reviews on the latest Rammstein record, where the record itself was an actual dogshit, but fanboys were like "yep, that's a 9.5 if I can say so myself!!!", but still...

Almost all of the songs are just balls to the wall chugging. In a vacuum they are pretty good, but throw 7 of them onto the same record and it's just not that interesting. In fact, if it is truly the best mdm record you've heard in the past 20 years, then the genre is officially dead and buried. Stanne alone knocks at least a whole point down from the final score because his voice is just so fucking boring. Yes, if you are a hardcore mdm fan, you won't mind because you don't care too much, it's more about the harmonies and what not, but if you have the slightest taste for something more accessible, more fun vocal wise, than Stanne's growls are just not that. Again, it's fine if you only listen to one of their "CHUGA CHUGA CHUGA" songs from the many, but for nearly 40 minutes straight?! Microsoft Sam had more emotion in his voice, than Stanne's growls...

His cleans are way better. In Broken Trust his cleans would supplement the rest of the song amazingly, if only it wasn't for the mundane, "Stanne does what Stanne does" verses. Anders said that he thought THE sounded more like DT, and while I haven't listened to much DT, I did listen to Atoma (song) a lot and it is veeeery similar with In Broken Trust.

The one song which is actually very good is A Truth Worth Lying For. It's still a copy and paste Stanne performance on the verses, but they really nailed it with the chorus, not as sleepy as In Broken Trust and the instrumental part is much more interesting as well.

My 5 cents if they ever make a new record: 1. either replace Stanne or hire other vocalists at least for the studio versions 2. slow the fuck down sometimes; I know you have to produce your hit singles but mdm's strength is not in musicians banging on their instruments like lunatics 3. add more solos and solo transitions like in Last Of Our Kind - so basically copy Soilwork lol.

My biggest takeaway from this record is that I still miss Daniel.

I mean, I'll admit that I just absolutely love Gothenburg melodeath, so this was a massive treat for me. It's probably my favorite sound in music, maybe aside from shoegaze/dream pop. I think Stanne's performance (At least in the harsh vocal department) is far better than modern DT fare. His vocals here (In comparison to modern DT) sound not necessarily rawer, but projected better, and have a somewhat greater range. I haven't exactly listened to too much older DT, but I can agree that his vocals were rawer and more powerful there. My only real disappointment with him is the chorus of "In Broken Trust". It seems like what we got was just a rough draft of what the song was supposed to be with a basic, somewhat flat melody driving it.

I don't mind some chugging, personally. I hate when a work is mostly chugging (Though groove metal is an exception for me), but this doesn't get too far into that territory for me. There are actual riffs and a ton of classic harmonized lead melodies, as well as some great solos. Not all of them are fantastic, but most of them are really good, and none of them drag any of the songs down (Unlike wah and vibrato enthusiast Bjorn). I do agree about point 3 though- It would be nice to have some more build-ups.

My main disappointment with the record, save for "In Broken Trust"'s cleans (Which are amongst Stanne's most phoned in performances) is the choice of singles. Why would you pick three four minute 100 BPM songs for singles out of the four before the album's release? Why would only one of those four, which thankfully isn't the non-100 BPM song, be not 4/4? Why would they put the clean vocal chorus song as the fifth single when the album comes out? Why would they pick the one of the two with the shitty clean vocals, less IF-feeling melodies, and lack of acoustics? If anything, I think that the choice of singles is the worst thing about the album.

I will admit that my rating of "The Most Alone" might drop though. I like listening to it once, then moving on, but it really doesn't hold up for repeated listens. That, and "Feel What I Believe" has started to become somewhat grating to me, even though it's arguably the song that I've listened to the least aside from "The Most Alone". It just feels like the least justified single to me, I guess. "Shadowminds" is the best opener for and introduction to the band, the title track isn't 100 BPM, and "The Needless End" not only has the overdriven(?) ending, but also is 3/4 instead of 4/4. I think "Conditional" would've been a fantastic single instead. I think "In Broken Trust" is also around 100 BPM, but I'll cut it a little bit of slack as a single for releasing after the album was released. I used a BPM calculator with tapping/clicking, which to be fair, might not be completely accurate, and "In Broken Trust" was around 100 BPM. So yeah... Four out of the five singles are 100 BPM. And that means that at least four out of the ten songs are 100 BPM. I know that's a nitpick, sure, but it's still really disappointing.

