Five Former Members Of In Flames Unite In The Halo Effect

[DE4life]

The only two songs I would say sound similar on the record are FWIB and DotL. From my perspective the rest are all very distinctive. There may be small parts of certain songs that share similarities with each other, but fuck, there aren't many albums in music as a whole where that doesn't happen. That's holding THE to an impossibly high standard.

 

[Xpyro125]

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.

I still very much love the album in spite of that, but there's something about it- Most notably with the four singles that were put out before the album's release that rubs me the wrong way. I don't really have a negative impression towards the album for it, but I do have a negative one towards whoever made the decisions on all of the singles.

Hear me out: I think especially when you're a 'supergroup' putting out your debut, reputable musicians or not, you should very much not just put your best foot forward, but showcase just what the album could be by exciting your audience with some diversity. While yes, the singles very much did that on the micro scale, there's very much something on the macro scale for me (Not just when it comes to the BPMs) that they fail to do. I had a bit of a different impression than most people here: Up until the title track (In terms of singles releasing before the album), it all felt very DT to me, and I kind of just felt like it was going to be an extended, somewhat more invigorated DT album. Even then, the melodies and little flourishes that are pretty much trademarked by Jesper at this point were there in some capacity, but up until "The Needless End"'s release, a feeling built up in me that wondered if the album would have any more facets than we were being shown.

I was incredibly surprised by the album in that regard, and I mean that in the best way possible. At the same time, as fans (Or consumers, if we want to be detached and talk about it from more of a corporate stance), if we were to go purely off of the singles... They all sound great, yes, but there was far too much similarity between all of them, and I think when you're trying to build up hype and excitement to people worldwide, whether it's to fall in love with your music and/or to buy it, I think there should be quite a bit of variety in there on both the macro and micro level. It made myself and a few other friends of mine feel like it was going to be good but at least earnest at best (My take) or a shitty, lazy, and boring rehash of the members' glory days (Not my take, but then again, one of those people doesn't even like a single In Flames album). I was excited, but also really scared for the release, and it put me off of pre-ordering the album, which I wish I did in retrospect. As for my friends, it left them completely disinterested and deeming it more or less dead-on-arrival within the group by the time the title track released. Make no mistake, I don't want them to do something like "I Am Above" and "House", though that's mainly because "House" is completely abhorrent. If it was an actually good song, I'd change my tune. But I guess my point is that with all of the knowledge we had, which was barely anything, first impressions mean a ton, and I think that's even more significant when you think about the fact that they're still trying to sell the album, the merchandise, and the shows.

As for other bands... Soilwork's outputs, most notably when listening to individual songs, are generally fucking difficult to distinguish from Sworn to a Great Divide onward. I won't disagree with you at all there. Insomnium has faster songs, like "Mortal Share" (I think around half of Above the Weeping World qualifies, though it's been a while since I've listened to it). Admittedly, the newest EP didn't grab my attention at all since I didn't care for the first song they put out from it. As for AtG, I can give them the benefit of the doubt there because high octane adrenaline pumping albums thrive off of keeping their foot on the gas. Come Clarity and Mindtricks are two really prominent examples for me. They go in really hard on being somewhat abrasive and constantly intense, and only the title track of Come Clarity ever put a dent in that pacing. I'm not going to sit here and defend every song off of SotS because (And this is blasphemy), the album's still yet to really grasp me. I love the title track and a couple of the other songs, but I need a few more listens before I can say for certain just what I think of it.

I dunno, maybe I'm just reading too far into shit. I like going into the basic fundamentals of the music theory bullshit because more often or not, it helps to give me an understanding of the music that generates a further connection. It wasn't until I heard the whole album in the Sweden Rock Festival that I really felt it all come together. Yes, I absolutely loved each single, particularly with "Shadowminds" absolutely pumping me up like nothing else when it released (Which was a really bad time for me when I really needed something to lift my spirits", and "The Needless End" finally giving me the classic In Flames feel that I'd been longing for. Its ending blew me away when I first heard it, and it still does. I love Gothenburg melodeath with a passion, but I wanted a little bit of all of it, I guess. I don't feel like we got that on a macro or micro level with the singles, but we absolutely got it with the album, and every piece of it fits together nearly perfectly, save for "In Broken Trust"'s clean vocals. I will not get over that.

I guess I probably just misrepresented my points. The album's still easily a 9 out of 10 for me at minimum and is my album of the year. If anything, getting to hear the full album surprised me with its diversity, and pleasantly so, but I don't think my excitement for the band would've been nearly as high if I didn't have the whole tracklist to listen to via the live performances before the actual album's release. I already missed out on the "Shadowminds" remix by the time I wanted to go all in, and the only merch I ended up getting at the time was one of the shirts. I want to get the rest of the vinyls (Even though I can't play them), but I already missed out on one, and I don't like having incomplete sets of things. It's small things like that which I feel make my point.

