New album Foregone out February 2023

[DE4life]

Sinergy

• Kimberly Goss – vocals, keyboards
• Alexi Laiho – guitar, additional vocals (Track 2)
• Jesper Strömblad – guitar
• Sharlee D'Angelo – bass guitar
• Ronny Milianowicz – drums

Other personnel

• Fredrik Nordström – Production, Engineering, Mixing
• Göran Finnberg – Mastering

Actually a pretty nice line up for the album.

 

[GraemeSinclair]

I had a little look on Last FM and found an option that allows you to break down how much you've listened to an artist by albums - these are apparently my IF listening stats by album since I started using Last FM in 2007 (although it's really only accurate from after I consistently connected Last FM to my Spotify account in 2015). I had to do a bit of arithmetic to put together totals from re-issues and include singles with their respective albums. Surprised to see ITM so high, and SOAPF so low (especially when I only listen to six songs on ITM), although I feel like a lot of the obsessive listening for SOAPF I did back when it came out wasn't recorded.

I think it's clear that they completely lost me between 2014 and 2019. It's nice that Foregone does something for me again.

Whoracle - 913
The Jester Race - 882
Clayman - 748
Colony - 683
I, The Mask - 612
Foregone - 564
Come Clarity - 522
Sounds of a Playground Fading - 425
Reroute to Remain - 405
Soundtrack to Your Escape - 231
Subterranean - 149
Lunar Strain - 148
A Sense of Purpose - 112
Battles - 39
Siren Charms - 16 (LOL)

 

[DE4life]

I had a look at mine and it is definitely not reflective of reality Reroute top and Jester Race bottom - below STYE and ASOP, lmao. I think it's likely my tags were just inaccurate or straight up missing.

Siren Charms and Battles aren't there at all. Neither is I, the Mask, actually. Could again be a tagging issue, although I used last.fm increasingly less from 2011 and basically not at all between 2015 - 2020. I only started scrobbling somewhat regularly again at the end of 2021.

Last.fm thinks this is my top ten In Flames song list:



keep in mind the year I scrobbled the most was 2008, which is when ASOP came out. Probably why ASOP songs are ranking so highly.

 

[The Grayfox]

I didn't even know Sinergy covered Number of the Beast. Not a bad cover either.

 

[DE4life]

They also covered 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' by Scorpions, so I guess it was Jesper who was the fan of that one, rather than Anders or they both were.

Beware the Heavens is a pretty good album, honestly. I always thought Sinergy were more like gothic metal, so i was surprised to learn they're generally classified as Power Metal.

 

[GraemeSinclair]

I had a look at mine and it is definitely not reflective of reality Reroute top and Jester Race bottom - below STYE and ASOP, lmao. I think it's likely my tags were just inaccurate or straight up missing.

Siren Charms and Battles aren't there at all. Neither is I, the Mask, actually. Could again be a tagging issue, although I used last.fm increasingly less from 2011 and basically not at all between 2015 - 2020. I only started scrobbling somewhat regularly again at the end of 2021.

Last.fm thinks this is my top ten In Flames song list:

View attachment 32852

keep in mind the year I scrobbled the most was 2008, which is when ASOP came out. Probably why ASOP songs are ranking so highly.

Wow, that's quite a list!

I think mine is a *bit* more representative than that. There's a reasonable level of overlap with that ranking thing we did a few weeks ago, although it absolutely confirms that I misclicked on Zombie Inc and it ended up WAY lower than it should have been.

 

[DE4life]

I actually really liked ASOP when it first came out. I listened to it a lot. Sad that nowadays my opinion of it is so poor. Have to say despite all of that, I am proud to see ... As The Future Repeats Today and Minus going strong, even back then

An all-time IF list for me - in terms of the songs I've listened to since I first heard the band - would definitely have Clayman on top. Reroute may well be second as I listened to that one a lot when it first came out as well.

 

[DE4life]

For what it's worth I can't really explain Delight and Angers being where it is on that list. Hard to believe I liked that song so much, but the proof is there I guess.