I do miss Daniel though, that much I can absolutely agree with. If he laid some vocals down (Especially in "Last of Our Kind", where he'd fit perfectly), that would be the dream right there.

 

[Xpyro125]

With this album I have the same feelings as when I first listened to Clayman. There was something special about the songs. And still there is.

Now, the same here. Even if I won't compare the quality of both albums, that's not what I'm doing here, songs like Feel What I Believe are yet a part of my top favourite songs, and is a list that never loses a song, I always add to it.

About the album, this is the most excited that I've been since CC, and CC has been non stop in my top 2 IF albums, which means that it's my my top 2 favourite albums ever.

But Slave is telling me that I'm wrong because he knows me better than I do. While the fact remains that the rest of us knew what was going to be his reaction. Which means that we know him better than he knows us.

I specially like the part where he's not aware that they are yet making a new album.

To be fair to Slave, he does bring up some valid points. There is quite a bit of chugging, the album has a lot of same-y feeling material (Which I blame mostly on the tempo of the material and general lack of clean vocals overall, which I don't necessarily feel is a bad thing) and Stanne's vocals may not be powerful enough for some. But I guess that's the part where I agree with all of you guys- At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual and subjective taste. What may be mediocre for him and one of my other friends is phenomenal for us because this is exactly the sort of thing we love, with very little that disappoints, even if there are elements that do. It comes down to whether something is too egregious or not, and at least for myself, there really isn't much that is. The one negative thing I've held onto is that "In Broken Trust" doesn't have nearly as good of a chorus as I expected or liked (Mainly due to the Sweden Rock Festival's backing tracks absolutely completing the chorus perfectly), and that's genuinely knocked the song down from my favorite on the album to middle of the pack. While some albums or songs generally do fall out of favor in due time for me, others don't, and it comes down to whether something truly resonates with me or not. This album just does. I'm assuming it's the same for the rest of you too. His opinion is equally as valid as ours (And I'm not saying that you guys are saying otherwise), and it's weird being on this side of the fence for once, considering that I usually find myself as the one in his position.

I will say though, regardless of whether we like it or not, it's nice to have a contrasting opinion. I dunno, I just never feel right when something's near-unanimously/unanimously decided upon, like Loveless in the shoegaze community. It's an album that is seen as the definitive shoegaze album (Which came about as one of the establishing albums in the subgenre, much like TJR in melodeath), and it's always the album that gets recommended whenever someone asks about shoegaze. It's seen as the best of the best and the peak of the subgenre. It's nice to know that Days of the Lost isn't a Loveless, I guess.

 

[Xpyro125]

Makes sense.

I like them a little bit longer, because they have a bigger chance to change the mood. My Pale Morning Star from Insomnium does that perfectly.
Also, they have a 40 minute long album, which is basically one song and it's my definite top 3 albums ever, so perhaps my preferences are the niche.

Ey, another Insomnium lover. "Heart Like a Grave" is the one that really did it for me on that album. Fucking wonderful, emotive journey. I would've really liked a 5+ minute song on here, especially if it had a nice acoustic intro or interlude, but I'm perfectly fine with there not being one. Then again, I fucking love Deafheaven, so I guess I would love longer songs.

We've all got our preferences, so that's cool. Skydancer has some pretty long tracks and I love all of those songs, so it can work for me. I think it has to be structured in a very specific way though and I haven't dug into that enough to really know why I'm OK with some longer tracks but not OK with a lot of others.

Shadowminds - Mid Tempo
Days of the Lost - Faster Tempo
The Needless End - Mid Tempo
Conditional - Faster Tempo
In Broken Trust - Slower Tempo
Gateways - Slower Tempo
A Truth Worth Lying For - Mid Tempo
Feel What I Believe - Faster Tempo
Last of Our Kind - Mid/Faster Tempo
The Most Alone - Slower Tempo

Yes Slave, no variety here at all. Just breakneck pace across the record.