 

[eochaid]

The singles were chosen by Nuclear Blast. And I agree. They could have skipped one of those and add, for example, Gateways. Just for a change.

I agree with your views on CC. Not only my favourite IF album with Clayman. Reflect the Storm is an amazing song. I really love it. And Scream. I think that it's widely accepted that it's the weakest song in that album.

 

[DE4life]

For singles I probably would have gone for Shadowminds, Feel What I Believe, Gateways and Conditional. If we're also counting 5th single then I'd probably have picked A Truth Worth Lying For.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the singles they did pick, but it's stupid that Conditional wasn't one of them.

 

[Xpyro125]

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.

Stanne's harsh vocals are fantastic to me on some songs ("Punish My Heaven", "Fabric", "Blind at Heart"), but they started becoming rather standard-sounding on the handful of songs I've listened to from We Are the Void onwards, with the only highlight I can think of in that era being "Iridium". It's not so much a change of cadence, but moreso of his projection. While I don't think his performance on Days of the Lost are quite a return to form (They still aren't quite as dynamic, though the projection is much better), I'm quite satisfied with them. That being said, I think breaking them up with clean vocals absolutely helps with the feeling of sameness, which Atoma (A fantastic album, in fairness) had a lot more of.

And I guess that's really the thing, now that you've highlighted it with Bjorn: It's how dynamic the performance is. I think Stanne's clean vocals generally are far more dynamic than his harsh vocals (Which I guess is to be expected, in fairness), and can display the needed emotion far better than his harsh vocals- Especially since we're dealing with post-Void Stanne.

I don't really have a response about the chugging. I completely understand the point about wanting rhythm guitarwork that complements the lead melodies better, but I dunno, something about the rhythm guitarwork on this album just works for me. It feels like more groove-type rhythm guitar than anything, for the most part, at least when Engelin's at the helm (Ex. Not "Conditional"). I can understand not liking chugging, but it just never feels egregious nor overbearing to me. Then again, I guess it's all subjective.

Funnily enough, I absolutely did find my fix in "A Truth Worth Lying For". Going back to the singles thing, I still have no idea why "In Broken Trust" was chosen over "A Truth Worth Lying For".

Yeah, I pretty much agree about the CC part, save for "Pacing Death's Trail" being on the weaker side. I've come to absolutely love that song in recent years. And yes! No idea why the band doesn't put in more of their early 2000s songs (I can understand why "Reflect the Storm" isn't on the setlist, but no "Transparent"? Really? It's been nearly a fucking decade and a half, and they're going heavy again- "Transparent" is the song for this!), though I won't lie, I'm really not one for "Superhero". It's probably my least favorite STYE song next to "Bottled", but I won't say that it's necessarily the worst. That would be "Bottled".

 

[Xpyro125]

The singles were chosen by Nuclear Blast. And I agree. They could have skipped one of those and add, for example, Gateways. Just for a change.

I agree with your views on CC. Not only my favourite IF album with Clayman. Reflect the Storm is an amazing song. I really love it. And Scream. I think that it's widely accepted that it's the weakest song in that album.

Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Whoever in specific made the decision though should really go back to promoting alt metal or 3 Doors Down though.

For singles I probably would have gone for Shadowminds, Feel What I Believe, Gateways and Conditional. If we're also counting 5th single then I'd probably have picked A Truth Worth Lying For.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the singles they did pick, but it's stupid that Conditional wasn't one of them.

I think mine would've been "Shadowminds", the title track, "A Truth Worth Lying For", "The Needless End", and then "Conditional", but it's all rather tough to decide when it comes to the order. "Shadowminds" is obviously first, and while I want "Conditional" to be up there with the rest of them, the only way I can see that for my picks is to axe the title track, though that would make all of them be around the same BPM and pacing. "A Truth Worth Lying For" has clean vocals and is incredibly In Flames, "The Needless End" is also rather In Flames and is in 3/4, which very much makes a difference to me. I just think it's neat.

I can't really see "Gateways" as one of the singles, as it's one of those that feels more like an album track that would get (And has gotten) a ton of love but doesn't fit the single format- At least not unless you decide that we can actually have some artistic experimentation be put in the forefront. Speaking of, it's not like the label promoted the album as much as they probably should've. Then again, I guess they do have a metric fuckton of other artists to promote. I dunno, I don't like delving into the industry as much as I like dissecting the music.