 

[GraemeSinclair]

I got into them after Come Clarity had come out, so ASOP was the first album where I was a fan through the recording process and the anticipation of the record coming out. I was desperate to like it, and I think I also persevered with it for quite a long time, before coming to terms with the fact that it was just quite bland, toothless and uninspired.

I dug up a "review" that teenage me wrote on another forum back when it came out in April 2008 (opening myself up to heavy ridicule here, be gentle ):
"I think it's very far removed from their folk influenced roots and progresses yet further along the path In Flames chose with 2001's "Reroute To Remain" however over the past two albums they have worked on a fusion of these styles producing some of their finest material such as March To The Shore the album's epic closer which sees the triumphant return of Anders Friden's brilliant death growl. A masterclass in making a modern metal album."

I think Anders growls two lines in that whole song "I love to release the rage" and one of the refrains of "You are a killer". That's how starved I was for dem growlz in those days. Clinging desperately to two lines in one song as proof that the vocals I loved from TJR-Clayman were coming back. At least it was MttS that I was praising, which I'd still argue is the best song on that record.

 

[MySweetShadow01]

They also covered 'Rock You Like a Hurricane' by Scorpions, so I guess it was Jesper who was the fan of that one, rather than Anders or they both were.

According to setlist.fm, In Flames partially covered Rock You Like a Hurricane in 2008 at a show in New York City. I was gonna say that I couldn't find audio of it but I just found it actually.
It starts around 1:47. They just play the intro and Anders does a stupid dance move. "Don't put it on YouTube please."

 

[The Grayfox]

I don’t think ASOP is a terrible album, but not a great one either. I think songs like The Mirror’s Truth, Disconnected and The Chosen Pessimist are awful but there are a few gems in there. I think I’m the Highway is a good tune. If you count bonus tracks, Eraser is exceptionally good. Even Alias which is kind of a joke live is good on the album.

 

[The Grayfox]

Also, I know I bag on Anders using backing tracks a lot. There’s a big debate about this right now, with that festival that won’t allow them. There’s nothing inherently wrong with using backing tracks. I understand when there are vocal parts that overlap and you don’t have anyone who’s good with backing vocals, or a band like Dimmu Borgir that can’t bring an orchestra with them to every single show — they need to use backing tracks for all the orchestration. But when you completely abuse it like Anders and In Flames do to hide major vocal flaws, I think it’s bullshit. If you can’t perform the song live, either don’t perform it or don’t do shit in the studio that you’re clearly not actually capable of doing without studio magic.

Go listen to Sounds From the Heart of Gothenburg and then listen to those exact same songs on any fan shot video on YouTube. There is a distinct difference. That’s an extreme case because there was a fuck ton of overdubbing going on with that release. But it shows that the band knows exactly what they’re doing and exactly what they’re trying to hide. They know full well that Anders isn’t a good singer. And instead of embracing that and doing things within their means and capabilities, they just go further and further in the opposite direction. And they act like the audience are the morons. Like we’re not supposed to notice or it’s in our heads. We’re not. And it isn’t. This isn’t strictly an Anders problem either. A lot of bands do it and it’s really fucking lame. When I go to a show, I want to see/hear a live performance, not hear a studio overdub.

 

[eochaid]

That's a debate.

When are backing tracks needed? Well. If your music relies on orchestral elements but you cannot bring an orchestra to every show, I guess that's ok, as long as it doesn't hide your real play.

For instruments or vocals? I don't think so. I said this before. Iron Maiden uses a lot of backing vocals in the studio that are not always translated to the shows and no one has ever complained. This has happened from a long time ago in pop music and now there are metal bands jumping into the wagon saying that's the only way to put a proper show. Maybe they're doing something wrong with their music because that shouldn't be happening. What's next? Playback?

As for IF, I don't think that the backing tracks are helping to hide Anders mistakes but the opposite. They're making those more evident.



Like it's happening here. Without the backing tracks the sound would just sound like average Anders. With them, they are just making him worse.

