Five Former Members Of In Flames Unite In The Halo Effect

[A88]

Maybe interviewers didn't listen to first 5 IF records, because as we well know, you can't take bands seriously before the fifth album and all that.

So RTR is actually the first real IF album for them.

Anyway, most people tend to miss Gardenian stuff for some reason when making commparisons. Strange, as Engelin is the primary songwriter in THE.

 

[DE4life]

A good point on the five album rule.

And yeah, you'd arguably be better off looking at Engel and Gardenian for comparison considering majority of songwriting is Niclas rather than Jesper.

 

[Moonshield_]

If Jesper and Bjorn were to form a band together now it would be something! Just imagine adding growling Anders to vocals and I’d be completely sold.

(Yes, I’m missing my old In Flames a little bit )

Just sad that we now have 2 formulas but none of them is actually completely what we could expect in terms of heaviness + melodies from these Gothenburg guys.

I know it’s just me living too much in the past though

 

[Pallbearer]

Stanne, Jesper, Niclas, Peter, and Daniel.
These five members have never been in IF at the same time.
Stanne only sang in the very beginning of the band's career, he has never worked with anyone other than Jesper. And Niclas joined as Jesper's replacement. Not sure exactly how involved he was in songwriting at IF during his time there, but I don't think it was so much. So comparisons to the past are completely meaningless.

From memory Battles is the only IF album Engelin has songwriting credits on.

He also offered to write for SOAPF, but Björn wanted to try doing it all by himself first.

 

[J_msh84]

If Jesper and Bjorn were to form a band together now it would be something! Just imagine adding growling Anders to vocals and I’d be completely sold.

(Yes, I’m missing my old In Flames a little bit )

Just sad that we now have 2 formulas but none of them is actually completely what we could expect in terms of heaviness + melodies from these Gothenburg guys.

I know it’s just me living too much in the past though

Anders and Bjorn =
Jesper and Glenn = The Resistance
Jesper, Niclas and Stanne = It's Ok but...

From above I guess we need Johan Larsson

 

[drawntoblack]

Over the years I never really had a formed opinion on Niclas. Some of his stuff is decent, some not so much. In general I find that his writing style has this groovy element to it that makes it more suited for alternative/industrial metal, I feel like Engel's second album was really indicative of what he is capable of and where he feels comfortable, but then they released another two albums which very painfully mediocre. He is a death metal fan but you won't hear death metal from him, and while his approach is very melodic, his melodies are nowhere near Jesper's level.

I've seen quite a few of his interviews in the last year or two and I have to say that I quite respect him as a character, the guy brings a palpable level of energy for sure, I just wish there was a way to involve Jesper as a co-writer instead of merely bringing him in to patch up weak points here and there after most of the main writing was completed.

 

[DE4life]

I like the Gardenian stuff. It's not on classic IF level but it's solid MDM. Engel I've never been able to get into. It would be nice for Jesper to be more involved, but I'm not sure it'd produce the results people might expect. He wrote Last of Our Kind, but would any of us have guessed that Jesper wrote that song if we weren't told?

 

[eochaid]

Nope. At least not me.

I like Gardenia and I don't have any issue with Days of the Lost. For me, it's a perfect mix of different things. I like it a lot. Could it he better? Yes. But that happens with a lot of albums because, in the end, it's just a subjective opinion and a matter of expectations.

 

[Man Made Bod]

I like the Gardenian stuff. It's not on classic IF level but it's solid MDM. Engel I've never been able to get into. It would be nice for Jesper to be more involved, but I'm not sure it'd produce the results people might expect. He wrote Last of Our Kind, but would any of us have guessed that Jesper wrote that song if we weren't told?

I would, because that main riff/melody is lifted almost note for note from the melodic break in Clearing the Slate. Starts at 1:24.



I don't think Jesper is the type to steal riffs/melodies from others, so my guess is he slightly reworked that idea for Last of our Kind. Honestly I'm torn over which version I prefer. Clearing the Slate is cool and thrashy but LooK has that majestic cello/violin piece which is a great setup for the song.

Beyond that, there's also the pre-chorus and bridge that sounds like mid-2000's IF to me in a way that only Jesper could replicate.

 

[The Grayfox]

Nice catch. I really like Last of our Kind, it's become a top 3 track from DoTL for me. Even Matt Heafy adds something to it that I originally thought was kind of 'meh.' Now I love what he contributed to it.

 

[DE4life]

8 months in, are you guys still listening to tracks from DotL? If so which ones have held up for you, and which ones aren't you listening to so much? For me a lot of the songs still hold up and I'll listen to them if they come on. Shadowminds, Conditional, A Truth Worth Lying For, The Path of Fierce Resistance and Feel What I Believe probably being my overall favourites. I don't think there's any track that I feel hasn't held up, or that I wouldn't listen to if it came on random shuffle.

 

[Xpyro125]

8 months in, are you guys still listening to tracks from DotL? If so which ones have held up for you, and which ones aren't you listening to so much? For me a lot of the songs still hold up and I'll listen to them if they come on. Shadowminds, Conditional, A Truth Worth Lying For, The Path of Fierce Resistance and Feel What I Believe probably being my overall favourites. I don't think there's any track that I feel hasn't held up, or that I wouldn't listen to if it came on random shuffle.

