1 Voices
Really good opener. Driving, relentless. Not a guitar virtuoso song but something really good. To me this is like STYE (which I don’t like really) evolved and fully realized with good production. Subtle melodies, harmonies, keyboards. Love the solo (too short though) and the rhythm guitar progression behind the solo. Always driving forward. The last song with this kind of driving feeling was Where The Dead Ships Dwell. I think Where The Dead Ships Dwell is still better musically but I’m actually so surprised to see IF put out a song like this anymore. I would adopt this as a personal theme song.
2 I, The Mask
Great song that picks up the pace. Love the fact Anders starts the song with just raw screaming. And that they hit the verse twice before the chorus. But I like the chorus a lot and the vocals are great. I think this is a place where auto tune was used tastefully. The vocal harmonies are so sweet. I really like that “Who am I?” harmony part. It catches your attention every time. Whatever harmony they engineered there is awesome. They actually built a chord there. The chorus structure itself is interesting and has like two parts to it. And the chorus continues to be fast paced and doesn’t slow down. Very solid.
3 Call My Name
Song starts so freaking strong. Maybe the strongest on the album. Verse is great, prechorus is great. Thinking to myself this is the 3rd banger in a row. BAM!! Get hit in the face with a slow boring chorus. Thankfully it’s pretty short, verse starts up again. But then the verse is only 1 line long and the second chorus is repeated literally 17 seconds after it ended? WTF??
Awesome intro, verse riffs, awesome pre chorus, BAD & BORING & SLOW CHORUS. Great bridge, great short solo (no wah wah). Ignoring the chorus, only thing the song needs is a death growl at 1:55. But this song is really hurt by the chorus. It’s like they wrote the slow first part of the chorus but didn’t write the second half of the chorus that picks up the pace like in I Am Above. But at least half the song is good so I will label this a “potential grower”.
4 I Am Above
Intro that reminds of Colony, black n roll verse riff, all good stuff. Rhythm guitar not just power chords, some actual harmonic content (like old school IF). First part of the chorus is a little slow and weak but then picks up the pace again in the second part of the chorus and song gains steam. Solo is solid. Overall great demonstration of what current IF can do.
5 Follow Me
Great acoustic intro, and really interesting and mournful verse taking me back to some Ulver Kvellsanger vibes.. *thinking to myself: guys, don’t mess this up, please just let this be a “weird” track, just keep it acoustic, we don’t need a chorus, seriously, do something different this time... oh shit, not again with this!!! No! No!!!!!!!!!11111”
6 This is our House
The Truth 2.0. Whatever, I’m cool with it. Lyrics might be a little disingenuous but Anders has been doing that for 2 decades now. Solo is a Square Nothing excerpt but that’s one of my favorites so I can’t but help this one. Enough said on this topic.
7 We Will Remember
I agree with everyone who said this is Here Until Forever 2.0. But not just that. Verse riff is kind of cool and borrows/rips off vocal patterns and melody from Ropes (which is one of my favorite SOAPF songs). But the chorus and everything else is a bunch of boring power chords. I don’t even want to look at the lyrics and get interested in them. Definition of radio rock. Definition of a forgettable track.
8 In This Life
I like it. I think someone might have described this as a love child between SC and Battles. Musical style of SC plugged into the mood and tone of Battles. But it is not like any song on SC at all. Upbeat and major key all the way. Favorite part might be the quiet part right after the solo. They are channeling the best of Coldplay there. I think it’s a cool song.
9 Burn
Ok song. Average and safe to be honest. Heavy “modern” SOAPF influence plus Battles chorus. But what is going on with the breakdown from 2:00-2:50 that goes nowhere? We’re missing a lead guitar track or something. Way too much chunky/puffy SOAPF without any ornamentation. Voices, IAA, ITM are stronger. I won’t go out of my way to listen to this, but I don’t dislike it either.
10 Deep Inside
Not impressed by this one. Intro middle eastern riff is cool and strong, but then it’s gone. And they use it so superficially. But they also ripped off one of Arch Enemy’s big hits from 2017. Listen to The World is Yours 3:07-3:22. Anyway, the middle eastern stuff is very superficial, isolated, and most of the song doesn’t even retain that style at all. The chorus is some crap Battles power chord garbage.
But, the solo is cool and afterwards I agree there is heavy Clayman influence (wow, the “In Flames talking” as me and my friends used to call it, is back!) like Satellites and Astronauts. So, some cool elements but overall not feeling this song.
11 All The Pain
Wow the intro is amazing. Clean and good singing from Anders. No obvious autotune. Sounds so clean and good. No drums until 1:00 in. Builds to a really solid pre chorus. Chorus is okay. Post chorus has a wicked sweet harmonized solo part. Good tension build up as we go through verse and chorus again. Finale and outro is adequate but almost doesn’t quite explode the way I thought it would. Solid track.
12 Stay With Me
Amazing song, very mature song writing, epic, honest. This is the kind of song that would win them the next Grammy. A New Dawn is the last IF song to have similar epic emotional power.
Keepers
Classic metal: Voices, I The Mask, I Am Above
Progressive: Stay With Me, All The Pain, In This Life, House
Growers
Call My Name
Limbo
Follow Me, Burn (Ok but not a stand out), Dead Inside, We Will Remember
Main Stand Outs
Voices, I The Mask, I Am Above, Stay With Me, All The Pain
Overall Impression
I’m a fan of IF through Clayman. I’m not that interested in the 2000s new In Flames. SOAPF was my next favorite album that kind of brought me back. I’m not going to rank ITM that high yet, but this album piques my interest enough to possibly live in that space. In fact, to me ITM is possibly the most listenable album since Clayman. All the other albums had huge production issues until SOAPF. But SOAPF was so sterile and not classic IF sounding, plus several filler tracks. It’s good but I need to be in the mood. Then SC which is a lot different and very moody, then Battles which is so flat. I don’t know. ITM might be overall the best SOUNDING yet especially for casual listening.
In Flames always says that melody is their #1 element. But I disagree. The thing that always attracted to me to them was the balance of light and dark. Look, I’m into black and death metal, and hardcore. I like it raw. But I can’t exclusively listen to that. IF came on the scene and could balance aggression, melody, dark riffage, uplifting solos and melodies. Clayman was the last true album that did that for me. ASOP got close but overall fell flat.
All the reviews talking about balance are kind of true. They do balance the elements. But I do not agree that every song is balanced. Several songs are deficient. And good songs don’t need weak parts to be “balanced”. That’s BS. And weak songs with good parts aren’t “balanced” either.
TLDR For me, IF is back.
