IN FLAMES new album being released on 1st March, 2019

[miniroch]

Fair points. The definition of "old school" is becoming a bit blurred as the bands get older. I mean, I'd say Atoma is quite reminiscent of albums like Projector and Character, which are 19 and 14 years old respectively - so do they classify as old school? Or do we have to go 20+ years now to use that term? Similar with Soilwork, I heard a lot of NBC influences in the current album, and NBC is 17 years old, so is that old school or not? My head hurts.

Damn, you're right Since old-school is a matter of perspective (up to a reasonable point), I guess we should stick with the "classical" MDM term for simplicity.

It still felt different with both those bands to IF though. Neither of them released a Siren Charms or a Battles, they just released albums that personally didn't interest me. I didn't find WATV offensive, it was just boring to my ears. Same for Construct, and all of Soilwork's albums after FNF.

That might be a matter of affection. After all, you probably don't spend your time on DT, ATG, AE or Soilwork boards, but for some reason you are still here (regardless of your love for JesterSlave). Though the bar is obviously set lower, it still hurts much more if the band is one of your old days favourites.

What offended me much more than SC and Battles (perhaps as much as ASOP), was Dark Tranquillity live in 2011.

I'm gonna be "that guy" and I'm gonna come out and say I prefer both We Are The Void and Construct to Fiction, and prefer them to Atoma, though Atoma is good. I need to listen to more old DT though, the oldest I've gone back is Damage Done (my favorite of theirs)

Yep, you are "that guy". Though that may change after you hear Projector, which is my personal favourite and probably the reason I like Atoma so much.

 

[DE4life]

I'm gonna be "that guy" and I'm gonna come out and say I prefer both We Are The Void and Construct to Fiction, and prefer them to Atoma, though Atoma is good. I need to listen to more old DT though, the oldest I've gone back is Damage Done (my favorite of theirs)

"That guy" indeed WATV and Construct are just crushingly boring for me. Almost painful to listen to. They're just very much the opposite of what I like to hear in my music - energy, catchy melodies, cool guitar work, memorable vocals, I don't hear any of that in WATV or Construct. I get that they were going for this industrial metal kind of vibe and that's cool, it just isn't for me at all. Damage Done is also my favourite album by DT, although Skydancer and The Gallery are close behind so you should definitely check out their older material too. Especially as a certain Mr A. Friden provides vocals on Skydancer.

That might be a matter of affection. After all, you probably don't spend your time on DT, ATG, AE or Soilwork boards, but for some reason you are still here (regardless of your love for JesterSlave). Though the bar is obviously set lower, it still hurts much more if the band is one of your old days favourites.

Probably true to some degree. IF were definitely always my favourite out of the melodeath groups by some distance. With that said, I think it's also true that IF went the furthest with experimentation and moving away from metal than any of those bands, so the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Soilwork, DT, AE and ATG have always been in the extreme side of metal, whether you agree with the part of the spectrum they've moved to or not. In Flames meanwhile very quickly shifted to the commercial side of the genre and on SC and Battles actually fell out of it completely at certain points.

What offended me much more than SC and Battles (perhaps as much as ASOP), was Dark Tranquillity live in 2011.

Last time I saw DT live was probably ten years or so ago. They were great then, so I'm surprised you were disappointed by them in 2011. What was it that you didn't like? Just a bad overall performance?

 

[ThePhobiac]

Projector is my favorite DT album, but I reacted to Construct the same way a lot of people reacted to Siren Charms. Some interesting moments here and there, but it almost entirely fell flat for me (I thought “Apathetic” was laughably bad, even though it did remind me a little of The Mind’s I). But maybe it was a necessary precursor to Atoma, which was their best album since Fiction.

 

[TheJestersDoor]

I do find it hilarious, talking of how offensive Battles and Siren Charms are, how much people have warned to Siren Charms since the release of Battles, and how over time, it has stood up better. There are like 4 good songs on Battles, Siren Charms works as an album to listen to all the way through, even if some of the tracks are not great on their own though. (Paralyzed, WEWO, WTWE, Monsters..., The Chase and Become The Sky are all solid "modern" In Flames tracks though)

 

[TheJestersDoor]

Projector is my favorite DT album, but I reacted to Construct the same way a lot of people reacted to Siren Charms. Some interesting moments here and there, but it almost entirely fell flat for me (I thought “Apathetic” was laughably bad, even though it did remind me a little of The Mind’s I). But maybe it was a necessary precursor to Atoma, which was their best album since Fiction.

