IN FLAMES new album being released by the end of 2016
- Thread starter PlainVanilla
- Start date
+3
I like that In Flames have tried something different again.
I'm happy with the album overall, as I listen to a few bands that this could familiarize with well and put into certain playlists.
I can understand the viewpoint of others saying that there isn't anything that stands out greatly. (not a bad thing IMO).
With that said I think it's a solid and consistant album, It feels fresh and modern and I'm fine with that.
The singles didn't give away the identity of the album at all, and I think there was some really great tracks that could of been singles instead, but that's just my opinion.
After first listen I have to say the songs that stood out the most that I enjoyed were Drained, Like Sand, and Greatest Greed.
There are a few weird moments which I'm sure will feel more natural after a few more spins.
I'll give it a 7.5-8/10
krofius
Active Member
- Mar 16, 2009
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Just a little bit, but I thought the start of Drained intro reminded me a bit of Discover Me Like Emptiness.
OK, let's go.
Drained: Interesting intro, opening riffs are nice. Anders talking about his heart breaking in two, of course. Chorus lyrics embarrassing. Actual vocals not so bad. Song structure typical pop formula. Here's Bjorn with some wahhh. Sorry, but this is nothing special. 5/10
The End: I've already articulated my opinion on this - decent modern In Flames. Sounds like a B-track off SOAPF, which is OK. 7/10
Like Sand: Anders believes that the whole wide world is against him (sounding sad). Guess he's been reading these forums after all. Really strange song... almost entirely clean vocals. Some stupid electronic effects at one point. Doesn't sound like In Flames at all, but it's listenable. Lyrics are TERRIBLE and genuinely sound like they were written by a child. 5/10
The Truth: Catchy and would be OK for other bands, but this is not an In Flames song and frankly they should be ashamed of it. 0/10
In My Room: Drums and guitars in this one don't go together properly at points. Some groovy riffs in this one, lyrics are awful again. Wahhh's in the usual place. 5/10
Before I Fall: Intro is nice - quite a few of these songs have nice intros, actually. A lot of autotune in this one. This would be a nice song if you were a teenager just starting to get into metal, or prefer stuff like 30 Seconds to Mars. Catchy and memorable chorus, but that's standard for In Flames. The song itself has no real substance but again, listenable. 6/10
Through My Eyes: Already spoken about this one, slightly below average song imo. All starting to sound kind of the same now. 4/10
Battles: Starts with a heavy-ish riff. Anders takes over with the usual silly lyrics, then there's dat catchy chorus. Sounds like a lot of the songs that came before it. Feels like I have the album on repeat. 5/10
Here Until Forever: Opening sounds like something you'd hear on a power metal album, but I like Power Metal so that's okay. We're getting a repeat pattern of melodic intro, instruments go quiet in verses whilst Anders sings, pre-chorus/chorus, repeat, solo, chorus, then end. See previous songs, not much difference here. 5/10
Underneath My (fore)Skin: Metalcore-ish intro. Instruments go quiet and Anders starts singing. Again. This is how almost every song starts. Some really weird effects on the vocals. Slow song, quiet boring. I'm already tired of hearing Anders' whining, ProTools enhanced voice. 4/10
Wallflower: In Flames meets Depache Mode (or was that what Siren Charms was meant to be?). Just like TCP, the intro outstays its welcome by about two minutes. Anders singing his standard emo lyrics (his life is so sad and difficult). Another slow song. If you like TCP and Anders' singing you should like this song too, as there isn't that much difference. As it is, I hate the former and tolerate the latter in small doses... so this song isn't for me. I did kind of like the part around the 4 and a half minute mark, until Anders starts singing again. 3/10
Save Me: Very similar to the majority of songs on this album. Not particularly good. 4/10
Greatest Greed: Energetic. Actually not too bad. Might listen to again, even though the "ohhhh" stuff is really lame. 6/10
Us Against the World: Ha, ha. I laughed at this one. 3/10
In conclusion... this is better than Siren Charms for me, but only by virtue of increased overall energy and somewhat better production and vocals. Lyrics are genuinely terrible, Anders is so immature it's actually embarrassing. Mostly clean vocals. Song structures on 80% of these are almost identical. Bjorn wah solo in almost the same place every time. Almost every song starts with a variation of the same melodic intro. Almost all verses go quiet in the background whilst Anders sings. These guys are painfully lacking creatively, and it shows here. Drums are just there, no impact on the music at all. Same with the bass but that's never been any different for this band. They don't need two guitar players and would be better off replacing Engelin with a keyboard player.
If you enjoy Anders clean vocals and really simple rock/metal which takes no risks, you'll like this album. Otherwise it'll pass you by and whilst it won't particularly offend you, you'll never want to listen to it again. I'd give it an overall 5/10.
