New album Foregone out February 2023

[Xpyro125]

It really is a forgettable album for me. I feel like when you're indifferent to something, that's worse than actually disliking it. At least when you like or dislike something, there's a talking point. You can have a discussion and talk about why you like/dislike it. I would rather not talk about Foregone. I could have more meaningful discussions about Battles or Siren Charms, even if that conversation leans towards the negative. At least it's something. I just don't think there's anything to say about Foregone.

There’s a few things I was thinking of replying to here, but yeah, this is it. I already came to appreciate SC a lot recently (It’s not good, but I kinda like it), and Foregone just makes me realize that at least even SC tried to be interesting and not just modern downtuned core. Shit, my friend who loves deathcore and I listened to the album and didn’t even have a five minute discussion about it. He loved it, sure, but there was basically nothing to talk about outside of “Pure Light of Mind”, which is the fucking pinnacle of the album for me, somehow.

 

[The Grayfox]

It is for me too. Early reviews said it would be the most controversial track on the album so I assumed I wouldn't like it. It has a nice chorus and it's very catchy even if some of the lyrics are questionable To me, it's the only song worth talking about on the album.

 

[GraemeSinclair]

I'm still really enjoying it, to be honest. It's my most listened-to album of the year so far by a long distance. My favourite songs from the album are now in regular circulation among the IF songs I've loved for years and they don't feel out of place, but I also have been listening front-to-back a couple of times a week ever since it came out. Even the songs that I was lukewarm on at the beginning have grown on me. I can still recognise their flaws (especially Bleeding Out and Dialogue for the horrible overproduction of clean vocals) but I find Cynosure quite a nice song to vibe to now, despite not really being what I'd think of as a proper IF song, and the harsh vocals really elevate End the Transmission for me.

To my ears, it does have more of their old MDM sound than any of their records since 2000, it just simultaneously has more weird and cringey pop production issues than Come Clarity or SOAPF that hold it back from being clearly better than either of them. I'd say it's not far away though. I originally gave it a 7/10, I'd say it's bumped up to a 7.5 .

 

[DE4life]

It's probably about a 2/10 for me now. Pure Light of Mind is also the only song I still occasionally listen to - it's as fake as an AI created track, as many of the songs on Foregone are, but it's done well. Benson earned his money on that one. Great Deceiver is okay too. That's about it.

Speaking of AI created music, having seen that Drake and Weeknd AI song that went viral this weekend - perhaps soon we'll be able to create our own classic IF tracks with AI it's scary how far the technology has come. I've utilised it for writing/coding (OpenAI), art (Stable Diffusion) and music (Ultimate Vocal Remover) - all with frighteningly impressive results. AI innovation is definitely the next major breakthrough, and I think it'll end up having a similar impact to the internet, with just as much excitement and danger, especially in the early years. At the moment we can use a lot of it for free, as much of it is still experimental, but eventually like everything it'll become commercialised and the best products will require subscription. Hell, Midjourney and OpenAI chat already have subscription services.

Anyway, point is, even if we can't trust hipster and Bjorn to make another Clayman... soon we might be able to do it ourselves.

 

[eochaid]

In my opinion, AI is going to kill every expression of art. Companies will not need designers, animators, or musicians anymore to create comercial success. I don't like that.

 

[The Grayfox]

In my opinion, AI is going to kill every expression of art. Companies will not need designers, animators, or musicians anymore to create comercial success. I don't like that.

As a designer, this is frighteningly accurate. It's already being done too. There are bands releasing albums with AI generated art.

 

[Xpyro125]

In my opinion, AI is going to kill every expression of art. Companies will not need designers, animators, or musicians anymore to create comercial success. I don't like that.

Completely agreed. This isn't even getting into all of the fucked up shit with deepfakes. AI voices haven't done anything bad so far, but they'll certainly get there in due time. I can absolutely see 'real audio recordings', be it of powerful figures or regular people being used as evidence for shit a decade down the line. I know Ice-T already lent his voice to AI shit, so we could theoretically make our own Body Count songs. Something like using AI to remove instruments or vocals is one of the only seemingly harmless uses I can think for it, and that does not outweigh the negatives whatsoever.

We're fucked.

 

[DE4life]

It's some serious shit for sure. I'm amazed at what I can achieve as a total beginner with these tools, so it's frightening to think what could be done by people with detailed knowledge of how the system works and a clear goal in mind.

I can certainly see why designers and artists would be concerned. Especially when it comes to designing commercial stuff - covers for novels, albums, etc. Scary times for coders and developers as well, as AI is getting increasingly good at writing code which, whilst imperfect and clunky, works as designed.

And none of the above is even going into the numerous potential unethical applications of AI - you can't help but think that soon deepfakes will be as easy to create as selecting a few filters on your phone camera. Guidelines and restrictions will be introduced for the successful commercial tools, but open source will always be a wild west and hackers will circumvent guidelines on commercial tools too. People already found ways to make ChatGPT break its own rules.

There will obviously be a ton of positives to come out of AI development too. Particularly when it comes to medical advancement. But that won't be of much consolation if misuse of AI causes a societal implosion.

 

[eochaid]

In China, a lot of companies went from hiring artists to design games, book covers, etc, to hire just a few of those artists to arrange the mistakes in AI generated art.

And yes. If AI was not yet s problem enough, the deep fake is going to less with everything. Specially, in a world where there is people willing to believe every conspiracy shit.

 

[Xpyro125]

In China, a lot of companies went from hiring artists to design games, book covers, etc, to hire just a few of those artists to arrange the mistakes in AI generated art.

And yes. If AI was not yet s problem enough, the deep fake is going to less with everything. Specially, in a world where there is people willing to believe every conspiracy shit.

