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

[eochaid]

idk, I guess your mileage may vary on that one. I’ve been playing guitar for fourteen years and he’s sure as hell a lot better than I am. I always thought he was good live. He’s not a legendary virtuoso but I would easily rate him well above average. Jesper, too.

We're talking about professional musicians. You see hia guitar picking and techniques and they're not the best. I don't think that he's that good live. And listening to different recordings of him live have confirmed that sensation.

I think it’s a fair chance that he put out four albums because he wanted to...? I don’t think he’s being forced by some Sith council or anything, lmao

No. He's being forced by the fact that they want to release a new album from time to time. So he's "being forced" to create the music foe those albums.

And again, copy-pasted riffs, lazy solos, etc, is all subjective. Aside from the lifted riffs on SC — which I discussed pages back — I don’t hear laziness in the last four albums at all.

A riff taken from another song is not subjective. Though it might be a choice to not hear it. Lazy solos are a fact. He almost always do the same pattern. A melodic intro to the solo, some fast picking and the ending of the solo where the final chorus begins or a pause just before the final chorus. And worst it seems as he's always doing variations of the same notes. His solos are not were he puts his best effort.

 

[Ilias7]

I'm very interested in listening to Call My Name. Acoustic guitars, anthemic riffing...sounds good.

I don't know if Bjorn is actually lazy ( I doubt it ), but I have to say that he is very humble and down to earth. He says that playing the guitar is not rocket science ( which is true, of course ) and that he is fortunate that he has met all the bands he admired while touring. He is in the same place now, I'm sure there are lots of bands who would consider themselves lucky if they got to know In Flames and he doesn't seem aware of that. He must be a cool guy to hang with.

Anders is a cool guy too, but I think he is not so friendly in interviews and he seems bored or out of place.

 

[eochaid]

Anders is a cool guy too, but I think he is not so friendly in interviews and he seems bored or out of place.

Or shy...

 

[ThePhobiac]

@eochaid Well, it seems we’re just drawing completely opposite conclusions from both Bjorn’s playing and the music he writes. That’s okay. Can’t say I understand your perspective but I respect it.

 

[galvanized]

This is ultimate metal! You can’t respect the other person’s opinion. If you don’t agree you must fight! Fight to the death!

 

[ThePhobiac]

Shhhh, I’m in Serious Mode here.

 

[eochaid]

This is ultimate metal! You can’t respect the other person’s opinion. If you don’t agree you must fight! Fight to the death!

Agreed.

Shhhh, I’m in Serious Mode here.

So... How do we solve this? First blood or to the death?

 

[ThePhobiac]

To the Florida technical death.

 

[TheJestersDoor]

To the Florida technical death.

Until... Everything's Gone

 

[eochaid]

And the last standing will... Be above?

 

[ThePhobiac]

THIS IS THE FIGHT
THE FIGHT FOR my dignity, and for the respect of my subjects.

 

[TheJestersDoor]

Mabye it's just because I'm used to the auto tuned monotone notes of >Battles< but the way Anders sings the ends of the lines in the chorus of Voices is awesome, namely the words 'earth' and 'slow'. It just sounds awesome to hear Anders doing a chorus with some personality to the way he sings it, unlike most of the crap on Battles (there are of course, always exceptions to the rule)

 

[ThePhobiac]

Still haven't heard "Voices" but I'm expecting good things.

Also, quick tangent: I didn't like "Deliver Us" at all when it first came out. I think it's okay now but I honestly don't know how people can tolerate it. I like Anders but I can't stand him on that song. I think it's his worst vocal performance ever.*

*Aside from that live performance of Behind Space in '96. But that's just so bad that it's funny.

 

[krofius]

I remember distinctly hearing Deliver Us for the first time. Was also with my friend, I remember that we both thought the chorus was cool, Anders had never really sung like that before. Just like the last chorus of Tilt at 3:08, same thing there, first time he did that type of note while doing cleans.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Hmm. I never really thought of comparing his voice to "Tilt" but I do like that track a lot. I suppose I really just don't like that half-scream-half-sing he does on ASOP and SOAPF, and I'm glad he ditched it by Siren Charms (although I think it appears once or twice on there). After a while his vocals on "Deliver Us" start to get annoying to me, but the song itself is pretty tight.

ASOP and SOAPF were both growers for me, mostly due to the vocals.

Anyway, I've given in to temptation. Listening to "Voices" now.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Hahaha. Ah, this is fucking good, my friends.

Sort of a laid-back song, very much in the vein of Siren Charms but with a mid-2000's flair. Bit of Passenger here. My boys are doing good work.

"I swear I could hear / voices from the edge of the earth" is a very good vocal hook.

Bryce with the slap bass at ~3:00. He's officially cool to me. Hire him full time.

Mabye it's just because I'm used to the auto tuned monotone notes of >Battles< but the way Anders sings the ends of the lines in the chorus of Voices is awesome, namely the words 'earth' and 'slow'. It just sounds awesome to hear Anders doing a chorus with some personality to the way he sings it, unlike most of the crap on Battles (there are of course, always exceptions to the rule)

Yeah, one thing that's nice about his new vocal style is that he's starting to avoid ending his cleans with that high-pitched squeak (you can even hear him doing that in the chorus of "Pinball Map" if you listen closely). His technique has gotten much tighter.

 

[ThePhobiac]

So I went back and found my stream-of-consciousness reaction to my first listen through Battles. At the time I was actually pretty impressed with the first six tracks. I think that's still largely true. I enjoy the first half of Battles well enough. It's just that it's the only In Flames album in which I could cut out six (or eight, counting bonus tracks) whole songs and feel no sense of loss, and those eight songs are among the worst they've ever put out. That's no good.

Still spinning "Voices" — I'm paying more attention to the synth ornamentation, especially toward the midpoint and end of the song. The atmosphere + rhythmic song style is a good combination.

Good new In Flames, good new Soilwork (loving "Witan" at the moment). Dark Tranquillity should release something good this year, too.

 

[only4theweak187]

"Voices" is good. Like it a lot. Very heavy and SOAPF reminiscent.

I swear if they're going to keep making these chorus-centric songs they could make the hooks on each song stand out just a bit more on their own, though. Just a tad more catchy?

I Am Above so far has the most memorable chorus for meand has been stuck in my head a lot.

So far; I Am Above and Voices are better than anything on Battles for me. (Wallflower was cool but wasn't that memorable imo)

 

[Vermyn]

I have been listening to all the tracks released recently and feel instrumentally so far, this album feels a cross between ASOP and SOAPF. Maybe would fit between SOAPF and SC.

Lyrically, I feel this album has been a progression of Battles.....so far. It has elements lyrically from SOAPF but with the cleans being more Battles oriented.

I don’t feel like this album will bring back that old “In Flames” vibe, but (so far) seems to be a step in the right direction. I still feel like this album is going sell more copies worldwide than both SC and Battles combined.

 

[DE4life]

I've seen this posted a few people, out of curiosity what makes you guys think this album is going to sell better than the other two? Haven't IF album sales been dropping for years? They're with the same producer and the same label as the last album, and it's not like the singles have been good enough to create a buzz outside of the IFWT crew (not from what I've seen, anyway)... so why do some of you think this album is going to sell better than Battles, or SC (which, remember, was on Sony Music!)?