 

[DE4life]

I think mine would've been "Shadowminds", the title track, "A Truth Worth Lying For", "The Needless End", and then "Conditional", but it's all rather tough to decide when it comes to the order. "Shadowminds" is obviously first, and while I want "Conditional" to be up there with the rest of them, the only way I can see that for my picks is to axe the title track, though that would make all of them be around the same BPM and pacing. "A Truth Worth Lying For" has clean vocals and is incredibly In Flames, "The Needless End" is also rather In Flames and is in 3/4, which very much makes a difference to me. I just think it's neat.

I can't really see "Gateways" as one of the singles, as it's one of those that feels more like an album track that would get (And has gotten) a ton of love but doesn't fit the single format- At least not unless you decide that we can actually have some artistic experimentation be put in the forefront. Speaking of, it's not like the label promoted the album as much as they probably should've. Then again, I guess they do have a metric fuckton of other artists to promote. I dunno, I don't like delving into the industry as much as I like dissecting the music.

I find FWIB and DotL too similar sounding to both have as singles - I think you pick one or the other as they are both promoting the same basic idea. Gateways I'd have as one of the singles nearer to the album release just to emphasise the variety available, although I agree it would be an out there choice compared to others. Taking Gateways out of the equation I'd probably replace with The Needless End, as that's also sufficiently different to the other tracks.

 

[DE4life]

One thing I do want to address is the "homages" to Ropes and Dead Eyes in ATWLF and FWIB respectively. It would be remiss of me not to highlight these properly, as if In Flames had done this I absolutely would have pulled them up on it.

I am honestly struggling to understand how the Ropes rip off happened. This isn't a case of only being able to utilise limited chord progressions, riffs, melodies etc for MDM - this is just directly taking that intro to Ropes and putting a slightly different spin on it. I mean, I'd say Niclas and/or Jesper improved it, but still. Similarly that brief 5 seconds or so in FWIB (01:41 - 01:46) - why is Siren Charms briefly popping in to say hello, very specifically the ending to the Dead Eyes melody? Again that seems too similar to be a coincidence. In both of these instances I'm instantly transported back to Ropes & Dead Eyes.

The only real rationale I can come up with for this is that Niclas actually wrote this stuff but Bjorn took the credit, so he's throwing it in here just to stake some kind of claim. Seems kind of ridiculous, but I'm not sure I buy that Niclas would have just come up with these exact melodies/riffs that Bjorn supposedly also wrote purely by chance.

 

[Xpyro125]

I find FWIB and DotL too similar sounding to both have as singles - I think you pick one or the other as they are both promoting the same basic idea. Gateways I'd have as one of the singles nearer to the album release just to emphasise the variety available, although I agree it would be an out there choice compared to others. Taking Gateways out of the equation I'd probably replace with The Needless End, as that's also sufficiently different to the other tracks.

Yeah, I guess that's another thing that exacerbates the issue for me. I'd keep the title track over "Feel What I Believe" due to the BPM difference, even if "Feel What I Believe" is also fast-paced. I think the easiest way to feel the tempo similarities for many of these is just tapping one's finger(s) in quarter, eighth, or sixteenth notes (Probably not the last one). Whichever is easiest to follow along with the song with, I guess. Sure, "Feel What I Believe" is also fast, but eventually you'll have the same sort of pattern as with "Shadowminds". I guess that's the one edge I really give to the title track. I will say though, I love how they're on opposite ends of the album. It gives both of them room to breathe and stand on their own, and that's pretty awesome.

 

[eochaid]

Gateways just breaks the classic melodeath pattern. So, in my opinion, that would have been a wise choice.

If there were only 3 singles, then I would have left it out of the equation. But, with 5, I would have made Gateways the third one. At that point, DOTL was kinda too similar to FWIB. And the same goes for TNE. Though it's a bit slower, a bit Insomnium like, it still feels too similar to FWIB and DOTL.

 

[Xpyro125]

One thing I do want to address is the "homages" to Ropes and Dead Eyes in ATWLF and FWIB respectively. It would be remiss of me not to highlight these properly, as if In Flames had done this I absolutely would have pulled them up on it.

I am honestly struggling to understand how the Ropes rip off happened. This isn't a case of only being able to utilise limited chord progressions, riffs, melodies etc for MDM - this is just directly taking that intro to Ropes and putting a slightly different spin on it. I mean, I'd say Niclas and/or Jesper improved it, but still. Similarly that brief 5 seconds or so in FWIB (01:41 - 01:46) - why is Siren Charms briefly popping in to say hello, very specifically the ending to the Dead Eyes melody? Again that seems too similar to be a coincidence. In both of these instances I'm instantly transported back to Ropes & Dead Eyes.

The only real rationale I can come up with for this is that Niclas actually wrote this stuff but Bjorn took the credit, so he's throwing it in here just to stake some kind of claim. Seems kind of ridiculous, but I'm not sure I buy that Niclas would have just come up with these exact melodies/riffs that Bjorn supposedly also wrote purely by chance.

