Five Former Members Of In Flames Unite In The Halo Effect

[eochaid]

Ok. First thought.. It's been some time since I was happy while first listening to a song. It could be a better song but it's also satisfying. And, for the first time, I think that Stanne's voice fits the music. I usually don't like his growls. Here, they sound good.

And, definitely, I don't hear the DT vibes in the music.

 

[drawntoblack]

And no one can be bothered to upload the song properly somewhere?

 

[eochaid]

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/1592180284

Preview.

 

[DE4life]

Ok. First thought.. It's been some time since I was happy while first listening to a song. It could be a better song but it's also satisfying. And, for the first time, I think that Stanne's voice fits the music. I usually don't like his growls. Here, they sound good.

Yeah Stanne sounds really, really good on this one.

Lyrics:

One side of this watershed moment
Left the fair and true objective far behind
For fear of facing what rationale resigns to
The thought of you alone with demons on your mind

Ravaging the nerves
Overtaking consciousness
What was said and what was done
Now haunts the witching hour

Let the now begin today
To the past a swift farewell
Innocence is nothing
When shadowminds prevail

Let the fear be gone today
To oblivion we cast it down
When shadowminds prevail

Let go of this, the embers of the day
Bring not the fire to the combustible night
Rather have the anger extinguish the flames
Than numbing chemicals to keep it at bay

Ravaging the nerves
Overtaking consciousness
What was said and what was done
Now haunts the witching hour

Let the now begin today
To the past a swift farewell
Innocence is nothing
When shadowminds prevail

Let the fear be gone today
To oblivion we cast it down
When shadowminds prevail

Let the now begin today
To the past a swift farewell
Innocence is nothing
When shadowminds prevail

Let the fear be gone today
To oblivion we cast it down
When shadowminds prevail

Let the now begin
To oblivion we cast you down
Innocence is nothing
Don't let shadowminds prevail

 

[DE4life]

"I was hoping for a return to the glory days, but this could nearly have been a song from Soundtrack To Your Escape."

Someone on reddit smoking something strong doesn't sound remotely like anything on STYE.

 

[drawntoblack]

Got the song, thanks for the PMs dudes.

Very DT-ish, sounds like something off WaTV/Construct. You got me all hyped up with mentioning Damage Done, I'm not hearing it.

 

[A88]

There's some STYE in this...

Interesting sound, somewhere between 00s DT and IF. Very much like it.

 

[DE4life]

It doesn't sound like Damage Done to me, much closer to Character/Fiction. Listen to the choruses of New Build or Lost to Apathy and then Shadowminds. Different production but a very similar vibe.

 

[eochaid]

I can see where the STYE thing comes from. That intro and electronics belong there (the intro is really similar to TQP). Apart from that, the song sounds like a modern mix of the things that they have done in the past. In my opinion, not classic melodeath.

 

[DE4life]

The more I listen to this the more I'm appreciating the guitar work. So refreshing after hearing so many bands (IF especially) phone it in on the guitars for so long. There's no point where the guitars are just chugging along in the background, letting the vocals do all the work. There's something cool going on throughout. Best of all the instruments and vocals compliment each other perfectly throughout, and the solo-ish section at 02:20 fits in nicely with everything and transitions out nicely to some electronics before getting back into the chorus.

As for STYE, maybe slightly on the electronics but instrumentally this is like nothing on STYE. Put this song on STYE and it'd sound totally out of place... even more so with Anders probably trying to sing the chorus. In fact I can't imagine this track with Anders on vocals. It's built for Stanne.

Agree that it doesn't sound like classic melodeath, but then very few albums from the mid-2000s did. Certainly neither IF nor DT had the classic MDM sound during that period. DT pretty much left it behind after The Mind's I in 1997, whilst obviously IF were done with it after Clayman.

This is pretty much how I would have wanted DT to sound after Fiction, as opposed to the crushing disappointment that was WATV.

 

[Daniel_36]

Damn it, it says it's not available in my country.

The preview is available but not to the whole song. I am going to check with a VPN.

 

[Daniel_36]

Nevermind now I can listen to it in youtube. I guess it's because it's the 9th already?

 

[A88]

OK, here it goes.

- Great use of electronics. Subtle and interesting, and adds cool layers throughout the song. A bit SOAPF-ish maybe?
- Perfect guitar sound. Finally some power. Everything else sounds good in the mix. Drums are simple, but you can hear Daniel.
- Stanne kills it here. Isn't dull at all. Catchy chorus as well, unlike most newer DT songs.
- Intro section sounds like a DT melody over Engel rhythm.
- Verse section like DT verse with some IF-like melodic transitions.
- Melodic thingy before chorus sounds like something Bjorn would write. Isn't there a solo similar to this?
- Chorus is perfect. Hits hard, sticks in your head.
- Melodic/solo section is a weird one. Feels out of place and a bit cheesy. On its own, I guess it is decent, but in the context of the whole song, I don't like it.

In total, it's one of the better songs written by the combined old and new IF and DT crews in the past decade. Solid 8/10 or something along that lines.

 

[DE4life]

- Stanne kills it here. Isn't dull at all. Catchy chorus as well, unlike most newer DT songs.

It's really cool to hear Stanne sounding so inspired. I quite liked Atoma and Moment, but I don't think any of the choruses on those albums come close to this one. In fact I'd say in general this might be the best I've heard from Stanne in years.

 

[A88]

It's really cool to hear Stanne sounding so inspired. I quite liked Atoma and Moment, but I don't think any of the choruses on those albums come close to this one. In fact I'd say in general this might be the best I've heard from Stanne in years.

Same here. Great vocal performance.

Would like more guitar stuff happening behind, but it's a good single.

 

[eochaid]

The music helps. I think that is far more difficult to come with something catchy for DT with the style of music that they do. Is less straight... More... Baroque.

This is more straight to your face.

 

[eochaid]

Wife enters the room. Listens to the music and says "is that the new band with the ex's from IF? I can hear that in the music".

 

[Daniel_36]

OK song. I also think Stanne sounds pretty good here during the whole song.

Too many electronics for my taste. I wish the solo was longer because there was a good idea there and I think they could have built something more from the solo but it was cool.

I am going to listen to if a few more times but I can't wait to hear the rest of the songs.

 

[A88]

Wife enters the room. Listens to the music and says "is that the new band with the ex's from IF? I can hear that in the music".

This!

It's new music. It's good. It's not Jester Race clone. It is not Clayman pt.2 or Damage Done revisited.

But it is instantly recognizable, and you can hear something specific from every member.

 

[DE4life]

The music helps. I think that is far more difficult to come with something catchy for DT with the style of music that they do. Is less straight... More... Baroque.

This is more straight to your face.

DT can sometimes bring the melody, but they don't really do "catchy" stuff anymore. Their music is always technically very good, but it isn't the kind of music that gets stuck in your head, or has you listening to it repeatedly for weeks afterwards. Not for me, anyway. I enjoyed Atoma & Moment, but honestly I rarely listen to anything from either anymore, despite finding both good listens at first.

Jesper meanwhile excels at melody and structuring songs that get stuck in the listener's head, and I think a combination of him and Stanne is going to turn out really good. Judging from this song they're off to a good start. I think the first single was always going to be somewhat simple, just a taster of what's to come. Expecting some really interesting stuff from these guys going forward.

Funny how totally different this is from Cyhra, though. I mean, it was always going to be with Stanne on vocals, but no real similarities between this and the stuff on Letters to Myself (except, again, maybe electronics). Impressive how Jesper can adjust his sound depending on who he's playing with and still make it sound great.