IN FLAMES Clayman Re-recorded 2020

[ciko_gfb]

It's funny how whenever Anders lyrics being shit nowadays are brought up people tend to reply with "what do you want him to be talking about space and wolves and shit lmao" - no, I have no problem with him being introspective, but I want awesome lyrics like Square Nothing, not bullshit like Delight and Angers or Drained. Square Nothing's lyrics are amazing. It's a shame Anders stopped putting this kind of effort into his lyrical content as it makes what is already a great song even better.

What the hell is wrong with Delight and Angers!

Daniel and Peter seemed like they were just along for the ride and didn't care either way. But they also both left, so that could be a sign as well. Peter was clearly still into playing music as he joined Cyhra for a while.

Don't know about Daniel but seems like Peter is not on good terms with Anders. I saw his Facebook Q&A, he wasn't positive about ITM and said that he's not in touch with Anders. It seemed like there was something wrong between him and Anders. Well its my guess anyway.

 

[DE4life]

I don't hate SOAPF. I just don't love it. There are some really good songs on there that still get some play for me. A New Dawn and Ropes specifically. I'd say I like it more than ASOP even.

Honestly SOAPF is was one of my favourite modern IF albums, I put it up there with Come Clarity and R2R in that second tier behind TJR/Whoracle/Colony/Clayman. I don't know what it is I like about it so much, exactly, but the whole album (All For Me aside) flows really well. It's got a lot of variety, I like the production, the vocals are good, the riffs and melodies are decent, even the keys are well-placed and not as overbearing as they are on a lot of the other albums. It's very much modern In Flames but I enjoy it, and I really wish they'd continued exploring that sound rather than whatever the fuck it was they decided to do with Siren Charms.

What the hell is wrong with Delight and Angers!

Well for a start even the title makes no grammatical sense it should be Delight and Anger. Minor quibble though.

"Everyday takes figuring out how to live,
Sometimes it feels like a mistake,
Sometimes it's a winner's parade,
Delight and angers,
I guess that's the way it's supposed to be"

come on bro, do I really need to explain why this is so lame? It's like something out of a 13 year old's diary.

"Please heal me, I can't sleep
Thought I was unbreakable, but this is killing me
Call me, everything, make me feel unbreakable,
Lie and set me free"

same comments as above. So, so lame.

Great, great song. The official video is my top 5 of all time, no question.

My favourite video. It's just so hilarious. Anders is so awkward and weird I'd also love to know whose idea it was to stand him in the middle of busy traffic tied up like some kind of bondage freak.

 

[DE4life]

Don't know about Daniel but seems like Peter is not on good terms with Anders. I saw his Facebook Q&A, he wasn't positive about ITM and said that he's not in touch with Anders. It seemed like there was something wrong between him and Anders. Well its my guess anyway.

Interesting. I hadn't heard of any beef between Peter and Anders - maybe Anders didn't like that Peter went straight over to Cyhra with Jesper after he left In Flames. Peter's departure was very sudden, I don't think anyone saw it coming.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Anders posted on there, but it was rare. I think he would lurk and chime in when he really wanted to. I must've pissed him off pretty good. The only thing I actually remember about the post in detail was that I ended my post with "...that's just my two cents." And in his reply, after he schooled me on how the band was "all of theirs", he ended with "how's that for your two cents?" Makes me chuckle now.

I fucking remember this. Legendary moment.

 

[The Grayfox]

Don't know about Daniel but seems like Peter is not on good terms with Anders. I saw his Facebook Q&A, he wasn't positive about ITM and said that he's not in touch with Anders. It seemed like there was something wrong between him and Anders. Well its my guess anyway.

Hm. I was unaware. Obviously I don't know Peter personally (or do I...?) but I've met him and he really is a sweetheart of a man. So friendly and caring. I have nothing but good things to say about Peter.

