IN FLAMES new album being released by the end of 2016

[eochaid]

It's called an educated guess. If something has 4 wheels, can honk, is used to transport people and various items and beind used on the highway, you can make an educated guess that it is probably an automobile.

The very best you could muster out just to be able to say that you were right is saying that his health made him quit.

So your evidence is your guess or, maybe, your desire.

There was, if I remember right, an official statement involving Jesper and the band. They talk about how he left the band. So, there's real evidence against your lack of it. Now, if you can find real evidence, not your assumptions, I will change my mind.

 

[DE4life]

First listen of the album: A few songs that are just average, a bunch good songs and a few really good songs so far. When I get used to the vocals I'm sure it will get better. Will be perfect music at work and while chilling at home and such for sure.

So much for Krofi-kun's initial thoughts from "perfect music" to only one song on his playlist. The cold is real, that I know.

 

[Clay-Man]

I honestly don't think Here Until Forever is that bland of a song. The lyrics are a bit simple, but it's not dogshit. They at least portray a meaning without coming off as cheesy as fuck as some other songs.
I feel it's more a matter of taste than whether or not it's bad.

Battles definitely isn't the best album, but I think it's somewhat a step in the right direction instrumentally compared to Siren Charms. It's more melodic at least. It has a weird unhuman feel to it though. I spun it a bit last year. Not too much now. I do enjoy some songs.

Siren Charms is the album that doesn't get played for me, if anything. It's such a disappointment, because I really like the industrial tinge in some In Flames songs, but it was executed so fucking poorly. It's what makes Colony's synths sound more industrial and electronic than sounding like fruity power metal synth leads that too many Melodic Death bands exhibit.

 

[DE4life]

SC is just the worst. It really has very few redeeming qualities.

Production - terrible, genuinely amateurish in parts
Vocals - some of Anders worst, not helped by production
Creativity - barely
Riffs - recycled or just plain terrible
Solos - wahhhhhh
Structure - identical for almost every song, embarrassing

You can go on for a while but practically nothing is done well on Siren Charms. Through Oblivion is amazingly one of the better songs on the album and it's electro-pop.

Battles is largely bland, soulless, empty and ultimately a hollow effort - but at least it sounds like it was produced by a professional. It's pathetically cookie-cutter but it's not terrible... it just is. Battles exists. The songs are musically viable. It's difficult to say anything more than that about it.

 

[krofius]

So much for Krofi-kun's initial thoughts from "perfect music" to only one song on his playlist. The cold is real, that I know.

Stalker/10

 

[Clay-Man]

Yeah, I think ultimately Siren Charms and Battles were the ending point of any true value from In Flames. It's really disappointing because I truly believe Sounds Of A Playground Fading is top stellar work from them. You can HEAR them trying on that album. You can actually hear them doing the best they can, in a different music direction.

It's honestly, probably RIGHT behind Come Clarity as my top new IF albums.

 

[Jester Slave]

It is beyond me how can you rate Battles higher than SC. Battles has the awful receipt of the "blah blah no one cares CHORUS blah blah still no one cares CHORUS" formula. At least SC is interesting for the most time, and it sounds heavy. Well, compared to Battles anyway.

My biggest issue with ASOP is that sometimes less could have been more in the guitars department, because on many songs it seems like they are just going "metaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!" for the sake of it, but god, despite Battles having some nice riffs and solos here and there, the background music itself is very fucking weak and uninteresting.

I just popped in Dead Eyes now. It's never been among my favorites off SC, I think it belongs to the weaker tracks, mainly because WEWO and SC does the slow, ballady thing better, and DE has a rather weak chorus. But at least that song has a concept, decent music, and the average or below-average performance by Anders is still miles more interesting than almost anything he pulled off on Battles. It conveys much more emotion than Like Sand for example.

The immense SC hate had me scratching my head to begin with, but most of you praising Battles over it makes me feel like I'm in some kind of simulation where I forgot the safe word which would put an end to it.

What about it? Anders vocals are annoying as fuck in that song.

His voice annoys you on that track and not on Battles? How is that even possible?

 

[DE4life]

I see you still haven't grasped the concept of opinion or perspective.

 

[DE4life]

Yeah, I think ultimately Siren Charms and Battles were the ending point of any true value from In Flames. It's really disappointing because I truly believe Sounds Of A Playground Fading is top stellar work from them. You can HEAR them trying on that album. You can actually hear them doing the best they can, in a different music direction.

It's honestly, probably RIGHT behind Come Clarity as my top new IF albums.

Couldn't agree more. SC was that much more of a disappointment because it came after SOAPF. Battles feels like they tried to go back there in terms of energy, but ended up creating something extremely shallow with almost no replay value.

