IN FLAMES Clayman Re-recorded 2020

[DE4life]

Here's the thing, you absolutely can sell music like Siren Charms and Battles in the US. Plenty of equally shitty bands do it. The issue is that In Flames are now way too old to pull off the image needed. You need guys in their early 20s with make up and techwave/postpunk futuristic fancy image. Not 50 year old middle aged men who are balding, especially when they can't even pull off what I guess should constitute as singing live.
In Flames want to tap into that Black Veil Brides market, and it makes sense given how there is a lot of money to be made off western high school girls. It's just that this band can't pull it off - neither in terms of looks nor in terms of absolutely driven social media campaign that is necessary for such thing. You need youthful energy for making it in the modern music business.

If the band ended up quitting within the next two years, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

Siren Charms is a weird album, it doesn't really have an indentity. It runs through average/poor alt-metal, rock ballads and electro-pop. I am not sure it was aimed at anyone in particular - a jack of all trades and master of none. I'm not really sure who it was meant to appeal to. Battles I would agree is a stab at a younger US market - probably the most calculated album in terms of aiming at a demographic since STYE which was a very obvious attempt at penetrating the American alt-metal market.

As for how long IF can go on for, I have no idea. I can't imagine Anders and Bjorn still doing this stuff, with touring and everything else, into their mid-50s. I would guess the band have a couple of albums left in them but I would be surprised if they are going much longer than 5 or 6 years. In terms of output IF are surely up there with some of the most consistent bands of all time. They've released regular new albums every 2-3 years since 1994 which is impressive regardless of how you view their progression. No hiatus or break up during that time, just regular albums and tours. Many of the bands from that early-90s Swedish MDM scene (DT, Soilwork, Arch Enemy) have been amazingly consistent in this sense, which is impressive.

I had no idea Lunar Strain had such a bad rep before I got online. I think it's pretty awesome and I prefer it to anything after Clayman. I think there's some amazing stuff on there like Harlagaten.

When I first started discussing IF online in the early 2000s Lunar Strain did not have a bad rep. Most people liked it and there were quite a few who even preferred it to the likes of Colony and Clayman. It's only really been in the last 10-12 years that LS has started gaining a bad rep amongst IF fans. If I had to hazard a guess as to why I would suggest it is because fans 15-20 years ago had mostly come from a background of listening to 90s MDM/DM/BM. The current IF fanbase doesn't have that foundation, for a lot of them their first IF albums were STYE, Come Clarity or ASOP. So the appreciation for that older style of MDM/DM isn't there and so they don't really understand LS and cant get past the production. In the 90s it was normal to hear that kind of production on extreme metal albums so you just got used to it. I guess it's not so easy for the current generation of IF fans to accept that.

Basically, those of us who listened to that old style of MDM/DM/BM and also still listen to IF are a minority as most of those fans abandoned IF around the Reroute/STYE era and have been dwindling ever since. Lunar Strain is not a bad album for those of us who grew up lisening to that kind of metal, but we are a dying breed as far as IF fans ae concerned - it's the sound of our playground fading.

 

[eochaid]

Lunar Strain is a great album, or to better say, an album with a great potential, as the re-recordings have proved. Battles is a big pile of shit.

I don't understand why, after the criticism received after SC, they decided that the best option was to become an American alt rock band. And I can imagine why everyone could be upset about how SC was received. For one part, the guitarists had a different idea from what was released, so the reception could prove that they were right. On the other hand Anders and Roberto were the main responsible of how it was released, so Anders could be upset about people not understanding his greatness.

But battles? An album where they allowed almost everyone around to be a part of the composition process. That album is a joke.

And I'm not so sure that they think it was a had idea since they decided not only to repeat with Benson but also to rescue a song as impersonal from the battles recordings as it was house. A song that could have been released by any Benson produced band and noone would notice the difference. This and the fact that they're playing it live along with that other awful battles song. I forgot the name though.

 

[DE4life]

This and the fact that they're playing it live along with that other awful battles song. I forgot the name though.

No you didn't



Throw your lighters in the air muthafuckas

 

[Pallbearer]

Perhaps both of the main men were kind of "satiated" after SOAPF and SC already, and allowed songwriting help from outside for that reason.

SOAPF was largely about Björn testing if/proving he could compose everything by himself. And SC seemed to be largely about Anders getting those alt.rock ideas out of his system. So perhaps there wasn't so much hunger/ambition/need to prove oneself left after those albums as they both had accomplished what they wanted to.

 

[eochaid]

No you didn't



Throw your lighters in the air muthafuckas

Please someone cut his throat. His voice should always be prerecorded for live shows. This is awful.

But it was not this song. I mean the other one, the one that's basically house part one.

Edit: next time someone says that Anders is a great singer, frontman, or whatever, just remember to link this mess.

Edit: THE TRUTH! That's it! Had to Google it.

 

[eochaid]

Perhaps both of the main men were kind of "satiated" after SOAPF and SC already, and allowed songwriting help from outside for that reason.