The Big Four
SOAPF
CC
R2R
Lunar Strain/Subterranean
STYE
ASOP
Battles
Siren Charms
Drained: Interesting intro, opening riffs are nice. Anders talking about his heart breaking in two, of course. Chorus lyrics embarrassing. Actual vocals not so bad. Song structure typical pop formula. Here's Bjorn with some wahhh. Sorry, but this is nothing special. 5/10
The End: I've already articulated my opinion on this - decent modern In Flames. Sounds like a B-track off SOAPF, which is OK. 7/10
Like Sand: Anders believes that the whole wide world is against him (sounding sad). Guess he's been reading these forums after all. Really strange song... almost entirely clean vocals. Some stupid electronic effects at one point. Doesn't sound like In Flames at all, but it's listenable. Lyrics are TERRIBLE and genuinely sound like they were written by a child. 5/10
The Truth: Catchy and would be OK for other bands, but this is not an In Flames song and frankly they should be ashamed of it. 0/10
In My Room: Drums and guitars in this one don't go together properly at points. Some groovy riffs in this one, lyrics are awful again. Wahhh's in the usual place. 5/10
Before I Fall: Intro is nice - quite a few of these songs have nice intros, actually. A lot of autotune in this one. This would be a nice song if you were a teenager just starting to get into metal, or prefer stuff like 30 Seconds to Mars. Catchy and memorable chorus, but that's standard for In Flames. The song itself has no real substance but again, listenable. 6/10
Through My Eyes: Already spoken about this one, slightly below average song imo. All starting to sound kind of the same now. 4/10
Battles: Starts with a heavy-ish riff. Anders takes over with the usual silly lyrics, then there's dat catchy chorus. Sounds like a lot of the songs that came before it. Feels like I have the album on repeat. 5/10
Here Until Forever: Opening sounds like something you'd hear on a power metal album, but I like Power Metal so that's okay. We're getting a repeat pattern of melodic intro, instruments go quiet in verses whilst Anders sings, pre-chorus/chorus, repeat, solo, chorus, then end. See previous songs, not much difference here. 5/10
Underneath My (fore)Skin: Metalcore-ish intro. Instruments go quiet and Anders starts singing. Again. This is how almost every song starts. Some really weird effects on the vocals. Slow song, quiet boring. I'm already tired of hearing Anders' whining, ProTools enhanced voice. 4/10
Wallflower: In Flames meets Depache Mode (or was that what Siren Charms was meant to be?). Just like TCP, the intro outstays its welcome by about two minutes. Anders singing his standard emo lyrics (his life is so sad and difficult). Another slow song. If you like TCP and Anders' singing you should like this song too, as there isn't that much difference. As it is, I hate the former and tolerate the latter in small doses... so this song isn't for me. I did kind of like the part around the 4 and a half minute mark, until Anders starts singing again. 3/10
Save Me: Very similar to the majority of songs on this album. Not particularly good. 4/10
Greatest Greed: Energetic. Actually not too bad. Might listen to again, even though the "ohhhh" stuff is really lame. 6/10
Us Against the World: Ha, ha. I laughed at this one. 3/10
In conclusion... this is better than Siren Charms for me, but only by virtue of increased overall energy and somewhat better production and vocals. Lyrics are genuinely terrible, Anders is so immature it's actually embarrassing. Mostly clean vocals. Song structures on 80% of these are almost identical. Bjorn wah solo in almost the same place every time. Almost every song starts with a variation of the same melodic intro. Almost all verses go quiet in the background whilst Anders sings. These guys are painfully lacking creatively, and it shows here. Drums are just there, no impact on the music at all. Same with the bass but that's never been any different for this band. They don't need two guitar players and would be better off replacing Engelin with a keyboard player.
If you enjoy Anders clean vocals and really simple rock/metal which takes no risks, you'll like this album. Otherwise it'll pass you by and whilst it won't particularly offend you, you'll never want to listen to it again. I'd give it an overall 5/10.
The Big Four
SOAPF
CC
R2R
Lunar Strain/Subterranean
STYE
ASOP
Battles
Siren Charms
we are, we areeeeeee...
Anyway listened the whole album and finished just now. I must say I like the guitar work here. I think Anders improved he's vocals very well, lots of clean bad not in a bad way. I like all the songs except Battles and Here Until Forever. Wallflower's first parth was meh, but I like the second part. Like Sand could be in my top 20 IF song, love it. Guitars awesome, just awesome. And am I the only one who feels the guitars kind has Spanish sound? What do you think Eochaid?
Alright a quick battles review from me.
Drained - one of the better songs on the record. Cool opener. Chorus is alright.7/10
The End - loved it from the start.8/10
Like Sand - surprisingly good actually. Like the lyrics.7/10
The Truth - ...
In My Room - its alright. Nothing special. Could fit in on siren charms.4/10
Before I Fall - bored to death the first time i heard it but now its ok. Nothing special there either.5/10
Through My Eyes - also one of the better songs on the album. Like the verse and pre chorus alot.7/10
Battles - i wanted to like it but.. it starts then it ends. And not in a good way.5/10
Here Until Forever - actually i stopped the song at the end when the choir kicked in and sang alone. That isnt in flames for me so no thank you.4/10
Underneath my skin - cool riff. Nothing more.4/10
Wallflower - Here were talking! Probably the best song on the album. The chorus just need to grow on me some more.9/10
Save Me - also one of the better songs in here.8/10
Greatest Greed - started promising but then the fucking "ooooh" in the prechorus or chorus w/e didnt do it for me. Fuck man.. could be such a cool song.5/10
Us against the world - cool opening riff. Alright song.6/10
So drained, wallflower, like sand, the end, through my eyes and save me are probably the best song on the album imo.
