New album Foregone out February 2023

[Xpyro125]

But to get back to In Flames, here’s my list. It’s more of a general feeling of my placements since I change my mind on a bunch of albums ever so slightly all the time, but my top three and bottom three are solidly placed. I’d love to say that they won’t ever change, but Foregone had to shove SC to fourth lowest— Though I would go back and put SC in C tier if I made the list today instead of a couple months ago. It’s bad, really bad, but I’ve grown to quite like it.

And Lunar Strain’s finally grown on me, so cheers.

 

[Xpyro125]

Also, man. I like Drained. It’s one of the few Battles songs along with Wallflower and Save Me that I don’t have to say are guilty pleasures when I’m in the mood for shitty pop metal.

 

[DE4life]

Damn man, Slave is going to go ballistic on you when he sees Lunar Strain in the A tier SC is still in the bottom section so I'll accept that. I don't accept your like of Drained, however.

Save Me could be an okay track with a few tweaks. A lot more variation and thought in the lyrics. I think 'Save me' (or more like 'save mehhhhh') is repeated something like 21 times. Bruh. Better production obviously needed as well, but that goes for the entire Battles album. Vocal fakery is grating. There's isn't much to the song beyond the intro and the chorus, so more work needed in the verses too.

Wallflower is the one decent song on Battles. Unsurprisingly the only one with significant input from Engelin.

 

[Xpyro125]

Damn man, Slave is going to go ballistic on you when he sees Lunar Strain in the A tier SC is still in the bottom section so I'll accept that. I don't accept your like of Drained, however.

If this was made even like four months ago, Lunar Strain would’ve been solidly in C tier right under Reroute. I don’t know why, but it finally just clicked for me.

Save Me could be an okay track with a few tweaks. A lot more variation and thought in the lyrics. I think 'Save me' (or more like 'save mehhhhh') is repeated something like 21 times. Bruh. Better production obviously needed as well, but that goes for the entire Battles album. Vocal fakery is grating. There's isn't much to the song beyond the intro and the chorus, so more work needed in the verses too.

Yeah, the chorus fucking sucks, but eh, the rest of the song is pretty good. That much is a miracle for Battles.

 

[Jester Slave]

I think Slave has become old and weary, unsuited for battle at this point. Might also have gotten a wife/girlfriend which would essentially have the same affect on most guys. Not on me, because I'm a beast (in black), but regardless.

I remember one guy who really went in hard on Slave. Only4theweak187 or something? Would write huge posts about how Slave was the embodiment of evil. That was amazing. Think that was the Battles thread.

This may be the first album thread Clay-Man hasn't posted in? Hopefully he just lost interest in the band rather than doing something which landed him in a high security, no internet prison. Can't discount the latter until he posts to prove otherwise though.

Has Sister not posted on this thread at all? I was sure she'd posted a few times. Definitely not had her meme game going this time around though.

Come on now, SOAPF being a calm thread due to it being pre-me era is a bit of a misrepresentation about this board, because I did peek into some of the very old threads and people were absolutely brutal back then. Like, stereotipical "dumb metalheads" dumb.

Yes, it was only4theweak, the guy I managed to annoy the most, which I never understood, because he actually had some good takes and he wasn't annoying me that much either. Except when he desperately tried to psychoanalyze me as a a narcissist, hence why I gave myself that handle, because I thought I may as well oblige. He also helped me discover Ghost, whom I really dig, because I was curious about his cool (Ghost) avatar. I think he may be the only one who even blocked me, I'm not sure.

I am nearing Christ age, which is regrettable, as I was but a wee boy when I first posted here, but life comes at you fast. The girlfriend theory is also right, it all started in November 2019. It is heartbreaking when I'm in the middle of a post and she calls me; I tried to explain to her the importance of telling people on the internet that they are wrong, but she didn't get it. Women, am I right? I also took up learning German, which can be time consuming, though at least now I am at the point, where I can mix leisure with language learning, so I can "study" while mostly doing things I would've done otherwise.

