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

[DE4life]

I think in creative arts especially you have to find a balance between being professional but also having the freedom to express yourself in a way that motivates you. Whilst the stuff they did with Nordstrom sounded great, it sounds like their motivation was really low which would definitely be a problem going forward. Unfortunately I think they went too far the other way in creative freedom, especially with albums like R2R, STYE, ASOP and SC, which all needed a stern producer to come in and say "most of this is OK structurally, but the drums/vocals/guitars need to sound better than this". Without that we got muddy production on Reroute, flat production and poor drum sound with STYE, terrible vocal and guitar mix for ASOP and songs which at times didn't even sound like they had been put together by a professional on SC.

 

[Jester Slave]

What they may have lost in production quality they most certainly made up with their newfound freedom. There are certain genres to begin with which are not necessarily impacted in a negative way by losing their perfectionist touch. I mean, Punk as a whole is basically let's take rock n roll and let's see how much we can fuck it up.

Post-Clayman In Flames is much more free flowing, which is neither a bad nor a good thing, it's entirely subjective. But knowing that the band was already rumbling during Clayman production, even the fans who felt like they have lost their favorite band can appreciate these events, because let's be honest, if the guys had like 2 more records to produce under Nordstrom by contactual obligations, they probably wouldn't have give a fuck at that point, and could never repeat their past success because they would simply not enjoy it anymore. What would Nordstrom do at that point, never actually make the record? The record label would never accept that excuse.

 

[Ilias7]

Just passing through with a poor attempt on Voices' lyrics:

Could you be the angel left in the dark
..... silence echoing through the halls
Can I understand I'm lying to myself
For long I've seen the signs written on these walls

I will search, search through the wreckage of my soul
Believe in what I have could last (?), that's all I am

I swear I could hear voices from the edge of the earth
Reminding myself to breathe slow
Wondering alone in this wasteland we used to call home

Could you be the devil left in my heart
All these feelings, I wish I could turn them off
Can I understand I'm lying to myself
For long I've seen the signs written on these walls

 

[eochaid]

R2R sounded fresh. I think it was a good start though it had some issues.

And sometimes is not about being more or less complex. It's about taking your time to decide what you want.

Sadly they have found a repeated foemula ton their song structures and it doesn't seem as this is going to change in the near future.

 

[DE4life]

Post-Clayman In Flames is much more free flowing, which is neither a bad nor a good thing, it's entirely subjective. But knowing that the band was already rumbling during Clayman production, even the fans who felt like they have lost their favorite band can appreciate these events, because let's be honest, if the guys had like 2 more records to produce under Nordstrom by contactual obligations, they probably wouldn't have give a fuck at that point, and could never repeat their past success because they would simply not enjoy it anymore. What would Nordstrom do at that point, never actually make the record? The record label would never accept that excuse.

Subjective or not, the fact is that the more 'free' approach to production really made me like many post-Reroute albums far less than I should. When you listen to covers of Reroute songs, the guitars sound awesome. It's criminal that covers sound better than the originals, just because the mix buries the guitars so far under everything else. STYE's sound is just flat and boring. The album sounds so much better live that it really highlights how poorly that album was mixed.

ASOP probably suffers worst of all though. There's a good album there, but dear god did they fuck over that poor record with terrible production. Guitar tone is just awful. Vocals needed to be completely rerecorded as well. It's a real shame how ASOP turned out.

After Anders made Bjorn cry by chucking his death metal riffs demo on the floor and stomping all over it, nothing would have saved SC so that is what it is, shit production or not.

 

[eochaid]

ASOP probably suffers worst of all though. There's a good album there, but dear god did they fuck over that poor record with terrible production. Guitar tone is just awful. Vocals needed to be completely rerecorded as well. It's a real shame how ASOP turned out.

After Anders made Bjorn cry by chucking his death metal riffs demo on the floor and stomping all over it, nothing would have saved SC so that is what it is, shit production or not.

In the video documentary they say that the guitars ae going to sound massive. So it's probably a problem of the final mix.

SC. I like the chase but I just cannot listen to it... The terrible production kills the song.

 

[krofius]

I believe Anders said he both broke up with his ex and started a new relationship between the releases of Clayman and Reroute, and that several songs on Reroute reflect those events, so the love interpretation is quite likely. But of course it's still possible the song is about literal drugs.

Yeah he had some toxic relationship and broke up around Clayman I think, which influenced some lyrics there, and then he got a new girlfriend which is still his current wife. She also co-wrote the lyrics on Reroute to Remain and Dismiss the Cynics.

 

[eochaid]

Ok Anders. Cut the crap. We know who you are. Now give us the full album and stop playing with us.

 

[galvanized]

To me I always thought “on a butterfly I ride” was a reference to the Butterfly effect in chaos theory. The idea that a single butterfly flapping its wings somewhere in the world could drastically affect events in a different place of the world entirely. So, I always thought he was saying he was riding chaos. But, I never really thought about the other lyrics in the song so I could be totally off.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect

Worlds Within the Margins also references butterfly wings.

In the margin of butterfly wings,
Entire cycles of evolution,
Outplayed and faded,
Sparked and leaned back into
Vacuum-filled Nirvana!

 

[Sister Of Destruction]

To me I always thought “on a butterfly I ride” was a reference to the Butterfly effect in chaos theory. The idea that a single butterfly flapping its wings somewhere in the world could drastically affect events in a different place of the world entirely. So, I always thought he was saying he was riding chaos. But, I never really thought about the other lyrics in the song so I could be totally off.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect

Worlds Within the Margins also references butterfly wings.

In the margin of butterfly wings,
Entire cycles of evolution,
Outplayed and faded,
Sparked and leaned back into
Vacuum-filled Nirvana!

