New album Foregone out February 2023

[galvanized]

Well, unfortunately I have to report that my post wasn't aimed at you it was based on comments about Clayman being "saved" by production, which is ridiculous to me. As if the music can't stand on its own merits.

Ok ok ok, probably this is directed at me. Maybe I was a bit too harsh.

I shouldn’t have said that they were already out of ideas at Clayman. I should have said they were starting to run out of ideas around the time of Clayman. They certainly had enough to finish the album, and had a number of good songs. But to me the density of riffs/solos/new ideas doesn’t compare with the early albums. I think they got Clayman recorded just before the point of diminishing returns.

And it’s not just the production value, but I think Nordstrom squeezed them hard at recording to get every last drop of music possible.

So that’s why I think without Nordstrom, the album would not have been that great.

 

[galvanized]

In Flames Foregone -

The Beginning of All things that will end:
That title is humiliating. It's hard to take it seriously already. For at least attempting to do something outside of the plastic metal mold with a few acoustics, I can give it a few points. But I would never listen to this again by choice.
Feels like something he wrote in 15 minutes.
3/10

State of Slow Decay
Vocals are terrible. Why doesn't he growl more. I can't stand the scream thing.
I can't even concentrate. The part with growls is better. The solo sucks
Sung chorus thing is an embarrassment
2/10

Meet your maker
Cool drumming and ok intro. Singing is terrible. Chorus = wtf. No song would be above 3/10 with that chorus.
Solo has an interesting few moments. Irrelevant due to singing ruining the experience.
3/10

Bleeding out
Singing, christ. Can't finish it. 0/10

Foregone 1
Some effort in the music. Terrible vocals, I hate how he keeps holding the vowels. At least there isn't much singing
Some interesting musical moments. By the end the vocals were really frustrating me. 5/10

Foregone 2
Boring. Wtf is this singing. Can't finish it. 0/10

Pure Light of Mind
What kind of song is this. 1/10

Great Deceiver
A little better and less game breaking singing 4/10

In the dark
Good god. 0/10

A dialogue in b flat minor
0/10 can't finish it

Cynosure
0/10 can't finish it

End the transmission
I hate these vocals. 1/10

Overall = 1.5/10

Damn dude, you ain’t playing around are you.

 

[Moonshield_]

I tried. Mainly because I felt bad for calling you out earlier and your reply was endearing.
I hated it just as much as the first time. Just painful.

Ahah thanks for the effort. So do you rank SC and Battles above Foregone?

 

[DE4life]

Ok ok ok, probably this is directed at me. Maybe I was a bit too harsh.

I shouldn’t have said that they were already out of ideas at Clayman. I should have said they were starting to run out of ideas around the time of Clayman. They certainly had enough to finish the album, and had a number of good songs. But to me the density of riffs/solos/new ideas doesn’t compare with the early albums. I think they got Clayman recorded just before the point of diminishing returns.

And it’s not just the production value, but I think Nordstrom squeezed them hard at recording to get every last drop of music possible.

So that’s why I think without Nordstrom, the album would not have been that great.

Well, I can pretty much agree with all of this. Clayman was definitely where the band decided they'd basically done enough as far as their guitar-driven sound was concerned, and everything afterwards was going to be simpler with more focus on vocals carrying the melodies.

 

[Gums]

Ahah thanks for the effort. So do you rank SC and Battles above Foregone?

I don't remember. I only listened to those albums once. Battles I couldn't even finish the first time I tried, so I guess this one is better.
But it doesn't really matter, all 3 of these albums are bad enough that I wouldn't listen to them in almost any circumstance. I am not in any way complimenting Foregone - it is a putrid, steaming, ass bomb.

 

[DE4life]

I kind of wish you'd stop sugar coating and tell us how you really feel though.

 

[galvanized]

I don't remember. I only listened to those albums once. Battles I couldn't even finish the first time I tried, so I guess this one is better.
But it doesn't really matter, all 3 of these albums are bad enough that I wouldn't listen to them in almost any circumstance. I am not in any way complimenting Foregone - it is a putrid, steaming, ass bomb.

How many times did you listen to ITM?

 

[DE4life]

I was actually surprised by how many comments were critical of the clean vocals on the IF subreddit. Usually those guys are sucking the IF schlong JesterHead style, but a lot of similar comments on there about how ridiculous the cleans sound as well.