There's also such a thing as a nostalgia bias, and I think you're displaying some of this with Whoracle. Now as you know I love Whoracle and it's a 9/10 record for me, but it's not like Whoracle has significant tempo changes across the board. No more so than DotL anyway. The only time it really slows down in any meaningful way is JST and WWTM, the same way DotL does with Gateways and In Broken Trust. Otherwise the album is very much a mixture of mid/faster tempo tracks. As far as vocal variance goes, I mean... come on, man. Anders 'talking/mumbling' vocals can be juxtaposed against Mikael's clean vocals and basically have the same amount of coverage across both albums, so again, I think this is just nostalgia bias.

You also have to consider Days of the Lost is not really in the same MDM sphere as Whoracle. It's far closer to the early-to-mid-2000s MDM scene which tended to gravitate more towards traditional heavy metal than the folky/DM mixture heard in TJR and Whoracle. That sound is extremely unique and hasn't really been duplicated since, so I don't know if you can really do a straight comparison between these albums anyway. For me it would be like trying to compare Character, Fiction or Come Clarity to Whoracle. Yes they are technically in the same genre but does it really make sense?

The issue for me is that there is actually a pattern when it comes to the tempo.

Shadowminds- 100 BPM (Confirmed by Tab)
Days of the Lost- 170 BPM (Confirmed by Tab)
The Needless End- 100 BPM (Confirmed by Tab)
Conditional- I think it's around 180-190/90-95? I'm not sure
In Broken Trust- 100 BPM
Gateways- 130-140 BPM?
A Truth Worth Lying For- 95 BPM
Feel What I Believe- 100 BPM (Confirmed by Tab)
Last of Our Kind- 110 BPM
The Most Alone- 90 BPM

Whoracle actually did have a much more varied tempo distribution through its songs, though I'll absolutely say that pace isn't necessarily determined solely by BPM, as "Feel What I Believe" relies more on sixteenth notes to be fast-paced in comparison to something like "Shadowminds". It's just something that's easy to pick up on when you scrutinize the music. Mind you, this isn't anything that's a dealbreaker for me with the album whatsoever. It's still my album of the year, but I do think there's some validity to pacing and chugging (Which I know I didn't exactly bring up here, but that's because that's tougher to hone in on in terms of music theory- That, and I don't mind it) being an issue for the album. It doesn't exactly change my opinion, but it still is perfectly valid.

 

[Xpyro125]

So you never had the case of records or songs from records either growing on you with time or or being less hyped about them with hype. That is most certainly an interesting take, because I don't think many people actually possess the ability - if it's even possessable - to not be biased towards anything when they first watch, play or listen to it.

My nostalgia bias is with the R2R-STYE-CC trio. Everything pre-Clayman (aside from Moonshield and Everlost pt. 2 maybe) was ignored for me for a while, and the first full release I have actually seen through was ASOP. I get what you mean by nostalgia bias, as Reflect The Storm was like the 2nd or 3rd IF song I was ever sent via MSN Messenger, so for the longest time I thought it must've been among the band's most famous song, then long story short, that song stick with me through nostalgia bias, while the only people who actually remember it even exists are probably on this board.

Also, cheers, a fellow "Reflect the Storm" lover. Fucking love that song. It's the one of the only songs I ever fucked around with in Reaper with a virtual amp I bought. It doesn't get nearly enough love compared to the majority of CC's tracks, though then again, I absolutely love all of CC's tracks, maybe with the exception of "Scream". I quite like it, but it's rather one-dimensional in comparison to everything else.

I dunno, that's just me. CC's my favorite In Flames album, as well as one of my favorite albums overall, and it's really nice to see "Reflect the Storm" be acknowledged. It's just fucking beautiful.

In other news, man, I'm late to the discussion. I thought I was up to date when I submitted my first post and saw that there were two new pages before my post. I guess this is what I get for going bowling and getting drunk with some of my friends.

 

[drawntoblack]

Ey, another Insomnium lover. "Heart Like a Grave" is the one that really did it for me on that album. Fucking wonderful, emotive journey. I would've really liked a 5+ minute song on here, especially if it had a nice acoustic intro or interlude, but I'm perfectly fine with there not being one. Then again, I fucking love Deafheaven, so I guess I would love longer songs.