Yeah, I know there's another game company (I think Ubisoft?) using AI to make NPC dialogue or minor story shit, and that really isn't something I want to take off either. Any sort of creative art and writing has a seriously shitty chance to just get replaced with completely soulless shit.

Deep fakes are particularly involved in issues with porn, which is just fucked and could get even more fucked if it keeps going. The fact that it's a monetized system that doesn't require the knowledge nor consent from any of its victims (Much less that they don't get any financial compensation from it) is just ratfucked, predatory, and violating.

I don't know what will be done with AI voices, but I don't want to find out.

 

[DE4life]

I've heard some AI voice stuff and it's pretty scary. Not sure if you know about the Angry Video Game Nerd, he might be a bit before your time, but people have created new episodes of his web show using an AI voice for the dialogue:



Sure, the voice is a little lifeless at times... but it's literally all AI generated. Honestly the episode is better than anything the real AVGN has done in years, but still... this is where we're at now.

 

[eochaid]

What's scary is what people might be willing to do with this. And the world is full of shitty people.

 

[DE4life]

For sure. I mainly use the AI stuff to create stupid things I find amusing, or to create stuff I find interesting, like amending IF songs, switching vocals around, etc.

There are some evil fucks in this world who will use this technology for god knows what.

 

[eochaid]

Specially since I'm not sure what kind of mentality is behind the creation of the AIs.

I've yet read of three disturbing cases regarding the AIs designed for chat.

One AI threatened the life of a user. Another one told a user to kill himself. And there's a third one, designed to interact with teenagers on twitter, that ended up being misogynistic, racist and homophobic.

 

[DE4life]

Old school AIs were pretty simplistic and had basic algorithms, so whilst they were amusing they were fairly harmless.

Modern AI chatbots are becoming increasingly sophisticated, though, and could definitely be dangerous in the wrong hands. People on reddit have shown examples of where they got ChatGPT to give them step by step instructions on how to make illegal drugs and explosives. It's not hard to see how that would be extremely hazardous in the wrong hands.

 

[DE4life]

Speaking of AI, somebody used an AI tool to upscale the Cloud Connected video to 4k...

 

[Moonshield_]

Amazing!

 

[The Grayfox]

Peter's face...

 

[DE4life]

I asked ChatGPT to rank IF albums from best to worst:

1. "The Jester Race" (1996) - This album is considered by many fans to be a classic and a defining moment in In Flames' career. It has a perfect balance of melody and aggression. Often considered the band's masterpiece, it features a perfect blend of melodic death metal and catchy hooks, with standout tracks like "Moonshield" and "December Flower".
2. "Clayman" (2000) - A more refined version of the band's signature sound, with cleaner production and more memorable choruses, it contains some of their most beloved songs such as "Pinball Map" and "Only for the Weak".
3. "Colony" (1999) - Widely regarded as In Flames' breakthrough album, it showcases their unique take on the melodic death metal genre, with epic anthems like "Embody the Invisible" and "Zombie Inc."
4. "Whoracle" (1997) - Another fan favorite, it features some of the band's most progressive and experimental songwriting, with tracks like "Jotun" and "Episode 666" that combine aggression and melody in equal measure.
5. "Lunar Strain/Subterranean" (1994) - These two albums were In Flames' earliest works, and they have a more raw and experimental sound compared to their later releases. Lunar Strain still holds up as a solid example of early melodic death metal. The band's sound is a bit rawer and more experimental than on later releases, but there are plenty of great riffs and melodies, while Subterranean showcases In Flames' early sound at its best. The production is a bit rough, but the songs are full of energy and aggression.
6. "Reroute to Remain" (2002) - A more commercial-sounding effort that polarized fans upon its release, it nevertheless contains some of In Flames' biggest hits, such as "Trigger" and "Cloud Connected".
7. "Sounds of a Playground Fading" (2011) - A more modern and polished-sounding album that marked the departure of longtime guitarist Jesper Stromblad, it still features some standout tracks like "A New Dawn" and "Where the Dead Ships Dwell".
8. "Come Clarity" (2006) - A return to form after the somewhat lackluster "Soundtrack to Your Escape", it features some of In Flames' catchiest and most melodic material, such as "Take This Life" and "Come Clarity".
9. "I, the Mask" (2019) - This album sees In Flames continuing to refine their melodic metal sound, with some more modern production elements and even a few electronic elements. While it's not as groundbreaking as some of their earlier work, it's still a solid album with plenty of great tracks.
10. "Soundtrack To Your Escape" (2004) - This album marked a departure from In Flames' classic sound, incorporating more industrial and electronic elements. While there are some standout tracks, such as "The Quiet Place" and "Touch of Red", the album as a whole feels somewhat disjointed and unfocused.
11. "A Sense of Purpose" (2008) - Another average effort that attempts to retain the band's trademark sound while experimenting with new elements, it features some standout tracks like "The Mirror's Truth" and "Alias".
12. "Battles" (2016) - A divisive album that saw the band moving further away from their classic sound and embracing more modern influences, it nevertheless has some strong moments such as "The Truth" and "The End".
13. "Siren Charms" (2014) - A polarizing album that saw In Flames experimenting with more atmospheric and ambient elements, it failed to resonate with most fans but still has its supporters, particularly for tracks like "Through Oblivion" and "Paralyzed".

Looks like it's not a fan of newer In Flames either apparently also a fan of old school death metal, giving Lunar/Sub a high-ranking

 

[Moonshield_]

IF will only play for 50min at Hellfest next month, and at daylight (7:40 to 8:30pm). It’s the shortest set they’ve ever done at this festival. I don’t get it

Setlist will probably be :

The Great Deceiver
Cloud Connected
Behind Space
Only for the Weak
Foregone pt1
State of Slow Decay
I am Above
Take this Life

At least there’s nothing from Battels & SC