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

Speaking of preorders, I have a question for you guys, since I've never preordered an album before:
I preordered ITM from NB on 11th January. Since then in my order information it says that they will process my order as soon as possible, while the status of payment is successful. Do you know if the order will be completed when the album is released or something has gone wrong?

Usually the albums are shipped out to arrive the day of or after.
 
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I’m thinking about preordering.. might just go for it as it includes the bonus track too, nothing much is known or said about it so could be interesting
 
Mark morton’s album Anesthetic just leaked a bit ago. Gonna check it out. Really liked what I heard initially. It’s supposed to release Friday.
 
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IF is TCP but without Subterranean-Clayman they wouldn’t have been able to make TCP. So the classics are always weighted more heavily.
 
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IF is TCP but without Subterranean-Clayman they wouldn’t have been able to make TCP. So the classics are always weighted more heavily.

Absolutely. The stuff about "they don't owe the fans anything" is such snivelling, weak, butt-kissing, subservient, fanboy/girl bullshit. Without the support of the older fans Anders & Bjorn would be working 9 - 5 jobs somewhere in Stockholm. No music studios, no breweries, no world tours, no autotune/wah pedal abuse, nothing. It's thanks to proper metal fans getting behind them from the beginning that In Flames became the brand it is. No doubt they worked hard touring, too, but if nobody showed up to those shows it wouldn't matter. They owe the fans their career - that doesn't mean they should release another Jester Race or Whoracle, or even that they should play songs from those albums live, but it does mean that they should show some respect and not bullshit people who are disappointed with the direction the band has gone in.
 
That's super romantic approach, which sounds good, but doesn't work.

It is a brand. Imagine Disney - it's been long time since Walt is gone, yet it still is Disney. And long are gone days since it was Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck, now we have Star Wars, which no Mickey Mouse fan was expecting. Do they owe fans another Mickey Mouse? Do they owe their fans great Star Wars movie? Not really. People associated with brand are changing, it's final quality is changing, hell, even even the product category is changing (I don't think Nokia owns anyone some new Wellingtons). Going forth, sure, the fans made it possible, but they did it because their liked the final product. And they kept supporting it, like people support, let's say, Apple, at some point they get disappointed and move on, but new fans are enough to keep it going.

So no, they don't owe anything to fans, because in the end it is their music, which people turned out to like. They made a product, they sold it and they still do, even there were obvious changes along the way.

Show your disappointment to any iPhone you want, they will be just fine in 10 years making cars. Without being indebted to you at all.
 
They owe the fans their career - that doesn't mean they should release another Jester Race or Whoracle, or even that they should play songs from those albums live, but it does mean that they should show some respect and not bullshit people who are disappointed with the direction the band has gone in.

I think this part of my original post covers what you just wrote, so I'll quote that rather than repeat it!
 
What are they bullshitting the fans exactly? They have always said that they are making music which they like, so they did. The so called fans should respect that as well, and not nag them constantly about it. 'But whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" will never get answered.
 
I think this part of my original post covers what you just wrote, so I'll quote that rather than repeat it!
My message was actually all about not owing anything to anyone. They career is based on their choices, their luck, their talent. Fans bought the product, because the product was good. Now, other fans are buying new albums, because either they like it, believe in them, or just like collecting stuff. There is no point in time where it was all about the fans. It's always music, brand and it's popularity.
 
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They do owe their career to the fans, that's just a statement of fact. Without fans they have no career. What that means in terms of how they treat/have treated the older fans is up for debate, but I think it's a bit odd to suggest the band at the very least don't owe those fans some respect for helping them achieve their goals. It's a pretty cold way of looking at the world - although you do see this kind of "fuck everyone else" attitude everywhere nowadays, so it does make sense even if I strongly disagree with it.
 
Of course it is about the fans. This is why there exists the jesterhead bullshit.

There are good musicians, better than IF that are not selling shit or having some record label contract. Why? Popularity. How is popularity achieved. Through record labels spending tons of money on cresting a fanbase or through people listening, buying the albums and attending shows. And sharing their music with other people. That's an important part of the music business, especially when it comes to metal.

What does a band owe to their fans? Respect. Has IF ever lacked respect for their fanbase? A certain retweet 4 years ago calling people who did not like SC fake fans come to mind...
 
They do owe their career to the fans, that's just a statement of fact. Without fans they have no career. What that means in terms of how they treat/have treated the older fans is up for debate, but I think it's a bit odd to suggest the band at the very least don't owe those fans some respect for helping them achieve their goals. It's a pretty cold way of looking at the world - although you do see this kind of "fuck everyone else" attitude everywhere nowadays, so it does make sense even if I strongly disagree with it.
But what makes you think they do not respect them? If they were making greatest hit records every 5 years and expected us to pay for it, that would be pretty disrespectful. If they charged twice as much for their tickets, because "these sheeps will pay it up anyway", that would be pretty disrespectful.

But they are not doing any of these things.

Maybe you are implying about the lack of older songs in the setlist, but if they simply don't feel like playing them over other songs, then what should they do? Be the slave to the same people who call themselves fans, or do what they like, and hope for the best? Obciously, they still play CC, OFTW, TTL and TQP for example quite frequently, so it's not like they are completely selfish about the setlists.