Honestly SOAPF is was one of my favourite modern IF albums, I put it up there with Come Clarity and R2R in that second tier behind TJR/Whoracle/Colony/Clayman. I don't know what it is I like about it so much, exactly, but the whole album (All For Me aside) flows really well. It's got a lot of variety, I like the production, the vocals are good, the riffs and melodies are decent, even the keys are well-placed and not as overbearing as they are on a lot of the other albums. It's very much modern In Flames but I enjoy it, and I really wish they'd continued exploring that sound rather than whatever the fuck it was they decided to do with Siren Charms.

Alright, alright. It's been a while since I've listened to it, so I'm putting SOAPF on right now and I'll listen to the whole thing. I'll get back to you.

 

[DE4life]

I might put it on as well

 

[DE4life]

 

[eochaid]

Great, great song. The official video is my top 5 of all time, no question.

The what?

 

[The Grayfox]

Alright, I listened to it twice. It's a pretty solid album. It certainly sits better after having heard Siren Charms and Battles, I know that much. I broke down the tracks into three groups; the good, the meh, the bad.

The good: title track, The Puzzle, Fear is the Weakness, Where the Dead Ships Dwell, Ropes, A New Dawn
The meh: Deliver Us, Darker Times, Enter Tragedy, Liberation
The bad: All For Me, The Attic (?)

That's a better breakdown than I would have given it yesterday. The two tracks that surprised me the most were The Puzzle and Fear is the Weakness. I hadn't listened to those in years to be honest. I'm not sure what didn't resonate with me about them before but they're pretty damn good songs. Songs like Darker Times and Enter Tragedy, I think are just ok. The chorus of Darker Times is pretty good, but the verses kill it for me. Enter Tragedy has some good guitars, good solo, but as a whole it's still just ok for me. I didn't dislike Liberation as much as I remembered. The outro is good. I listened to that a few times after the record was over. I don't really like or dislike Deliver Us, its just kind of there.

The Attic, I didn't really want to put it in the bad category, I just don't really like it minus the bluesy intro. And All For Me... well, All For Me is just garbage. As a whole though, this record IS better than I remember it. I will certainly listen to it more often. I still can't believe I slept on Fear is the Weakness as long as I have. I would say that maybe I should give Siren Charms another spin, but I'm pretty positive I don't like that album very much at all. Everything's Gone is kinda sorta alright and that would be the best I can do. And for the record, I'm still pissed that they decided to put out a live show/album while touring Siren Charms. That setlist is not passable.

 

[DE4life]

Alright, I listened to it twice. It's a pretty solid album. It certainly sits better after having heard Siren Charms and Battles, I know that much. I broke down the tracks into three groups; the good, the meh, the bad.

The good: title track, The Puzzle, Fear is the Weakness, Where the Dead Ships Dwell, Ropes, A New Dawn
The meh: Deliver Us, Darker Times, Enter Tragedy, Liberation
The bad: All For Me, The Attic (?)

I'm pretty much with you on this, although to be honest I quite like all the songs in your 'meh' category as well so I'd probably just be split between the good and the bad. I'm glad you put All For Me in the bad category as sometimes I feel like me and A88 are the only ones who hate that song I can't understand why so many people like it. It has one decent part 3/4 in with some nice sounding instrumental, but that's it. The rest of it is so boring.

The title track is one of my absolute favourites on the album. Great chorus, solid guitar work throughout, vocals on point.

The two tracks that surprised me the most were The Puzzle and Fear is the Weakness. I hadn't listened to those in years to be honest. I'm not sure what didn't resonate with me about them before but they're pretty damn good songs.

I still can't believe I slept on Fear is the Weakness as long as I have.

I remember FITW being one of the tracks that everybody really liked when SOAPF came out. For once the synths are done correctly and give the track a really cool, haunting atmosphere (as they do in Where the Dead Ships Dwell also). The Puzzle has some bad lyrics but it's an energetic, fast-paced song so it doesn't really matter.

