In Flames -Sounds of A Playground Fading (Upcoming 10th album)

Haha. I feel bad for sucking Krofius into that post. In retrospect, this doesn't seem to apply to you guys. I've just listened to the album a few times (I enjoy it) and I've been reading shite comments on blabbermouth.net and youtube (and then some guy called "Jester's Door" pointless filler - good job at missing the point) that are way overly critical and downright douche-y. Even if this doesn't apply to you guys, it's hard to deny that on the whole people have been bitching about In Flames with every new album.

Sorry for being a dick. You guys are A-OK.
Apology accepted! Join the fun in the forum lulz, with A88 and PlainVanilla's fetisches for beards and cocks there's never an boring day.
 
Overall, I think this is probably the best release, or if not, atleast on pair with Come Clarity, since R2R.

If your an old In Flames Fan (pre-Clayman), and you can't respect or admire "A New Dawn", then you never really liked older In Flames for what they were anyways.

I can't really get into some of the songs with the drone-y riffs... (All for Me), but Sounds of a Playground Fading, Ropes, Enter Tragedy, Where Dead Ships Dwell, and of course A New Dawn are pretty tight. Let's hope Anders' vocals can hold out somewhat live, or he mixes in some growls in place of the cleans on here

(example... I think someone said this before, but on Enter Tragedy? He says "You Question Me, I Question You" the last phrase would be epic in growls. )

Cheers to In Flames, and especially Bjorn for fucking shiting bricks of awesome solos and some better riffing (although some of the riffs are bland at times).
 
I think this call for:



C'mon guys and girls, a biiiig group hug! :D
 
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Haha. I feel bad for sucking Krofius into that post. In retrospect, this doesn't seem to apply to you guys. I've just listened to the album a few times (I enjoy it) and I've been reading shite comments on blabbermouth.net and youtube (and then some guy called "Jester's Door" pointless filler - good job at missing the point) that are way overly critical and downright douche-y. Even if this doesn't apply to you guys, it's hard to deny that on the whole people have been bitching about In Flames with every new album.

Sorry for being a dick. You guys are A-OK.

Fair dues bro, it's all good. I agree that there are a lot of really dumb In Flames fans out there, but then... there's a lot of dumb humans out there as a whole so I think you could probably apply it to any band :D it just gets amplified with In Flames because they took such a massive turn from one style into another. I think if TJR - Clayman hadn't been so ridiculously good people would not care as much, but those albums really are something else :D
 
Fair dues bro, it's all good. I agree that there are a lot of really dumb In Flames fans out there, but then... there's a lot of dumb humans out there as a whole so I think you could probably apply it to any band :D it just gets amplified with In Flames because they took such a massive turn from one style into another. I think if TJR - Clayman hadn't been so ridiculously good people would not care as much, but those albums really are something else :D

I'm dumb enough to get a tattoo of one of their fucking albums :loco::devil:
 
It's the same reason Dissection fans cried over Reinkaos: people don't like seeing legendary bands that put out legendary records do something different.

With that said, I'm actually a huge fan of the new record. I compare this album to STYE in the sense that the album that preceded it was clearly trying to experiment and generally failed (R2R and ASOP both missed the mark and were all over the place musically, whereas STYE and SOAPF know exactly what they want to be and don't try and hide it). On the whole, I like what they're trying to do here and I think it sounds a ton more focused than ASOP.
 
It's the same reason Dissection fans cried over Reinkaos: people don't like seeing legendary bands that put out legendary records do something different.

With that said, I'm actually a huge fan of the new record. I compare this album to STYE in the sense that the album that preceded it was clearly trying to experiment and generally failed (R2R and ASOP both missed the mark and were all over the place musically, whereas STYE and SOAPF know exactly what they want to be and don't try and hide it). On the whole, I like what they're trying to do here and I think it sounds a ton more focused than ASOP.


That's quite an interesting viewpoint. I'd actually agree with you that R2R and definitely ASOP were a mixture of ideas which didn't quite click. It's understandable in R2R because In Flames were taking their first steps towards a more mainstream American sound. It's logical that this was followed up in STYE, and I agree that it is a very focused album and knows what it wants to be (even though imo it's not a good album). I'd say the same applies to Come Clarity, there's a confident vibe throughout that album and the songs are all well-structured and flow well. The entire album seems constructed on a pretty solid level.

Which makes ASOP all the more confusing. Fuck knows what they were trying to do with it, but whatever they did was an utter failure.