I just really don't know what you expect of them except for their gratitude, which they constantly express. Is it fake? I don't think so, but even if it is, we will never know.
 
Of course it is about the fans. This is why there exists the jesterhead bullshit.

There are good musicians, better than IF that are not selling shit or having some record label contract. Why? Popularity. How is popularity achieved. Through record labels spending tons of money on cresting a fanbase or through people listening, buying the albums and attending shows.

What does a band owe to their fans? Respect. Has IF ever lacked respect for their fanbase? A certain retweet 4 years ago calling people who did not like SC fake fans come to mind...
Are you implying there are bands without merch? Because that's just utter garbage, haha. People WANT to buy merchandises, and bands like money. This is a happy marriage and has been for decades.

As for record labels, they are not the same they used to be. You contact record labels to handle the distribution. Just because you don't want to contact 50 different stores to talk about them selling your newest stuff, you contact one record label and they do all the red taping for you. It is not greed, it is a smart decision.

Yes, 10 years ago (and probably in some genres still) record labels dictated what songs should an artist make, but that is different.
 
Are you implying there are bands without merch? Because that's just utter garbage, haha. People WANT to buy merchandises, and bands like money. This is a happy marriage and has been for decades.
What are you talking about? Who said shit about merch?
As for record labels, they are not the same they used to be. You contact record labels to handle the distribution. Just because you don't want to contact 50 different stores to talk about them selling your newest stuff, you contact one record label and they do all the red taping for you. It is not greed, it is a smart decision.
You don't know what you're talking about.

Yes, 10 years ago (and probably in some genres still) record labels dictated what songs should an artist make, but that is different.
Never said something like that. Go take some sleep. Then re read what I wrote. You're tired and your brain is not working right.
 
But what makes you think they do not respect them?

Because they have repeatedly lied and contradicted themselves in interviews regarding the older material - especially Anders. From the good old "the audience doesn't move to the older songs" which was always bullshit, to "we can't recreate all the guitar layers live" which is fine except that you're willing to ignore that for vocals, so what's the difference? It's disrespectful, they should just be honest and say they don't really want to play the older stuff anymore. That's it. Just tell the fucking truth and stop making things up like embarrassed children caught doing something naughty.
 
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What does a band owe to their fans? Respect. Has IF ever lacked respect for their fanbase? A certain retweet 4 years ago calling people who did not like SC fake fans come to mind...

Not the first time they've taken snide shots at the older fans either. Again, disrespectful when they themselves have lied so often over the years about the reasons behind both their "evolution" and their setlists.
 
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Because they have repeatedly lied and contradicted themselves in interviews regarding the older material - especially Anders. From the good old "the audience doesn't move to the older songs" which was always bullshit, to "we can't recreate all the guitar layers live" which is fine except that you're willing to ignore that for vocals, so what's the difference? It's disrespectful, they should just be honest and say they don't really want to play the older stuff anymore. That's it. Just tell the fucking truth and stop making things up like embarrassed children caught doing something naughty.
Do you envy him? Being interrogated by the same stupid questions since Reroute?

If he were to tell the truth, many people would still be at odds with him. THEY do not want to play those songs, this is extremely clear. They also hate being asked that every single time, and to be honest, after a while it becomes disrespectful. Now, we can argue about white lies, but what's the point?

Has Anders ever told us to buy tickets for these summer festivals, because they will play many songs from TJR and Whoracle, and then played none of it? No. That would have been extremely disrespectful and a serious lie. But him trying to shut down a stupid question with some half-lies is just him or them doing PR interviews.

I watched an interview at Rockfest 2009 where they asked him about Jesper. He said that he has some personal business to take care of, and he will return when he feels like it, but it is nothing new, plenty of members has been absent in the past for various reasons, like being there for their kids, etc, and they managed to solve it. Now, we know that Jesper was not there because he couldn't hold his liquor, so talking about visiting kids basically a half-lie, because you'd think Jesper has some family stuff to take care of. But so what? He did the right thing not to tell the complete truth, because it was frankly none of our business.

What are you talking about? Who said shit about merch?

You don't know what you're talking about.


Never said something like that. Go take some sleep. Then re read what I wrote. You're tired and your brain is not working right.

Yes, that is how record labels work. They sell your stuff, and that's it. If you give your signature t oanything else, that is your problem, but considering how IF never released a greatest hit record, it is heavily implied that they managed to avoid the dark side of the record labels, and now they are big enough to not be afraid of being a slave to them.

I guess metal labels are much less disgusting anyway than mainstream ones.
 
Fact is Slave, whether you accept it or not, there are a lot of fans who feel or have felt like IF disrespected them with their words and decisions post-2000. That's why there are hardly any proper older fans left, and there is so much spite towards them online, way more than any other comparable band from that era and genre. IMO it's also part of the reasons their popularity nosedived after Come Clarity, but the overall quality of records like ASOP and SC also played a big part in that.

I personally don't feel disrespected as I only started buying their stuff after they started breaking away from the undergroud, I wasn't one of those guys buying their albums when they had just released Lunar Strain, TJR or Whoracle. By the time I really started getting into the band they were already getting shit on for Clayman and then even more with Reroute. That said, I do understand why people would feel like IF gave them a middle finger after they helped support them. They basically did.