I know what is butterfly fly effect...

 

[galvanized]

So I’ve been listening to the three officially released songs a bit more. Altogether I still think so far this album should be a pretty major improvement over Battles.

Pros
-The songs have a metal sound instead of rock. Better, deeper production. Riffs have more bite. When I listen to the songs in the background, they are “metal”. Finally struck a balance where they can remain metal but still have very melodic parts.
-The riffs are more aggressive than Battles.
-Anders’ screams are strong and harsh.
-Anders’ singing voice sounds really good on the choruses. Good use of harmony.

Cons
-Originality is low. Song structures so far follow the Battles template very closely. Riffs, bridges, and solos directly stolen/lifted/stolen from previous albums.
-Listener’s fear of live disappointment. The album sounds good by itself. But it’s like Instagram models photoshopping themselves to reach success and then seeing their real life picture. But they can’t stop and they can’t give up the facade. Anders worked hard on the album to show his best self. Cool. But how hard is expectation vs reality going to hit when the songs are played live?

 

[Sister Of Destruction]

Anders worked hard on the album to show his best self. Cool. But how hard is expectation vs reality going to hit when the songs are played live?

Well, he always had a problem with clean vocals but that's normal thing when you use too much auto-tune on the studio records. Sometimes his cleans sounds good live but it's depends of a day i think..
.. as to his live screams and growls they usually sounds amazing

 

[krofius]

I kind of agree galvanized. I've listened more to The Mask and Voices and I'm starting to dig them. Choruses has grown on me a lot especially on The Mask. I like the intensity and aggression overall. I still think This is our house is garbage, but the other 3 songs I kinda dig. Voices has this Paralyzed vibe in the verses but with screaming vocals instead, and I love Paralyzed. Only thing about bugging me about The Mask at the moment is the first part of the chorus when he says ''Who am I'', I don't like the tone/pitch of the vocals at all. But the part at 0:19 in The Mask is so awesome to me, I don't know why but the guitar lead gives me a strong Colony/Clayman vibe. At the moment I rate the songs

1. Voices
2. The Mask
3. I Am Above












12. This Is Our House

 

[Vermyn]

I have a feeling this next album is gonna sell a ton of units. I could be wrong yes, but just something tells me it’s number in sales will be similar to come clarity, but not as much. I think with the combination of the sound so far, and the producer, it’s poised for high sells.

There are still fans who are very critical of their music (see previous threads...lol). I’m 50/50 when it comes to newer music. Clay man and Colony always will be my favorites.

Maybe just me at this point. Rest of the songs could suck ass and invalidate my opinion lol.

 

[DE4life]

There's so many other great bands and music out there that I'm not really going to dedicate much time to forcing myself to like this new IF stuff. I'm not going to listen to it hundreds of times in order to get used to it enough to 'enjoy' it. I can usually tell in a couple of listens whether I'm going to like a song or album. I think this album will be the same as the last two, there will be a few tracks I like and the rest I'll never listen to again. On SC there's Through Oblivion, With Eyes Wide Open, Dead Eyes and Become the Sky that I don't mind listening to. On Battles it's The End, The Truth, Before I Fall, Battles, Greatest Greed and Us Against the World. So far on this one it's only I Am Above but I'm sure there'll be at least 2 or 3 others that I'll think are OK.

 

[galvanized]

Only thing about bugging me about The Mask at the moment is the first part of the chorus when he says ''Who am I'', I don't like the tone/pitch of the vocals at all.

That’s funny that it bugs you. To me it’s the opposite and it’s one of my favorite parts of the song. But they are doing something funny or tricky that really draws your attention there. Some sort of funky harmony or maybe it’s just the voice tones are so pure.

But the part at 0:19 in The Mask is so awesome to me, I don't know why but the guitar lead gives me a strong Colony/Clayman vibe.

To me the best part about that is that it doesn’t just dump into the chorus. They used to have cool little fills and bridges every where but recently with their streamlined style they saved all that to bookend the chorus.

Screaming vocals before the guitars — awesome. And the pace of the song overall is blistering. When was the last time they had a song this fast, especially one that actually had melodic riffing Might even be ASOP.

 

[galvanized]

I'm not really going to dedicate much time to forcing myself to like this new IF stuff. I'm not going to listen to it hundreds of times in order to get used to it enough to 'enjoy' it.

Haha you sound like you have some epic willpower.

I’m not sure I’ll be as strong as you. I’ll only be able to give an objective review a year from now.

 

[DE4life]

Haha you sound like you have some epic willpower.

I’m not sure I’ll be as strong as you. I’ll only be able to give an objective review a year from now.

It's not willpower as such, but I've already got so many great IF songs to listen to. I know this stuff isn't going to be any better than anything pre-Siren Charms. I don't even really consider this the same band any more, so it's more like "do I want to listen to the Anders Friden project, which only has one of three albums so far I've actually enjoyed, or do I find something else to listen to?" ... answer is always going to be the latter. As soon as I heard the new Soilwork, DT and Arch Enemy I knew it was good and I liked it. At no point did I think "well, it doesn't sound great but if I listen to it 100 times then I'll probably adapt to it". Even if it's a person's favourite band I find that behaviour a little strange, like "IN FLAMES WE TRUST" with hypnotic circles in the eyes.

 

[eochaid]

I don't think I'm going to buy it. The only song that I like so far is I am above and it's not that great. My opinion is that it might reach the sales from soapf but it won't go away from this.

When I listen to these songs I don't have the feeling of listening to on flames, just a sequel or a side project. But it's not the same band anymore. They can still make interesting things but it will never be the same.

 

[PlainVanilla]

You don't buy an In Flames album anymore. You download it, listen to the half of it then throw it to the trash with guilt.