New album Foregone out February 2023

[Man Made Bod]

I wouldn't say it's a matter of who's 'better' but rather who's songwriting style I prefer, and in that case I would choose Jesper for a number of reasons.

When Bjorn and Jesper were writing together they produced albums loaded with fresh ideas that gave each album their own identity. It didn't always land, but it was better in comparison to post-Jesper IF where often times it felt like the band was repeating ideas from previous songs (i.e. the breakdown in Superhero of the Computer Rage being reused in Rusted Nail) and songs started to meld together.

Jesper's background is more rooted in extreme metal and still seems passionate about the genre. I'm sure Bjorn still likes some death metal (saw him in a Napalm Death shirt for one of their recent photoshoots), but overall I think his heart is much closer to the classic rock albums he grew up with. Nothing wrong with that at all, I enjoy some classic rock myself, but I guess I just identify with Jesper's songwriting sensibilities more so than Bjorn's since I'm still pretty big into death metal, black metal, etc.

Bjorn is better at guitar from a technical standpoint. He's got decent guitar chops. He's written some of the best solos for In Flames, and he contributed tons of great ideas to the band in the past. I think Bjorn really shines when he has another guitarist to bounce ideas off of. SOAPF came out well in spite of not having that. But when you compare them side by side? in general I think Jesper is the better songwriter because he has that magic touch that lends itself well both in a collaborative environment and also a solo one. I enjoyed Letters to Myself and some of his Resistance material a lot more than I have with anything off of Battles, Siren Charms or ITM.

 

[JesterSlaveSucks]

hi i don't like foregun and i will give my RATINGS now

the beginning of an end (7)
state in slow decay (6)
meet the maker (6)
bleeding again (4)
foregun 1 (5)
foregun 2 (5)
light in my mind (3)
a good deceiver (5)
in the darkness (2)
dialogue with the flat miners (4)
cyanide (4)
end my transmission (2)

overall my score is 53 / 120 it is BELOW AVERAGE and it disappointed to me i wanted a songs like i am your mask and instead it was bad music

 

[Moonshield_]

 

[Xpyro125]

I'd assume Clayman was more of a collaborative effort between the two. You'll probably hear elements of both Jesper's and Bjorn's respective songwriting on each song.

Yeah, that's more of what I meant. I guess to clarify, it feels like Jesper's influence compared to Bjorn's decreased starting with Clayman up until ASoP, which... ASoP may be a lot more Jesper, but it's still shit.

I wouldn't say it's a matter of who's 'better' but rather who's songwriting style I prefer, and in that case I would choose Jesper for a number of reasons.

When Bjorn and Jesper were writing together they produced albums loaded with fresh ideas that gave each album their own identity. It didn't always land, but it was better in comparison to post-Jesper IF where often times it felt like the band was repeating ideas from previous songs (i.e. the breakdown in Superhero of the Computer Rage being reused in Rusted Nail) and songs started to meld together.

Jesper's background is more rooted in extreme metal and still seems passionate about the genre. I'm sure Bjorn still likes some death metal (saw him in a Napalm Death shirt for one of their recent photoshoots), but overall I think his heart is much closer to the classic rock albums he grew up with. Nothing wrong with that at all, I enjoy some classic rock myself, but I guess I just identify with Jesper's songwriting sensibilities more so than Bjorn's since I'm still pretty big into death metal, black metal, etc.

Bjorn is better at guitar from a technical standpoint. He's got decent guitar chops. He's written some of the best solos for In Flames, and he contributed tons of great ideas to the band in the past. I think Bjorn really shines when he has another guitarist to bounce ideas off of. SOAPF came out well in spite of not having that. But when you compare them side by side? in general I think Jesper is the better songwriter because he has that magic touch that lends itself well both in a collaborative environment and also a solo one. I enjoyed Letters to Myself and some of his Resistance material a lot more than I have with anything off of Battles, Siren Charms or ITM.

You pretty much said everything I feel there, though I think Jesper also has some classical and folk roots as well (I can't really verify the folk part, but I know him playing violin is a big thing in smaller circles). Those sensibilities lend a lot to his melodies in a way that extreme metal alone doesn't, and it's his melodies that truly made me an IF fan in the first place.

 

[DE4life]

Cyanide and End My Transmission... That is a grim end to the album indeed

 

[MySweetShadow01]

Yeah, that's more of what I meant. I guess to clarify, it feels like Jesper's influence compared to Bjorn's decreased starting with Clayman up until ASoP, which... ASoP may be a lot more Jesper, but it's still shit.

So Jesper did write much of ASOP? I've heard the opposite before.

 

[MySweetShadow01]

Honestly a bit off topic but reading this forum made me realize just how much I wanted a remix of Reroute to Remain. Legit I think RtR would be my favorite IF album if it was produced by Nordstrom.

 

[The Grayfox]

There is a decent chance that I would at least tolerate RTR if it got a remix and remaster treatment. In Flames has a brutal history of poorly produced albums. I can't think of another band that has 10+ albums with that many that sound like shit.