I would say that maybe I should give Siren Charms another spin, but I'm pretty positive I don't like that album very much at all. Everything's Gone is kinda sorta alright and that would be the best I can do. And for the record, I'm still pissed that they decided to put out a live show/album while touring Siren Charms. That setlist is not passable.

I have done a couple of re-listens to Siren Charms recently and there isn't much there. I did discover some songs I liked more than I remembered, but they were pretty much all the non-metal songs. With Eyes Wide Open, Through Oblivion and Dead Eyes. Also the two bonus tracks The Chase and Become the Sky are good. Otherwise there's nothing there worth going back over imo. The 'metal' tracks on the album are all boring, formulaic and lack any creativity or passion. Vocals on many of those tracks are really bad too.

 

[drawntoblack]

Fear is the weakness has to be the most disappointing IF track ever. It starts off with that cool mix of a lead guitar and electronic synth in the background, sounds kind of moody and melancholic, almost like a sequel to My Sweet Shadow, it has a bit of that STYE atmosphere. And then the whiny verses starts and everything falls apart. Talk about wasted potential.

 

[DE4life]

I don't think that's the general concensus my man but there are some people on here who think Jester Race is boring, so I guess it's all about perception and personal taste.

 

[The Grayfox]

but there are some people on here who think Jester Race is boring

...the hell you say?

 

[DE4life]

...the hell you say?

Don't worry, they were duly dealt with.

 

[eochaid]

Soapf is good. But, when you go see them live and they play, SOAPF, DU, AFM, WTDSD and FITW, then you start seeing the album from a different perspective.

 

[DE4life]

To be fair I think we all knew when SOAPF came out that Anders wasn't going to be able to pull it off live I do agree that the SOAPF tracks sound worse live than on CD though, which is a shame as with the newer IF material it is typically the other way around.

 

[eochaid]

Not only worse. They chose like every midtempo song on the album to play live.

It was boring.

 

[drawntoblack]

I don't think that's the general concensus my man but there are some people on here who think Jester Race is boring, so I guess it's all about perception and personal taste.

Hey, if you like it, fair enough. Good for you. To me, after the intro ends and the verses start, it feels like someone took a part from an entirely different song and just copy-pasted it there, and it just happened to be in the same key. But it changes the mood so abruptly.
I am okay with some tracks off that album, but overall it's more of the "it's not as bad as it could (and eventually will) be" category than "this is genuinely good".

 

[DE4life]

I agree that FITW does have some odd tempo changes, but I do like how it's structured. The minimalistic opening twenty seconds or so gives way to an epic sounding mixture of synths and guitars, then at the 40 second mark there is some more nice guitar work (although as usual Bjorn is abusing the wah pedal completely unnecessarily). What I like about the verses is how the guitars are actually playing in the background in time with the vocals, rather than the usual chugging or total absence of guitar that happens so often in Siren Charms especially (but also on STYE). I also really like when Anders screams "you are leaving me... with scars", transitioning into some more nice guitar leads (w/unnecessary wah). Nice, uptempo pre-chorus moving into a groovy, synth-laden chorus which makes great use of the drums during and just after (remember when IF had a good drummer?). The rest of the song continues in more or less the same vein (the solo is good but AGAIN the poor wah pedal is being overworked), with some changes to a few lines to incoprorate screams or alternate vocal effects which help make the repeated pre-chorus/chorus feel less repetitive. The ending is basically the same as the opening.

I also really like the lyrics on FITW. There are some good lines in there and the way Anders screams some of them (the line I mentioned, "you are leaving me... with scars" as example) is awesome.

The only real minus I have for the track is Bjorn and his trusty wah pedal. I hadn't noticed it so much previously, but listening to it today it really stands out in a bad way.

 

[DE4life]

I also genuinely think SOAPF is IF's best album in terms of catchy, memorable choruses. Almost every song has an absolute banger of a chorus. They're all similar in terms of being melodic, powerful and uplifting, but for me at least it never gets repetitive. AFM is the only real exception in terms of having a forgettable and boring chorus (I'm not counting Attic or Jester's Door).