Apathetic is the worst on Construct to me. I just like a lot off the riffs and Melodies on Construct, it's a fun listen.

 

[A88]

Why all the hate for Construct? That was a cool dark little album. A bit of Depeche Mode in it. WATV was awful I agree.

 

[TheJestersDoor]

Why all the hate for Construct? That was a cool dark little album. A bit of Depeche Mode in it. WATV was awful I agree.

God damn it, it started so well.... XD WATV is nothing to write home about, and there are some very Dull Tracks, but Fatalist, In My Absence, The Grandest Accusation, Her Silent Language and Iridium are good listens

 

[DE4life]

Granted I haven't listened to Construct in a few years, so maybe I'll listen to it again and see if my opinion has changed. Fuck WATV though.

 

[DE4life]

God damn it, it started so well.... XD WATV is nothing to write home about, and there are some very Dull Tracks, but Fatalist, In My Absence, The Grandest Accusation, Her Silent Language and Iridium are good listens

Wait, are Her Silent Language and Iridium off WATV? I like those ones.

 

[ThePhobiac]

For Construct, I like "For Broken Words", "Uniformity", and "State of Trust", but everything else is just bland to me. I'm not entirely sure what it is. The arrangements are interesting and the production is good, but the music itself is uninspiring to me. To me, it's basically a Haven sequel, though I prefer that album because I'm a sucker for those turn-of-the-century synths.

"Apathetic", "Weight of the End", "What Only You Know", and "Endtime Hearts" are among my least favorite DT songs. Especially "Endtime Hearts". Ugh. It's just not for me.

I liked We Are the Void well enough, though it was a bit disappointing back in the day. You could tell that they were running out of ideas after Fiction, which resulted in Construct (though I'm not sure how true that is, considering there's a lot of variety on WATV, and lots of b-sides). I always thought We Are the Void is to Fiction what A Sense of Purpose is to Come Clarity: more or less in the same vein, but watered down and not as good.

I was also spinning WATV a lot when I was writing and recording my first album back in college, so I guess it has a special place in my heart.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Also, looks like Joe Rickard played drums on (most of?) I, the Mask.

(Source: https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/label/music/band/discography/details/5732618.70926.i-the-mask.html)

Anders: "Instead of being connected we divide ourselves into all of these little groups and if you scratch the surface most people's lives are miserable."

He knows about the forums.

Also, looks like "This is Our House" is more about climate change and related issues and not nationalism. Good man. Song's still iffy though.

 

[DE4life]

Good old Christian Joe, drumming for the big man in the sky.

Looks like for some reason Century Media have Construct in full on YouTube, which is nice I guess.

 

[krofius]

Kalmah has stuck to the old school but with diminishing results. I’m a huge fan of They Will Return and Swamplord. They Will Return has INSANE guitar work, guitar hero to the max. Nearly as good as peak In Flames, obviously different.

Swampsong was good but kind of samey. Then they made a subtle style change in The Black Waltz which was really interesting, fresh and awesome. After that, still decent but nothing earth shattering.

If I recall correctly the brothers are software developers or similar since the early 2000s. The band had been in hobby mode more or less all along. They stay true because it’s what they like, not trying to reach break out commercial success.

I do wish they would return back to the black thrash virtuoso style of They Will Return though.

And if we are talking about the big MDM bands from the first generation you also need to include Bodom. They went commercial full-on hard rock style in the 2000s but I think with the new album coming at same time as IF it’s supposed to be more of a return to form.

I agree too that Soilwork is the least MDM of all these bands. But it’s okay to include them still.

I'm a huge Kalmah fan as well. But sadly last 2 albums havent been anything special imo. Last album was better than Seventh Swamphony though.

I feel like We Are the Void is DT's weakest album, mostly due to production feeling really empty to me. I don't really listen to DT regularly anymore but when I did it was mostly stuff between Damage Done to Fiction. But there's some really cool tracks on earlier albums too, Skydancer I enjoy as well, A Bolt of Blazing gold is probably the best song off of there.

 

[Ilias7]

Looks like the album has already been sent to reviewers
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsX8Dzzg0Zw/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1lhu9lhccr605

 

[miniroch]

Last time I saw DT live was probably ten years or so ago. They were great then, so I'm surprised you were disappointed by them in 2011. What was it that you didn't like? Just a bad overall performance?