The issue for me is that there is actually a pattern when it comes to the tempo.

Shadowminds- 100 BPM (Confirmed by Tab)
Days of the Lost- 170 BPM (Confirmed by Tab)
The Needless End- 100 BPM (Confirmed by Tab)
Conditional- I think it's around 180-190/90-95? I'm not sure
In Broken Trust- 100 BPM
Gateways- 130-140 BPM?
A Truth Worth Lying For- 95 BPM
Feel What I Believe- 100 BPM (Confirmed by Tab)
Last of Our Kind- 110 BPM
The Most Alone- 90 BPM

Whoracle actually did have a much more varied tempo distribution through its songs, though I'll absolutely say that pace isn't necessarily determined solely by BPM, as "Feel What I Believe" relies more on sixteenth notes to be fast-paced in comparison to something like "Shadowminds". It's just something that's easy to pick up on when you scrutinize the music. Mind you, this isn't anything that's a dealbreaker for me with the album whatsoever. It's still my album of the year, but I do think there's some validity to pacing and chugging (Which I know I didn't exactly bring up here, but that's because that's tougher to hone in on in terms of music theory- That, and I don't mind it) being an issue for the album. It doesn't exactly change my opinion, but it still is perfectly valid.

You can check the tempo for any song with free online tools such as this, just play the song in the background and click your mouse or any button on the keyboard for a short bit to a steady 4/4 rhythm and it will calculate it for you. 10 seconds or so is typically enough.

https://www.all8.com/tools/bpm.htm

 

[Xpyro125]

You can check the tempo for any song with free online tools such as this, just play the song in the background and click your mouse or any button on the keyboard for a short bit to a steady 4/4 rhythm and it will calculate it for you. 10 seconds or so is typically enough.

https://www.all8.com/tools/bpm.htm

Yeah, that's pretty much what I did. Admittedly, I don't know how well I did it, so I guess take it with a grain of salt.

 

[A88]

I'm not sure what's the problem with those BPMs? It's not like the sound of genre tends to go full on black or doom metal. Also, it's almost always in 3/4 and 4/4.

Soilwork does really fast music and I can barely differentiate between albums of their material. Insomnium does long, slower songs and their last EP is fucking terrible. ATG was pretty much stuck in the same speed and style for the whole SotS and it's a great album.

But OK, we don't all have to like same things. For me, all of these songs have enough riffs, melodies and buildup to keep things interesting. And most of them use a different formulas so they have their own identities. Shadowminds sounds very different to Days of the Lost and that one is very different from Gateways. In that regard I really don't care about bpm or song length.

 

[Jester Slave]

What am I reading?! Who are you?! Not using almost everything from https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ ?! Actually replying to and arguing with my points?! This is just too much of a jump for me from "Anders and co. are definitely writing the new record this way because of THE, and this is why they play the songs they play live" to actual sane takes and opinions. You are too pure for this mental asylum...

Stanne and DT: the only DT record I listened to was Skydancer, which is not bad, but I could never get myself to listen basically anything else from them because of Stanne. His "demonic" growls and sound was just repelling to me, so I can't tell you whether I prefer his performance here to their newer releases. I listened to Atoma (song) a lot and it kinda feels like this is how he operates, because I've found the same exact patterns throughout this record as well, except... it's much less interesting. At least on Atoma he is switching between clean and demonic, so the chorus - even if I am not fond of his non-cleans - hits like a truck. But with THE he is just droning and droning and droning. Like a Cradle of Filth song intro which persists throughout all the songs.

Soilwork's Björn can be pretty formulaic as well, but he has such range and utilizes his voice so well that you can't get tired of it, at the very least not within the same record. It's not even about just me wanting some cleans, because I like the performances on Subterranean, Ceremonial Oath and Skydancer, and I also like Cradle of Filth, but those have some fun vocal performances at least, even if the quality itself is limited. As shit as Anders and Stanne were on Skydancer, their energy more than made up for it. It's bumpy, it's imperfect, it's unexpected - it's fun. One example from the top of my head is Dead Eternity (TJR). I think the consensus is that Anders, from a pure vocal quality standpoint was pretty mediocre on TJR, but the way he vibes with the melody is still a great complementary to that track. Now replace his explosive, jumpy delivery on Dead Eternity with Stanne's admittedly much more professional but droning takes from THE's record and suddenly you couldn't care less if he was even there or not. The instrumental part is still fun, but it really doesn't matter if someone does some monotone shit underneath it or not - hell, in many cases I wished Stanne would just shut up on THE, because there are many fun melodies, but I am forced to listen to the same verses over and over again. It's tiring.