SOAPF was largely about Björn testing if/proving he could compose everything by himself. And SC seemed to be largely about Anders getting those alt.rock ideas out of his system. So perhaps there wasn't so much hunger/ambition/need to prove oneself left after those albums as they both had accomplished what they wanted to.

Or they simply chose a producer that could really introduce them into the American market.

 

[DE4life]

Please someone cut his throat. His voice should always be prerecorded for live shows. This is awful.

But it was not this song. I mean the other one, the one that's basically house part one.

Edit: next time someone says that Anders is a great singer, frontman, or whatever, just remember to link this mess.

Edit: THE TRUTH! That's it! Had to Google it.

We are, we are we areee, du du du dududu, du du du dududu, we are, we are we areeeeeeeee -air guitar muthafuckas!-

 

[eochaid]

Can't they put a wah pedal to Anders voice? At least that would be something.

I wonder if he ever listens to recordings of him singing live.

What must be his reaction? Something like "I didn't knew that I'm the fucking best singer ever" while drunken and fapping at the same time?

 

[Pallbearer]

Or they simply chose a producer that could really introduce them into the American market.

Probably that too. But still the album doesn't sound like they were really trying to put their best foot forward. It's more like they were just going through the motions. For some reason inspiration quite wasn't there.

 

[eochaid]

Probably that too. But still the album doesn't sound like they were really trying to put their best foot forward. It's more like they were just going through the motions. For some reason inspiration quite wasn't there.

But they said, at the time, that they were making the demos for the songs together for quite some time before entering the studio.

 

[DE4life]

What must be his reaction? Something like "I didn't knew that I'm the fucking best singer ever" while drunken and fapping at the same time?

Sounds more like Ciko's reaction to Anders tbh

As for Battles, as I said, I think they rushed into it too quickly. They should have given themselves at least another year. The album was just retreads and copycat of non-metal bands. Nothing original there at all.

 

[eochaid]

Sounds more like Ciko's reaction to Anders tbh

I was thinking about him when I wrote this . (Sorry man but it was fun).

As for Battles, as I said, I think they rushed into it too quickly. They should have given themselves at least another year. The album was just retreads and copycat of non-metal bands. Nothing original there at all.

I agree. I guess, they just did not have a clear vision of what they wanted to do with that album.

 

[galvanized]

Re-recording Lunar Strain in its entirety would have been a lot better than Clayman. Like we have said over and over, Clayman was already peak.

Lunar Strain was not and likely not divisive among most fans.

Lunar Strain with ITM production and strings from SOAPF? Would have been epic.

 

[eochaid]

Re-recording Lunar Strain in its entirety would have been a lot better than Clayman. Like we have said over and over, Clayman was already peak.

Lunar Strain was not and likely not divisive among most fans.

Lunar Strain with ITM production and strings from SOAPF? Would have been epic.

I don't think so. The right moment was when they did it. In the Colony era. Now, that music is way too distant from their curent selves to be able to make something decent.

 

[DE4life]

I think Anders could do the vocals justice as long as he didn't change any of the growls to singing, but Lunar Strain produced by Howard Benson and Bjorn's wah pedal? That's a big no from me.



Fucking perfection

 

[DE4life]

No way modern IF could do this song justice. The whole section from 02:05 "Rivers of crimson, lead me down" all the way to the haunting clean interlude and solo is so great. This song would have sounded so incredible if the band had rerecorded it during the late 90s. But that ship has sailed, so Lunar Strain version is the best we'll ever get.

 

[galvanized]

Agree Colony era would have been best, the two remakes from then are awesome. Should’ve just done the whole thing.

But, I bet Bjorn and the metal drummer could pull it off today. They just need to get off their asses.

 

[eochaid]

I don't think so. Bjorn is so obsessed with the wah pedal that one day he'll start using it on the riffs without even noticing. His current play is bland. Lunar Strain needs energy.

 

[DE4life]

Bjorn could do it, in theory, but as Eochaid said he would need to let go of his beloved wah pedal and put some proper effort into it. Also no Howard Benson - Fredrik Nordstrom or nothing.

Honestly I wouldn't be comfortable with them rerecording LS without Jesper anyway. LS is Jesper's creation - Anders and Bjorn have no business touching it without his input, imo.

 

[ThePhobiac]

I always thought Anders' approach to live vocals is "tbh I can't really do the clean shit, so might as well fuck around. The people in the crowd seem to enjoy it." It's cringy, but it is what it is.

I remember when I was new to the band and saw a performance of Cloud Connected from 2003. The chorus was dreadful. I was so surprised. It was like "oh shit, this guy actually can't sing at all." It was disappointing for sure.

Remember that video about "What was the hardest Clayman song to record" and Anders sorta said it was Satellites and Astronauts because he "couldn't sing" in the verses, and he seemed to realize what he said and smirked? I think he's aware.

ngl, I thought IF was going to break up within two years shortly after ASOP came out. Not because I disliked the album or anything. Just a gut feeling that there was some tension or disinterest within the band. I'm legitimately surprised they're still going ten years later. At this rate I would expect Dark Tranquillity or AtG to split (again, in AtG's case) before they do.