Drained - one of the better songs on the record. Cool opener. Chorus is alright.7/10
The End - loved it from the start.8/10
Like Sand - surprisingly good actually. Like the lyrics.7/10
The Truth - ...
In My Room - its alright. Nothing special. Could fit in on siren charms.4/10
Before I Fall - bored to death the first time i heard it but now its ok. Nothing special there either.5/10
Through My Eyes - also one of the better songs on the album. Like the verse and pre chorus alot.7/10
Battles - i wanted to like it but.. it starts then it ends. And not in a good way.5/10
Here Until Forever - actually i stopped the song at the end when the choir kicked in and sang alone. That isnt in flames for me so no thank you.4/10
Underneath my skin - cool riff. Nothing more.4/10
Wallflower - Here were talking! Probably the best song on the album. The chorus just need to grow on me some more.9/10
Save Me - also one of the better songs in here.8/10
Greatest Greed - started promising but then the fucking "ooooh" in the prechorus or chorus w/e didnt do it for me. Fuck man.. could be such a cool song.5/10
Us against the world - cool opening riff. Alright song.6/10
So drained, wallflower, like sand, the end, through my eyes and save me are probably the best song on the album imo.
I wouldn't say spanish, but the key of the song is a more melancholic feel.
It really reminds me of Satellites and Astronauts.
If only the lyrics were a little better-- it would be one of IFs' best tracks.
krofius
Active Member
- Mar 16, 2009
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Here Until Forever I didn't like at first either, but chorus really grew on me, and now I really like it.
Damn, that song tittles... like we're reading some schoolgirls diary.
Wait until you hear the lyrics
possibly the worst set yet. In this regard I'd say they are actually slightly worse than Siren Charms.Like Sand reminds me of Siren Charms (the track that is), has some similar traits but with more energy and tempo
Wait until you hear the lyrics
So, is there at least one nicely crafted solo on this album?
I must say as a musician and writer for 25 years, I am very impressed with how much these guys grow between albums. "Battles" is gonna take some listening for me. I respect how these guys challenge themselves and keep moving forward. I'd rather have fresh than stale. I am hearing very cool 80's elements in the songs which is kinda cool. I guess with this record I will have to listen to it and keep in mind, "Load and Re-load." I will have to change my expectation and adjust my view of this band plying music that is so far removed from anything they have ever done.
If you define nicely crafted as "wahhhh-wahhhhhhh" then yeah, there's loads. Otherwise no, not really. The song intros are the best part of this album by far, a few really nice ones. Then the song is always derailed by a total loss of momentum in the verses and Anders' singing.
Honestly, when I listen to this I feel like I wasn't the target demographic at all. As a grown, adult man, it's hard not to cringe listening to Anders singing these lyrics. It feels like the album is meant for much younger, less mature people. 12-17 year olds, maybe. Just getting into metal and wanting to hear something catchy, not too offensive, and that speaks to their limited life experiences. This is what Battles is.
Jester Slave
Narcissist
I thought ASOP was on the bottom in this one for you.Wait until you hear the lyrics
The Truth?
Definitely, it would be a perfect fit on SC.
It is. I'm just comparing to the most recent album.
Siren Charms
Battles
ASOP
SOAPF wasn't anything special lyrically either, but still had some really nice moments. Chorus lyrics of the title track are really cool.
"We are ghosts in a concrete world
Genetic codes of a dying breed
Will I be left behind?
Sounds of a playground fading..."
As opposed to...
"You ripped the heart out
You ripped the heart out
You ripped the heart out
You killed the part of me that kept us alive"
... SMH. This is a married father of two in his forties. Unacceptable.
Jester Slave
Narcissist
You will get shit for this post, but I'd rather focus on your mentality, rather than nitpicking on your words. I mean, someone will surely reply to you sth like "YEAH, MAKING POP SONGS WHEN UR 40 IS CHALLENING ALL RIGHT XDXD".
But the point is, what you meant to make across, that they've been doing this for a long time, and I don't understand @DE4life remark about The Truth (and giving it a 0) that it's not IF. Was STYE IF because it had some older elements, like the outro of Touch Of Red? Or is it considered IF now, because aside from the production, you dig some of the songs? Like, in many ways ASOP was more IF than STYE or CC for example.
It's like the topic of IF should change names. They could've changed names 10 years ago too, the only difference is that while the mindfuckery that was Come Clarity was pretty much universally liked, while recent changes are not. You criticize Anders for being immature, yet your view on what IF and what not is just as immature as his lyrics (not talking to you, Buz).