Just started really getting back into THE a couple days ago (Not that they really left my regular listening), and I love most of the songs as much as I did day one. I’ve come to appreciate “In Broken Trust” a bit more since I isolated the vocals and found that the backing vocals are actually there– Just buried way too far back in the mix. The only songs I don’t listen to much anymore are “Feel What I Believe” (It’s still damn good, but I listened to it way too much when it was released) and “The Most Alone”. I’d definitely listen to any of them when they’re on shuffle though.

I can’t fucking wait to hear the studio version of “Become Surrender”, easily one of my new favorites from the band just from the live performances.

But of a side note, but putting Shadowminds up to 125-130 BPM makes it a surprisingly energetic experience. I’d definitely recommend listening to it like that at least once.

 

[The Grayfox]

I think I'll always listen to it. It's not perfect, but it's a damn good album. Gateways, Conditional and The Last of Our Kind get the most play over here. I usually really like Mikael's cleans, but they just aren't doing it for me on this one. They feel out of place somehow. I'm looking forward to some more material. The longer that it goes on, the more I'm convinced we may get the follow-up album versus an EP. I could be wrong obviously, it might just be high hopes. Either way, new material will be welcome.

 

[Xpyro125]

I think Daniel mentioned that they were working on a second album, so that's some pretty good news. I just hope they take a few more risks on it, get a bit more progressive and everything. My only problem with DotL is how safe they played it, specifically from a music theory standpoint.

 

[eochaid]

I'm still playing the whole thing. Though the ones that I play the most might be Conditional and FWIB.

 

[DE4life]

Just started really getting back into THE a couple days ago (Not that they really left my regular listening), and I love most of the songs as much as I did day one. I’ve come to appreciate “In Broken Trust” a bit more since I isolated the vocals and found that the backing vocals are actually there– Just buried way too far back in the mix. The only songs I don’t listen to much anymore are “Feel What I Believe” (It’s still damn good, but I listened to it way too much when it was released) and “The Most Alone”. I’d definitely listen to any of them when they’re on shuffle though.

I can’t fucking wait to hear the studio version of “Become Surrender”, easily one of my new favorites from the band just from the live performances.

But of a side note, but putting Shadowminds up to 125-130 BPM makes it a surprisingly energetic experience. I’d definitely recommend listening to it like that at least once.

I actually adjusted the clean vocal volume on IBT and A Truth Worth lying For, bringing it down a couple of decibels. The tracks in their original form always bother me slightly because the clean vocals sound too high in the mix. Once lowered there's no issue at all for me, though - they sound absolutely fine.

Have THE guys said if any of the new tracks played live were recorded yet? I remember there being talk of an EP a few months ago, but I haven't really heard anything since then.

I think I'll always listen to it. It's not perfect, but it's a damn good album. Gateways, Conditional and The Last of Our Kind get the most play over here. I usually really like Mikael's cleans, but they just aren't doing it for me on this one. They feel out of place somehow. I'm looking forward to some more material. The longer that it goes on, the more I'm convinced we may get the follow-up album versus an EP. I could be wrong obviously, it might just be high hopes. Either way, new material will be welcome.

I really like Gateways, but I have to be in a certain mood for it. Typically I lean towards the more uptempo stuff that THE has put out. That instrumental section in Gateways about 3/4 in is fantastic though. Worlds Within the Margin has a very similar section at about the same point in the song.

 

[eochaid]

My guess is that those songs are among the discarded ones from the previous album. More after seeing how they're writing and recording new stuff these past weeks.

 

[A88]

Still listening the album. Still a strong 8 or a solid 9 out of 10. And FWIB is still my favorite.

Can't wait for the second one. Hopefully it will not be a repeat of the Cyhra debacle.

 

[DE4life]

I think we're safe from it being as disastrous as NHIH. Too many genuinely talented guys with an excellent musical track record and a clear vision of what they want to achieve. Even with Letters to Myself it was difficult to define what Cyhra was, and it was obvious they were still trying to figure it out themselves. Unfortunately they evolved into generic, painfully average modern metal.

THE are all about the classic 2000s MDM sound, and I doubt they'll stray too far from that formula. Would be nice to hear some stuff closer resembling 90s MDM (Terminal Spirit Disease/Slaughter of the Soul era ATG, Gallery/TMI era DT, TJR/Whoracle era IF, Towards the Twilight/Thunderbeast era Night in Gales, etc) but not sure Niclas has the ability to do that style of music, and not sure if Jesper is motivated or capable enough nowadays to do it either. 2000s style MDM might be the best we can hope for, which is still fine by me. I do miss that classic 90s MDM sound though. It's one of my absolute favourite metal genres. Moreso than the 2000s MDM sound, although I have fondness for both.

 

[eochaid]

I'm still amazed at how good the Hi-Res version sounds. Well. I'm still amazed at how good it is the album. I just want high quality music. I don't care about it being groundbreaking or whatever. In the end, we all have a picture in mind of what we would like to hear, so it's almost impossible for them to not disappoint us in one way or another. So, I'm trying to not have any expectations about the sound.