SOAPF would have been a great way for the band to sign off. It felt like they'd righted a lot of the wrongs on ASOP and proved they still had it. Instead it was downhill in a huge way with SC and Battles, which have done nothing but damage the band's reputation imo.

 

[Jester Slave]

I see you still haven't grasped the concept of opinion or perspective.

Why are you shooting yourself in the leg by bringing up perspective, when in the grand perspective of IF's discography, Battles is an even bigger sore thumb than SC?

Also, it is lovely whenever you play out the "it's my opinion card", but happily bash krofius and others when they have a dfferent opinion about Anders or IF. Being a condescending douche with a double standard is surely a good way to give your responses depth and insight.

Then again, everything on this board is just a perpetual motion of the same exact words about the same exact topics, so it doesn't really matter how phoney your reaction is, the same people will suck it up anyway and the same people will complain about it anyway.

 

[DE4life]

Yeah yeah, you've said it all before. Don't care. Fact is when you say things like "At least SC is interesting for the most time, and it sounds heavy. Well, compared to Battles anyway" you're stating it like it's the absolute truth.

It's quizzical to suggest SC is "heavier" than Battles. The only heavy songs on the entire album are Everything's Gone and When the World Explodes and it's generally accepted that these are two of the weakest songs on the album, so how is that a positive? The rest of the album isn't heavy in the slightest. What's heavy about IPV, Paralyzed, WEWO, Dead Eyes, Through Oblivion, SC, etc?

As for interesting, SC is only interesting to most of us in a bad way. Interesting because the production is all over the place, interesting because the vocals are so weird, interesting because parts of tracks seem to be literally spliced together in a jarring way, interesting because it's so different to SOAPF and anything that they've done before. But none of that is in a good way. Interesting for all the wrong reasons doesn't make it better than a bland album. That's how most people feel about SC.

It's obvious you feel different, so fine, whatever. It's your opinion and I don't care if you think that way about SC. It doesn't mean I'm going to change my opinion on it though, and neither is anyone else. I'm not sure why any of the above is "beyond" you, unless as aforementioned you struggle with the concept of opinions and perceptions outside of your own.

 

[Clay-Man]

Couldn't agree more. SC was that much more of a disappointment because it came after SOAPF. Battles feels like they tried to go back there in terms of energy, but ended up creating something extremely shallow with almost no replay value.

SOAPF would have been a great way for the band to sign off. It felt like they'd righted a lot of the wrongs on ASOP and proved they still had it. Instead it was downhill in a huge way with SC and Battles, which have done nothing but damage the band's reputation imo.

It actually kind of has damaged their reputation. There were plenty of people who said SOAPF was a great album, besides all the Jesper dick riders.

Literally, even my own rock radio station won't play In Flames. When you make something that's supposed to be more digestible to the mainstream public, and fail to do so, it's pretty fucking embarrassing. It's too heavy despite all the idiots saying "pop rock", and it's too soft for any alternative metal fans.

I'm serious, they played some Battles songs for like a few weeks and then it disappeared completely. I only know this because it's what played at my work, otherwise I wouldn't be listening to rock radio.

 

[DE4life]

It actually kind of has damaged their reputation. There were plenty of people who said SOAPF was a great album, besides all the Jesper dick riders.

Literally, even my own rock radio station won't play In Flames. When you make something that's supposed to be more digestible to the mainstream public, and fail to do so, it's pretty fucking embarrassing. It's too heavy despite all the idiots saying "pop rock", and it's too soft for any alternative metal fans.

I'm serious, they played some Battles songs for like a few weeks and then it disappeared completely. I only know this because it's what played at my work, otherwise I wouldn't be listening to rock radio.

What I noticed with SC especially was how many "new" In Flames fans were criticising the album. These are the types of people who usually post "OMG SOUNDS SO GOOD I'M CRYING IT'S SO EMOTIONAL IFWT". But even these guys were baffled by SC and didn't like it. There seemed to only be a very small group of people who got any enjoyment out of the album. It's the first time I've seen a significant amount of bad reviews for an In Flames album. Even ASOP got good reviews when it was released. I really don't feel I can overstate how poorly SC was received and I have to assume that dealt some pretty hefty damage to the IF "brand", in addition to long standing members suddenly leaving.

The band responded to this by basically trying to play it safe with Battles. Didn't work because the record feels as fake as Anders in his hipster glasses and hoodie. No heart, no soul, no passion. As I said, Battles just exists. It doesn't have the negative stigma that afflicted Siren Charms, but that's because it doesn't really have any kind of aura at all. People heard it, shrugged their shoulders and moved onto better music. That's where IF are at right now and I don't see that changing any time soon. I think they're spent as a creative force.