 

[eochaid]

Iron Maiden.

 

[The Grayfox]

I actually quite like the production of most Maiden albums, even if they are bass heavy

 

[shad0w__]

There is a decent chance that I would at least tolerate RTR if it got a remix and remaster treatment. In Flames has a brutal history of poorly produced albums. I can't think of another band that has 10+ albums with that many that sound like shit.

RTR, STYE and SOP would be my picks. could benefit a lot from proper remix/remaster.
On SOP the production is just too "rock" guitars sound too weak.

 

[DE4life]

Reroute, STYE and ASOP for me. I'm fine with the production on all the other albums up until 2011. Don't really care enough about the albums after that to suggest remixes or remasters.

 

[galvanized]

At least these

Reroute
STYE
Come Clarity
ASOP
Battles

 

[eochaid]

I actually quite like the production of most Maiden albums, even if they are bass heavy

No Prayer for the Dying.
Fear of the Dark.
The X Factor.
Dance of the Dead.
A Matter of Life And Death.
The Final Frontier.
The Book of Souls.
Senjutsu.

All of them are examples of poor to awful production. The last two albums are specially bad when it comes in terms of production and mixing. And The X Factor. One of the worse productions and mixings ever. Having in mind how many money these guys move. And I won't talk about any live after Live After Death.

 

[Cobra8472]

There's a genuinely great album somewhere in ASOP; it's just completely buried behind the bad guitar tone and poor production. If you analyze some of the structure and the riffs/melodies overall, it's their closest album to the old classics in terms of songwriting. The songs are fairly varied in structure and have tons of melodies and harmonies across the runtime.

Even the bad lyrics would be passable if the production on the vocals was far closer to SOAPF.

One of the most annoying "What If's" of In Flames - ASOP could've been a genuine return to form in all respects.

 

[DE4life]

There's a genuinely great album somewhere in ASOP; it's just completely buried behind the bad guitar tone and poor production. If you analyze some of the structure and the riffs/melodies overall, it's their closest album to the old classics in terms of songwriting. The songs are fairly varied in structure and have tons of melodies and harmonies across the runtime.

Even the bad lyrics would be passable if the production on the vocals was far closer to SOAPF.

One of the most annoying "What If's" of In Flames - ASOP could've been a genuine return to form in all respects.

I guess, but it's not like Come Clarity was so bad that they needed a return to form at that juncture. It's just bizarre how they went from CC production to ASOP production... like, what was the reasoning behind it? I can understand wanting to dial back the in-your-face element of the guitar sound somewhat, but they went way too far in the other direction. The vocals, meanwhile... yikes. Even if you give them the SOAPF treatment, that's a huge decline in quality compared to CC.

At least these

Reroute
STYE
Come Clarity
ASOP
Battles

What would be the point in doing Battles though? That album could have the best production ever heard on a metal album and would still be trash because the actual music sucks.

 

[Jester Slave]

At least these

Reroute
STYE
Come Clarity
ASOP
Battles

Please, do not ever touch CC. That record is perfect as it is. I like R2R more, but CC's punchyness is great as it is. R2R wouldn't lose its charm if it wasn't so muddy, but CC would be an entirely different record if it was somehow dialed back.

 

[The Grayfox]

No Prayer for the Dying.
Fear of the Dark.
The X Factor.
Dance of the Dead.
A Matter of Life And Death.
The Final Frontier.
The Book of Souls.
Senjutsu.

All of them are examples of poor to awful production. The last two albums are specially bad when it comes in terms of production and mixing. And The X Factor. One of the worse productions and mixings ever. Having in mind how many money these guys move. And I won't talk about any live after Live After Death.

I think the problem is that Steve Harris has a huge hand in the production/mixing of Maiden’s albums. I get it, it’s basically his band, but he wants his bass to be front and center on every record which means that they all kind of sound the same. Some are better than others, but to me, they all share a very similar sound. But again, I do like the mix of a few of the albums you mentioned. Not X Factor though, which I hardly even consider a Maiden album.

Obviously it’s just taste though, which is going to vary greatly. I think In Flames has more poor sounding albums than good ones. Come Clarity being mentioned as perfect is a joke to me personally. I think that album sounds like shit and would be near the top of the list of IF albums that should be remixed. But that isn’t surprising, since as I said, I think most of their discography could benefit from that. Even older stuff. Whoracle and Colony are some of the worst. I love those albums enough to overlook it though. Colony is way too boomy and Whoracle is a mess.

I’m also guilty of liking extremely clean production on records. To the point where it’s almost sterile, which is looked at as blasphemous by most audiophiles. Maiden being a rare exception as most of their stuff sounds like it was mixed in the 70s.

 

[eochaid]

Most of their stuff since 2000 sounds as it was mixed at my bathroom.

 

[DE4life]

To tie back in with In Flames, somewhat, here's Sinergy's cover of Number of the Beast. Jesper playing guitar alongside Alexi Laiho, produced by Fredrik Nordstrom.