Turns out it was 2012. Nevertheless, no contact with the audience, zero energy, average setlist (https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dark-tranquillity/2012/zalew-sosina-jaworzno-poland-7bdfde48.html)... and then there was poor performance. I even double checked to see if it was just me having enough of it on one of the last days of the festival, but nope. They did not look like they were having fun at all and so didn't I.

Why all the hate for Construct? That was a cool dark little album. A bit of Depeche Mode in it. WATV was awful I agree.

It's kind of Lovecraft-ish. The atmosphere is there, it's just that nothing happens. Although I like Uniformity.

Especially as a certain Mr A. Friden provides vocals on Skydancer.

As much as I love Anders, I was never able to finish Skydancer due to his awful performance

 

[eochaid]

Looks like the album has already been sent to reviewers
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsX8Dzzg0Zw/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1lhu9lhccr605

Fuck the haters is the best way to talk to people that does not think lime you. And to show the band hiw lame you are.

 

[A88]

Fuck the idiot "reviewer".

But then, that's why NB sends it to guys like that.

 

[DE4life]

For Broken Words - 3/10 - boring. Nothing to say about this because I can't find anything interesting in the song. It's not a great way to open the album.

The Science of Noise - 6/10 - I like the instrumental part towards the 3/4 point of the song. The rest is really average.

Uniformity - 6/10 - nice opening & keys. Lazy guitars on the chorus and not the greatest vocal melody either, although the vocals themselves sound good. Some cool riifs here and there.

The Silence in Between - 6.5/10 - OK, this is a bit more like it. DT have finally woken up. Still nothing majorly interesting happening riff wise, but at least this one has a bit of energy.

Apathetic - 7/10 - not sure why this would be the song you guys hate what's wrong with it? Verses bounce along nicely, vocals are good, riffs are acceptable. Not sure how this is worse than anything from the start of the album, which is as bland and plodding as it gets.

What Only You Know - 4/10 - they seem to make a song like this on every album, with soft verses and a standard DT chorus. The clean vocal melodies aren't really working so well on this album.

Endtime Hearts - 7.5/10 - not sure if it's the YT mix but the guitars are for some reason buried under the keys in the opening, which is unfortunate. Riffs and keys on this one are pretty cool in general though. Not a massive fan of the breakdown where the vocals change, it brings the momentum of the song to a halt, but otherwise this is alright. Hey, there's even a guitar solo! That's a rarity on this album, so it was cool to hear.

State of Trust - 4/10 - reminds me of a worse version of Nether Novas.

Weight of the End - 5/10 - this is really bland, paint by numbers stuff. Nothing outstanding or memorable, except the end is decent.

None Becoming - 3/10 - just what this album needed, an even slower song. This is putting me to sleep.

Immemorial - 6.5/10 - cool opening riffs, although they could do with being sped up a tad. Why is everything on this album so slow? It's like they played most of the songs whilst half-asleep. Still, I like the guitar work on this one. It's cool how the guitar solo segways into the keys during the instrumental portion of the track. Reminds me a bit of something that might have come off Character or Fiction, just slower and with weaker guitar production.

Photon Dreams - N/A - well this is just a weird, slow outro. Slow as shit which is about right for this album.

Overall - 5/10 - the lack of speed on this album is probably what turns me off the most. I'm not interested in doom, industrial, or other genres where the guitars sound so slow and neutered. This is probably what annoys me most about Construct, along with the irritating industrial sounding guitar/synth tone which just doesn't sound good to my ears. Not enough speed or energy across the board. Album lacks punch, although technically decent in many places. A few decent tracks but this album is mostly as I remembered it, kind of bland with a lot of uninspired, same-sounding riffs and a largely plodding speed.

 

[DE4life]

Reviewers who got Battles were calling it the best thing IF had ever done, bringing back the melodeath glory, etc... so I'm not going to pay attention to anybody on the NB payroll. I'll judge the album with my own ears. For the record anybody who uses the word "hater" unironically is almost certainly a total dicksplash in real life.

 

[Ilias7]

I agree, "fuck the haters" it's not suitable for a professional reviewer. A reviewer can say his opinion, as long as he justifies it and respects other people's opinion and other people's work.
Sure, NB sends their albums to people who 90% will write good things about them. It's business.
But I didn't post this link to talk about this idiot. I'm just thinking that the album has be sent very early to reviewers, so we 'll get the first full reviews soon and of course, an early leak is possible.