I don't view SOAPF as an album that completely knows where it is... All For Me is mostly a bad mix of ASOP/STYE, A New Dawn is a random throwback to older In Flames and Liberation stands out like a sore thumb (I like it though). I'd say the new album lacks a comprehensive focus, but the experimental elements work well enough that it doesn't matter too much. It's perhaps what ASOP should have been, and it's the first big step towards a definition of the 'modern' In Flames sound, after the failure of STYE, the 'looking-back' elements in R2R & CC and the overall disaster that was ASOP :D
 
See, I disagree. I've only listened to the album twice, but I definitely get the sense that the whole album is going for a way more atmospheric vibe. In fact, I think the songs that feel out of place are the fast ones (The Puzzle and Enter Tragedy, though the latter less-so). It seems pretty obvious that the album is much more geared towards riff-y guitars (nearly all of the lead is in the background, except for a few choice spots - see parts of Enter Tragedy and A New Dawn) with Anders new style taking the melody over (more so than on ASOP, and definitely more so than on CC). You get the atmosphere in the chorus vocals and the keys. Similarly, I think the album flows really well. It's dark, heavy, and angry (for the most part) up through Jester's Door (a track, by the way, that I found really touching and introspective) and then it gets much brighter with A New Dawn and the poppier Liberation.

I think ASOP was struggling between the Come Clarity style - where they really reached the pinnacle of what they could do with the "melo-death" formula - and the atmospheric "big" sounding, more melodic, key-oriented vibe. It tried to be thrashy and riffy, but atmospheric and less-growly, and just ended sounded disjointed. I think one of the few successful experiments on that album was The Chosen Pessimist, which I loved (and you could definitely see this track hinting at where they ended up going with SOAPF).

I'm going to go through repeated listens in the coming days, but I think I "get" what they were going for on this album and I think they generally succeeded.
 
Well, I agree that it's more focused than ASOP.... I just don't think it's anywhere near as focused as STYE or CC. Not that this is a bad thing, STYE was totally focused on one style and sucked as a result. There's nothing wrong with experimentation.

As for TCP, I think it's a steaming pile of shit, but I guess that's opinions for ya :D Liberation > TCP by a mile as far as i'm concerned, i put TCP down there with Bottled & Scream as songs that instantly make me reach for the "skip" button :D
 
I completely agree about Bottled; it's really one of the only In Flame songs I absolutely cannot listen to. Scream is pretty close, and is one of the few unfortunate fillers on CC. The Chosen Pessimist was a tad too long, but it builds to this amazing crescendo. I think the fact that you hate TCP and are pretty ambiguous about SOAPF isn't a coincidence ;)
 
RTR - too much too soon. It's a good album, but it has too many songs, with too many ideas. And it strikes me as unfinished, as if they didn't know how to complete all that stuff. I mean, c'mon decide what do you want to play: melodeath, nu metal, folk or industrial.

STYE - much more focused, but one dimensional. Maybe I'm judging this too harshly, there are some good riffs and melodies, but production and overall ideology of this album just doesn't give me what I want from In Flames. Boring, ugly stuff IMO.

CC - now this one is safe bet. As if they were like: "Wow, wtf did we do? Let's get some of the old stuff back!" This album is a return to the roots, and a further step away from them at same time. Can't really explain it. CC is more similar to Clayman then RTR, STYE in external stuff (guitars, production etc), but it has less "In flames" feel then RTR. Again, a bit one-dimensional record. Good songs but not one that will last for ages.

ASOP - WTF happened here!? It's like Bjorn and Jesper couldn't decide what to play. Music sounds like they are not "clicking". Anders was not up for it. Production dragged this album further down. Only positive thing on ASOP is Daniel's drumwork. Very shallow record. TCP is just...fail!

SOAPF - Now I like this one. It's a mix of what R2R-ASOP should have been. A lot of ideas, experiments, but still some well known In Flames elements. Great production, great execution... and although there is a lot of stuff happening it actually sounds as a compact album. Even Liberation fits (although I did have a different opinion at the beginning). Somehow Deliver Us sticks as not being a part of the album. It is just a single. Music is same, but the feeling is different. Too simplistic for this record. At least IMO.
 
