Can't disagree:
"As a huge In Flames fan, I have never been so disappointed by an album so goddamn much since Metallica's Lulu. Siren Charms is In Flames' latest installment, an opportunity that was completely wasted! Let's be real here, In Flames over the past few years hasn't had a very impressive track record. Come Clarity was probably the most decent album they've released in the past decade and everything from there onwards blew up in their faces. Siren Charms was an opportunity for the band to redeem themselves to their fans but instead they focused too much on experimentation rather than actually making their album sound good. Experimentation isn't a bad thing, it's part of progression, but In Flames have done this so many times before now. Honestly, this sounds nothing different from their previous release. Except maybe the fact that this one sucks even more because it's basically rehash of "Sounds of a Playground Fading."
Let's start off with the basics. Anders Friden's vocals have to be the most annoying thing on the entire album. His growls and screams are barely there, popping up occasionally, and are replaced by his actual singing voice, which are so out of key it's killing me. We're talking about Anders fucking Friden here! What happened to the harsh vocals we heard on albums like "Colony," "Clayman" or even something more recent like "Come Clarity?" Instead we get some half-assed clean vocals that make the band sound like some pop group. Even more so due to the synth you hear in the background, which I swear you could hear something similar on a fucking One Direction release. Both of these elements fused together has to be the album's biggest downfall and benefactor as to why this release sucks. Everything else, be it the guitars and drums, are all soft as hell. Rarely do you even get a heavy bridge or fast riff. It's practically non-existent. If you came here expecting something truly heavy and powerful, it's not on here because at least 90% of this album is soft! It seems almost unfair to call these guys a melodic death metal band. They're melodic, they're a band but there's literally no metal to be found whatsoever on this release. Friden's whiny bitch vocals mixed with a weak band supporting them makes this nothing more than a pop release. There's distortion but it doesn't do the music justice.
I will admit that there are some riffs and parts in certain songs that sound okay. I'm still a huge fan of Björn Gelotte's guitar style despite his work on here. There are some solos of his that I actually could enjoy but that, of course, was short-lived because of everything else drowning it out. I have to say that "When the World Explodes" has to be the only impressive track on this piece, it's not stellar but I at least have to point out something good on this album. It's not all bad, it just went against everyone's expectations. When I heard of this piece, I was actually pretty stoked on the fact In Flames could make something really good here and redeem themselves, to show the fans they're still capable on making something powerful. Instead they relied on like one or two tracks and said: "hey guys, we're still heavy but we're going to stick with sounding like a pop rock band now because that's what you guys want, right?" Wrong! So fucking wrong! In the end, this album is way below average. It's boring, soft, gets stale really fast and not worth any of your money. Whatever In Flames releases next, I'm not excited for it. At this point, we've been fucked over so many times by these guys that we're having a hard time believing that their next release will be worthwhile. It's kind of hard to say "In Flames We Trust" without feeling like I'm kidding myself. To me, they're not melodic death metal until they release something that can actually start a mosh pit."
Also, after listening to Eyes Wide Open again... why is there no solo? It would at least make it a complete "ballad"
This was the laziest effort of an "album" ever.
