Okay, I have to rant about this... I haven't heard the full album yet since it won't be released until June 21st and I don't want to download it, but I watched the four studio videos and the first single "Deliver Us". After watching those, I can only say that the new In Flames album will most likely suck and disappoint me even without hearing it. There are a few reasons why I came to this conclusion:
Pretty much all the In Flames albums from "Jester Race" to "Come Clarity" were quite awesome in my opinion. Some albums had a bit weaker moments, but in general the albums were great. But for some reason I was really disappointed with "A sense of purpose". Didn't like it at all when it came out. Only one good song in the whole album.
When you watch the studio videos for the new album, the guys are in a studio of dreams, but still they NEVER smile when they are IN the studio. At ANY point of the four videos. FOUR videos. Anders did smile once, but he was making coffee. And he did laugh once too, but I think it was just honestly an accident.
Also the fact that the videos clearly show that the band went to the studio without doing proper pre-production and went there to write the songs and rehearse the album. Even tho they own the studio it doesn't really matter. It is the exact thing how the Audio Engineers and Producers tell newbie bands not to do: "Don't go to the studio to rehearse and write songs. Excluding Björn the rest of the band had never heard the songs". They should've gone to the rehearsal space (or the live room of the studio), write the songs together and after that go to the producer and into the studio. And the guys honestly look like they are not enjoying making the album because of this. In Finland we have this saying "naama on kuin norsunvitulla" and that is exactly how they look. Serious Business(tm)
Also since Jesper is no longer in the band, I have a similar feeling in my gut about this as when Head left Korn. You lose a writing partner of over 10 years and the band just never sounds the same after that. And the song writing just sucked on the post-Head albums.
BUT the main reason why I think the album will suck is the single. Oh my fucking god "Deliver Us" sucks. The production sounds okay, but what the fuck is it with the chorus? It should explode, not implode. I can understand that it's targeted more for the radio, but the song still sucks.