 

[eochaid]

Couldn't agree more. SC was that much more of a disappointment because it came after SOAPF. Battles feels like they tried to go back there in terms of energy, but ended up creating something extremely shallow with almost no replay value.

SOAPF would have been a great way for the band to sign off. It felt like they'd righted a lot of the wrongs on ASOP and proved they still had it. Instead it was downhill in a huge way with SC and Battles, which have done nothing but damage the band's reputation imo.

I think that not having energy isn't necessarily a bad thing. You can do melancholic music and still be an amazing album.

I also think that both albums were vastly affected by the environment.

SC was also affected by a bunch of bad decisions and the fact that they tried hard to not sound like in flames. The music should no be made in a forced way. It should flow out of you.

With battles, my opinion is that they did not really new what to do, but they new what they wanted to sound like, so they chose the right producer to guide them. Still, the music and the lyrics are uninspiring. It just sounds expensive. That's it.

As for that song. It's full of cliches. Just a random parent talking to a random son about how much he loves him. The lyrics are bland and the feelings are expressed in a ridiculous way. There's no deep meaning. It doesn't reach you (at least me). The music was meh and the vocal lines were boring. Even without the lyrics is one of the worst songs of the album.

 

[eochaid]

What I noticed with SC especially was how many "new" In Flames fans were criticising the album.

Where? The reactions that I read were mostly "they have changed so move on", "you're fake fans" and things like that.

 

[DE4life]

I think that not having energy isn't necessarily a bad thing. You can do melancholic music and still be an amazing album.

I also think that both albums were vastly affected by the environment.

SC was also affected by a bunch of bad decisions and the fact that they tried hard to not sound like in flames. The music should no be made in a forced way. It should flow out of you.

Yeah, but In Flames' entire discography has been categorised by having energy. That's their whole identity, their music traditionally pumps you up. They've always thrown in a few ballad-type songs but the bulk of their catalog is all about high energy, melodic riffs. SC was a step in the opposite direction entirely and it failed miserably. It wasn't just lack of energy but a lack of inspiration and creativity. The album sounds unfinished, rushed and just weird. They not only lost their previous identity but failed to establish anything solid in its place. Then they kind of tried to go back to it in Battles but the whole album just sounds fake. It's the best way I can describe it. Totally fake.

Where? The reactions that I read were mostly "they have changed so move on", "you're fake fans" and things like that.

There were obviously those kinds of posts, but I saw so many people on FB, YouTube and also friends of mine who had always been sucking the band's collective schlong suddenly do a 180 with SC and say they didn't like it (although in fairness they would often also say the band were OK to go in another direction and shouldn't be criticised, so they were still being dicks but at least they were dicks who understood SC sucked).

 

[eochaid]

Yeah, but In Flames' entire discography has been categorised by having energy. That's their whole identity

Yes, and still I understand that they could have the need of doing something in the opposite way. It's just that it lacks good songs, good riffing and the final result is a mess. As you said, incomplete, but also incoherent. There are like two or three different albums into SC. This does not happen with battles.

A well done melancholic album would've been something... fresh.

 

[DE4life]

Yes, and still I understand that they could have the need of doing something in the opposite way. It's just that it lacks good songs, good riffing and the final result is a mess. As you said, incomplete, but also incoherent. There are like two or three different albums into SC. This does not happen with battles.

Something like SC should have been a side project by Anders/Bjorn/Niclas. It's so far removed from the traditional IF sound that it really shouldn't come under the band's label, and I actually think doing so did damage to the IF brand. It would have been better for them not to release SC as an In Flames record.

But who buys SC if it ain't under the In Flames title? Anders fanboys and that's about it. Might have been worth it not to inflict damage on the main brand with that album though. SOAPF > Battles would have been a downgrade for sure, but SOAPF > SC > Battles took us on a really bad, weird detour beforehand.

 

[eochaid]

Something like SC should have been a side project by Anders/Bjorn/Niclas. It's so far removed from the traditional IF sound that it really shouldn't come under the band's label, and I actually think doing so did damage to the IF brand. It would have been better for them not to release SC as an In Flames record.

But who buys SC if it ain't under the In Flames title? Anders fanboys and that's about it. Might have been worth it not to inflict damage on the main brand with that album though.

Agreed. But I feel the same about Battles.

 

[DE4life]

Battles is just like shitty SOAPF b-sides. It's recognisable as modern In Flames even if it has no substance. I can't say the same for SC.