Chugging: I wouldn't mind it either if a.) it wasn't almost on every single song b.) other parts (ie. the above discussed vocals) would take my ears off of it. But the formula is pretty much mad chugging on almost every song accompanied by actual fun melodies. How about give the melodies some room and be less liberate with the chugging, so when chugging inevitably ensues, it actually elevates the songs, gives it more oomph, bring it from 80 to 120. There are numerous examples, but right now I'm listening to Days of the Lost and the melody in the bridge and during the chorus feels like competing with the other guitar. I wouldn't even mind if they let the melody play out in the bridge and let the other one only join in during the chorus for a boom, or just take a look at Swim. The melody part is actually complimented by the other guitarists and your ears are not overloaded, the melody itself is highlighted. Once again, it's NOT bad, but Swim's melody riff has been engraved in my brain until dementia erases it, while one week from now I wouldn't be able to tell you what melody did Days of the Lost (song) have exactly. Again, this is where I seperate the 9s and 10s from the 7s.

In Broken Trust: I was so happy when fucking finally I heard cleans on this record so I really wanted to like this song, but yeah, something felt missing. But (almost) right after that, A Truth Worth Lying For ------... wait a fucking minute! This is Ropes! And it's also too similar to the riff on the title song. This record is like the music version of Groundhog Day! Anyway, where was I? Yeah, so ATWLF felt like an actual finished version of a track with clean vocals. Couldn't you find your "fix" in ATWLF which you missed dearly in IBT?

It has a very Soilworky chorus, an interesting inro, a nice ending, but somehow the filler parts of the songs are just severely lacking. This is the song I struggle with the most to rate, because I am an absolute sucker for choruses like this, but the rest is just off. A great counter-example is Nerve from Soilwork where, despite the extremely catchy chorus, I never felt annoyed with the in-between parts. In fact, that song is fun from beginning to the end.

CC: I thought a lot about bringing it up yesterday, because that is the one record which comes to my mind when I talk about songs being too much on a record, yet it somehow works for me on CC. That record is fucking loud, fast, your only true respite is the title song (+ bedtime, but that's like an outro) because even the other slower songs are just hammering away at you relentlessly with varying degree. You'd think a song titled Our Infinite Struggle after all the loudness since the title song will be Evil In a Closet pt. 2 or something like that, but no, it's once again fucking cocaine time motherfuckers. I also think that record suffers from some form of sameyness, mainly on the second part of it.

But for some reason, it works and I am not sure why exactly. Having prime studio Anders helps, but it's not just that. It's like THE is too much in a "thick" way, so too many things bombarding you at once, it's harder to be lost in it, while as obnoxious as CC can be, it sounds much "thinner". Take Vacuum for example: the main riff takes the front stage, Anders plays second fiddle to it, the rest are just complimentary hammering away in the back, then the vocals take the front stage for a catchy chorus. There are more to that song, so I'm being unfair when I imply that there aren't more things happening in the back, but there is no question about what is being put in the window.

Once again, maybe Shadowminds is overall a more compact song than most tracks from CC, has more oomph to it, but if I have to choose between 7 songs from one category, then CC would take the cake, because it gives 7 different aggressive and memorable riffs, melodies and choruses which gives more variance than the road from Shadowminds to Feel What I Believe for example. Arbitrary comparison, but the 8th song from THE is Feel What I Believe which is a good example of chugging being accompanied by some melodies, while the 8th song from CC is Pacing Death's Trail which is imo on the weaker side of the record, but still focuses on the riffs and melodies and doesn't just pad time for the chorus.

I'm glad I've found another Reflect the Storm enjoyer! Now there are two of us! I wish they actually rotated in some songs from the early 2000 phase of IF, like they did with Superhero.