 

[eochaid]

@Gums @DE4life @eochaid Please try and rank the new songs from best to worst

1. The Beginning.
2. Everything else.

 

[eochaid]

Cleans are definitely the worst they've ever been in terms of being fake and stupid. If I want to listen to somebody sing properly I have a ton of bands in my playlist who have genuinely talented singers. I'm more than happy for Anders to do his amateur sounding cleans, as they're endearing enough in their own way as long as the music is also good. I don't want this overprocessed, autotuned shit attempting to fool people into thinking Anders can sing with any degree of proficiency.

The fakery is annoying.

 

[eochaid]

Ok ok ok, probably this is directed at me. Maybe I was a bit too harsh.

I shouldn’t have said that they were already out of ideas at Clayman. I should have said they were starting to run out of ideas around the time of Clayman. They certainly had enough to finish the album, and had a number of good songs. But to me the density of riffs/solos/new ideas doesn’t compare with the early albums. I think they got Clayman recorded just before the point of diminishing returns.

And it’s not just the production value, but I think Nordstrom squeezed them hard at recording to get every last drop of music possible.

So that’s why I think without Nordstrom, the album would not have been that great.

When they recorded Clayman they yet had in mind something similar to R2R. It was Nordstrom that told them no and that made Jesper mad because he doesn't like to work.

 

[Gums]

How many times did you listen to ITM?

Once. Same with the Clayman re-releases. But after listening to Clayman (the song) and Only for the Weak, I couldn't listen to the rest. I couldn't believe how bad they were. There were also a few other releases that I didn't bother listening to at all.

 

[Pallbearer]

When they recorded Clayman they yet had in mind something similar to R2R. It was Nordstrom that told them no and that made Jesper mad because he doesn't like to work.

Yes. Björn and Jesper would've wanted to move away from the guitar melody driven approach already.

I also remember a Nordström interview where he said he was thinking like "If there's too much Anders in the studio I'm going to lose In Flames" back in the day.

 

[galvanized]

Once. Same with the Clayman re-releases. But after listening to Clayman (the song) and Only for the Weak, I couldn't listen to the rest. I couldn't believe how bad they were. There were also a few other releases that I didn't bother listening to at all.

Not bad, not bad.

How many songs of the Down Wicked and No Good EP did you listen to?

 

[eochaid]

In the end, we lost them anyway. So, maybe, it would have been for the best if he was a bit more polite about it.

 

[DE4life]

Nordstrom isn't an idiot. He knew the guitars were the core of IF, and that shifting the core to the vocals would degrade the product because, as Jesper once said, you can't polish the turd.

But sadly Anders was the only one who really wanted to push himself. Jesper and Bjorn didn't want to. Bjorn briefly found some energy for SOAPF then went right back to laziness afterwards.

 

[Gums]

I was actually surprised by how many comments were critical of the clean vocals on the IF subreddit. Usually those guys are sucking the IF schlong JesterHead style, but a lot of similar comments on there about how ridiculous the cleans sound as well.

We all want to love In Flames. We try very hard to. They have a special place in our hearts.
But clearly these cleans are outrageous. It cannot be ignored. I don't know what the fuck this shit is and how people can tolerate it, fucking hell!!

It's weird because live, Anders sounded like a fucking beast. It actually blew me away. I've seen so many metal shows, and that was straight up insane. He could have unleashed these beastly growls on an album! I thought that's what he was going to do, and I was hyped!
How the fuck can you have this capability, and then not only choose to not use it, but then go the complete opposite extreme and do weird fake singing. WHAT THE FUCK MAN!!!

 

[Moonshield_]

I've already done my rankings a few pages back, haven't listened to the album since so nothing's changed.

1. The Beginning.
2. Everything else.

Maybe you two guys should give it another try

I don’t think it’s worth it concerning @Gums though

 

[Moonshield_]

It's weird because live, Anders sounded like a fucking beast. It actually blew me away. I've seen so many metal shows, and that was straight up insane. He could have unleashed these beastly growls on an album!

I actually think he does use these growls in the album

 

[DE4life]

Maybe you two guys should give it another try

I don’t think it’s worth it concerning @Gums though

To be brutally honest man, I've just got too much genuinely great music to listen to these days. I'm not in a position where I need to force myself to like IF stuff if it isn't to my taste. Back in the day they were really unique in terms of sound, so it was worth persevering even if the album wasn't what you expected. Nowadays they're just another Howard Benson band, and that's just not me.