Regarding TCP, I honestly think it's the best song on ASOP, by far.
The build-up is just amazing, and it has the best outro ever in their discography IMO.
The last 3min of the song is just pure magic.
I can understand how people find it boring in the first min but I don't :p
 
The Chosen Pessimist was a tad too long, but it builds to this amazing crescendo. I think the fact that you hate TCP and are pretty ambiguous about SOAPF isn't a coincidence ;)

The beginning of TCP is dreadul really, the ending is good but it comes far too late to save the song because i'm not going to listen to the 7 minutes or so before it :D maybe i should go into an editing program and snip the first 4 minutes or so from the song... I wouldn't be missing much and it might actually mean i can listen to it :D I don't think there's a connection between that and SOAPF though. I really like SOAPF, I'd rate it a 7 or maybe even 7.5/10. STYE I rate as a 4 and ASOP at a 1 (being generous :D).

Btw, what's your opinion on All For Me? General opinion of it seems to be good, but I hear a lot of Bottled in it, especially 0:44 - 1:05 riff :D
 
All For Me is one of my favs from the new album. AMAZING vocals by Anders, vocal melodies and tones he's never used before.
And the drums are insane, I don't really mind that ''Bottled'' riff you call it really, neither do I love it though. The first 40sec of the song is just pure magic.
I mean if you don't like you don't like it but I love it at the moment.
 
I love how bunch of people were saying how Deliver Us sounds like something out of Colony,, like two weeks ago, only to now say how its the absolute rubbish and the worst track on the album.
Also, does anyone notice how The Puzzle, Darker Times and Enter Tragedy have almost identical intros (not the same, but very alike)?

I listened to the whole album maybe 5 times now, its better than ASOP, and thats it. The only songs I want to listen to again are Fear is the weakness, The Puzzle and Where the Dead Ships Dwell.
 
The beginning of TCP is dreadul really, the ending is good but it comes far too late to save the song because i'm not going to listen to the 7 minutes or so before it :D maybe i should go into an editing program and snip the first 4 minutes or so from the song... I wouldn't be missing much and it might actually mean i can listen to it :D I don't think there's a connection between that and SOAPF though. I really like SOAPF, I'd rate it a 7 or maybe even 7.5/10. STYE I rate as a 4 and ASOP at a 1 (being generous :D).

Btw, what's your opinion on All For Me? General opinion of it seems to be good, but I hear a lot of Bottled in it, especially 0:44 - 1:05 riff :D

lmao, you guys still on All for Me and comparing it to bottled? :D it's a good song IMO. you just have to listen to it in a different light, i suppose.
 
Regarding TCP, I honestly think it's the best song on ASOP, by far.
The build-up is just amazing, and it has the best outro ever in their discography IMO.
The last 3min of the song is just pure magic.
I can understand how people find it boring in the first min but I don't :p

All For Me is one of my favs from the new album. AMAZING vocals by Anders, vocal melodies and tones he's never used before.
And the drums are insane, I don't really mind that ''Bottled'' riff you call it really, neither do I love it though. The first 40sec of the song is just pure magic.
I mean if you don't like you don't like it but I love it at the moment.

Agreed! :worship::worship::worship:

Swedish-finnish-guy
 
The beginning of TCP is dreadul really, the ending is good but it comes far too late to save the song because i'm not going to listen to the 7 minutes or so before it :D maybe i should go into an editing program and snip the first 4 minutes or so from the song... I wouldn't be missing much and it might actually mean i can listen to it :D I don't think there's a connection between that and SOAPF though. I really like SOAPF, I'd rate it a 7 or maybe even 7.5/10. STYE I rate as a 4 and ASOP at a 1 (being generous :D).

Btw, what's your opinion on All For Me? General opinion of it seems to be good, but I hear a lot of Bottled in it, especially 0:44 - 1:05 riff :D

On the whole, I like All for Me quite a bit. That "Bottled" riff (and I actually had the same exact thought when I first heard the song) and maybe the chorus a little are downpoints in the song, but it's got some moments of greatness in it (the little bridge section towards the end and the verse riff). Kind of a hit or miss, but comes together OK.

As for TCP, it's just a matter of taste. I think the the slow build-up and the big ending compliment each other really well. I can't listen to it repeatedly, but if I'm in the mood, it's a phenomenal song.

I don't get the hatred towards Deliver Us. For me, that song has one of the biggest, most epic choruses In Flames has ever done. Verse riff is nice and chuggy like it's supposed to be, and Bjorn does a phenomenal solo with a hooky little harmony. It's actually one of my favorite tunes on the album.