 

[Jester Slave]

When are backing tracks needed?

When you have more layers of vocals and you can't be three different singer at the same time? You could heard the backing vocals in that ~20 years old Black & White performance, but I would expect to have them on Leeches as well for example. Having additional vocal tracks running in the background is nothing to be mad about; it would be much worse if you had backing guitars for example.

This is not an excuse for Anders' recent vocal output, because having the talking parts on Black & White or the additional chorus variations on Leeces be played as backing tracks are not at all compareable to when you have to play the main vocal line of an actual song. I recently rewatched the Stay With Me live performance, and holy shit... not good. I am absolutely talking from my ass right now, but Anders seemed self-conscious. I could forgive him if he really, really wanted to have that song on the record, even if he knew they'd never play them live, because he can't perform it, but it sounds very good, and it is indeed. But he also recorded Follow Me and All The Pain, which have the same impossible cleans for him as SWM.

I reserve judgement about the new songs' live performance until we see them, but it will be interesting for sure. I'll say this, though: if he'll have the balls to try the falsetto of Pure Light live, even if he'll sound shit, I'll applaud him. I wouldn't be surprised though if it would not see live play.

 

[eochaid]

When you have more layers of vocals and you can't be three different singer at the same time? You could heard the backing vocals in that ~20 years old Black & White performance, but I would expect to have them on Leeches as well for example. Having additional vocal tracks running in the background is nothing to be mad about; it would be much worse if you had backing guitars for example.

What's the difference between using vocals or guitars? They're instruments after all. Then, I used Iron Maiden as an example of a band that uses lot's of backing vocals in the studio that are not always used live.

In the end, if a musician has live shows in mind when making music, but that same musician makes music that needs the use of backing tracks live, then that person is not really having the live output in mind.

 

[drawntoblack]

The ethics of backing tracks are a very complicated issue. If you sang like shit 20 years ago it didn't matter that much, most people are just ecstatic to see you live and when everyone is singing along it honestly doesn't matter to most people.
But nowadays when every single show of your 40 dates long tour will end up on youtube in pretty good phone camera quality, it has heavier consquences. Especially when you do this for a living and you are expected to feed your kids with the money you make out there, suddenly you become a bit less opposed to using tracks to help.

I don't like tracks but facts are facts, everyone uses them to some effect, and IF have used them for 25 years now, starting with synths and effects on Colony.

 

[Jester Slave]

What's the difference between using vocals or guitars? They're instruments after all. Then, I used Iron Maiden as an example of a band that uses lot's of backing vocals in the studio that are not always used live.

In the end, if a musician has live shows in mind when making music, but that same musician makes music that needs the use of backing tracks live, then that person is not really having the live output in mind.

I just don't like the idea of instruments being pre-recorded for a live show. I am not talking about synths and various effects, but you have a bunch of tools to modulate or distort your sound anyway. I find it much more forgiveable for vocals, because once again, if you chorus has a monotone, almost talking way of singing in the background, while you are doing the other, growling parts underneath it, it's fine. I wouldn't want them to remove these things from the studio version, just because it's not live-friendly, and I don't mind them using it live as well.

What I do mind is when he straight up skips the clean parts. I watched some The End recordings, and some of the verses were terrible, but in some other shows Anders did try to sing them at least.

 

[Moonshield_]

My only concerns regarding IF playing live is about the setlist. The use of backing tracks doesn’t bother me at all if it serves well the song and if the result is pleasant to the ears.

But they tend to fuck up the setlist with USELESS newer songs and that is a real heartbreak to me when being at a show

 

[The Grayfox]

They’re going to be supporting a new album, so there are going to be at least 4-5 new songs in the set, that’s a given. Hopefully they don’t only replace older songs.

 

[MySweetShadow01]

They’re going to be supporting a new album, so there are going to be at least 4-5 new songs in the set, that’s a given. Hopefully they don’t only replace older songs.

Honestly I really want them to bring back Trigger into the setlist. No idea why it was dropped.