The "Ropes" thing is really weird, as Niclas wasn't even in the band then. I can't understand the rationale there, at least if it's intentional. As for the "Dead Eyes" thing, it's at least possible that Niclas wrote that. He might not have, I dunno, but there's at least some sort of possibility for an easy conspiracy theory to latch onto there.

 

[eochaid]

I am honestly struggling to understand how the Ropes rip off happened.

Wasn't that about swim just a couple of days ago? What if Ropes was also inspired by Swim?

 

[DE4life]

The "Ropes" thing is really weird, as Niclas wasn't even in the band then. I can't understand the rationale there, at least if it's intentional. As for the "Dead Eyes" thing, it's at least possible that Niclas wrote that. He might not have, I dunno, but there's at least some sort of possibility for an easy conspiracy theory to latch onto there.

Dead Eyes wouldn't surprise me. Ropes, however, is harder to understand. Unless Niclas was trying to pay tribute to Bjorn, but I just find that really unlikely

Wasn't that about swim just a couple of days ago? What if Ropes was also inspired by Swim?

Technically yes, Ropes intro is somewhat inspired by Swim between 00:12 - 00:23, but I'd say the ATWLF intro is most certainly closer to Ropes having listened to it more.

 

[eochaid]

I think that it might have similarities to both..hit, knowing Jesper's opinion on SOAPF (more than explicitl, suggested opinion) my bet is that it was most probably inspired by Swim.

Now, if Ropes was the inspiration, that's not too bad. That's a good Heavy Metal song.

 

[DE4life]

I think that it might have similarities to both..hit, knowing Jesper's opinion on SOAPF (more than explicitl, suggested opinion) my bet is that it was most probably inspired by Swim.

Now, if Ropes was the inspiration, that's not too bad. That's a good Heavy Metal song.

Ropes is great, it would just be fucking odd to pay homage to that song, of all songs, unless there was a specific reason to do so.

I mean, it's possible that Swim is the influence and Niclas/Jesper just adapted it in a very similar way to how Bjorn did for Ropes, without intentionally planning to make it sound the same. I guess that's a reasonable theory also.

 

[eochaid]

Next album, THE covering Ropes.

 

[DE4life]

Or better yet... The Truth WE ARE, WE ARE WE AREEEEE

 

[DE4life]

In fact, they could even slightly adapt the lyrics of The Truth to be an excellent IF diss track

We are, we are, we are
We are, we are, we are

The time has come to bring Anders down
Take the power back and show you how
I hear the sound of Ropes passing by
Someone had the same thoughts as I
But as I get to the end of mine
You deny and think everything's fine

We are, we are, we are
We are the truth that hurts the most cause
We are, we are, we are
It hurts when your denial is exposed
It hurts when your denial is exposed

Why can't we see eye to eye?
Think of all the things we leave behind
I hear the sound of Dead Eyes driving by
You can go on for miles
But you will run out, this is not your day
Are you just gonna turn around and walk away?

We are, we are, we are
We are the truth that hurts the most cause
We are, we are, we are
It hurts when your denial is exposed
It hurts when your denial is exposed

But as I get to the end of mine
You deny and think everything's fine

We are, we are, we are
We are the truth that hurts the most cause
We are, we are, we are
It hurts when your denial is exposed
We are, we are, we are
It hurts when your denial is exposed
It hurts when your denial is exposed

 

[eochaid]

Or better yet... The Truth WE ARE, WE ARE WE AREEEEE

Jesper will pick up House for sure.

 

[eochaid]

In fact, they could even slightly adapt the lyrics of The Truth to be an excellent IF diss track

We are, we are, we are
We are, we are, we are

The time has come to bring Anders down
Take the power back and show you how
I hear the sound of Ropes passing by
Someone had the same thoughts as I
But as I get to the end of mine
You deny and think everything's fine

We are, we are, we are
We are the truth that hurts the most cause
We are, we are, we are
It hurts when your denial is exposed
It hurts when your denial is exposed

Why can't we see eye to eye?
Think of all the things we leave behind
I hear the sound of Dead Eyes driving by
You can go on for miles
But you will run out, this is not your day
Are you just gonna turn around and walk away?

We are, we are, we are
We are the truth that hurts the most cause
We are, we are, we are
It hurts when your denial is exposed
It hurts when your denial is exposed

But as I get to the end of mine
You deny and think everything's fine

We are, we are, we are
We are the truth that hurts the most cause
We are, we are, we are
It hurts when your denial is exposed
We are, we are, we are
It hurts when your denial is exposed
It hurts when your denial is exposed

Hilarious.

By the way, at Spotify, the writing credits go for all of the band members.