I also think that it is dangerous to get stuck in a "role". Vomiting your soul out in high-school or being a menace on an online metal board are fun phases for a while, but you don't want to wake up years later and see the same exact person in the mirror. I mean, I'm still me, so I wouldn't change a thing about my "essays", but at some point it stops being a fun novelty for everyone involved, and turns into some kind of forced labor. We've also warmed up to eachother over the years, so I can rarely have an honest outrage reading some of your shit takes (edit: Xpyro was trying his best though just now, god bless his soul), because a.) I already know you b.) whether we like it or not, we've became friendly. Which is fine, because it's not like in the early 2000s when internet boards were booming with life, and visiting different subboards felt like discovering thousands of new people and topics. It's just us, and we get as many new members per year as many we are losing due to old age. We are a dying breed.

 

[Xpyro125]

We've also warmed up to eachother over the years, so I can rarely have an honest outrage reading some of your shit takes (edit: Xpyro was trying his best though just now, god bless his soul), because a.) I already know you b.) whether we like it or not, we've became friendly. Which is fine, because it's not like in the early 2000s when internet boards were booming with life, and visiting different subboards felt like discovering thousands of new people and topics. It's just us, and we get as many new members per year as many we are losing due to old age. We are a dying breed.

Just as someone who’s new here and who only lurked in forums without ever saying anything years and years ago, it’s pretty nice here, and I really like seeing everyone else’s takes here. I’ve only really gotten like two or three of my friends to listen to IF, and one who already did abhors everything they did post-Clayman and just thinks everything before it is only passable, so it’s nice getting to discuss the band in a place where they, and melodeath as a whole, are generally enjoyed. I’m sure it was already known, but I like you guys, you’re all pretty cool.

I can’t find any of my old tier lists, but my opinions on the band have changed so much— I’d actually argue that STYE was in my top five back when I was in high school, but I just don’t think it’s quite as good as I used to. CC’s always been my top pick, but I think Clayman used to be my number 2. I don’t remember if Colony or something else like Subterranean was in the third spot, and I didn’t actually enjoy SoaPF, Whoracle, or Lunar Strain back in the day, so it wasn’t those. I get the feeling I would’ve been eaten alive for my old opinions back in the day, and that is pretty funny to think about to me.

Also, this is probably my favorite quote from this forum and likely always will be. It’s just so powerful, I love it.

 

[The Grayfox]

I’m Floridian, and I pretty much see the state as the America of America. It’s simultaneously the most accepting/no fucks given state and hardcore (nonviolent) conservative state, and it sometimes feels like there’s no real consensus on how we think/run things. I’d say that I’d love to see Ron DeSantis have a bullet put into his head, but apparently now that joke is in poor taste due to Trump’s attempted assassination. Jesus fucking Christ.

In any case, Hispanics aren’t considered a demographical minority within Florida, and people are either completely cool with them or fiercely racist under their breath, so it’s a hell of a ride.

It is very much the same over here in California, it just depends where you're at. If you're right around a major city, things are pretty decent. But when you get to the more rural areas, of which there are a lot in the state, things get dicey politically speaking. I've seen and heard people be openly racist to Hispanics here and it isn't rare. They're fine with Hispanic people doing the jobs they don't WANT, what they would consider the "shit jobs", but then when it's convenient to say so, its a lot of "they're coming here and taking our jobs!"

Damn man, Slave is going to go ballistic on you when he sees Lunar Strain in the A tier SC is still in the bottom section so I'll accept that. I don't accept your like of Drained, however.

Save Me could be an okay track with a few tweaks. A lot more variation and thought in the lyrics. I think 'Save me' (or more like 'save mehhhhh') is repeated something like 21 times. Bruh. Better production obviously needed as well, but that goes for the entire Battles album. Vocal fakery is grating. There's isn't much to the song beyond the intro and the chorus, so more work needed in the verses too.

Wallflower is the one decent song on Battles. Unsurprisingly the only one with significant input from Engelin.

Slave, as I imagine him, is either a real hit at parties or a complete bummer. I just don't see an in between here. To be fair, I don't think terribly highly of Lunar Strain either. Mikael actually bothers me on most of it. Subterranean, on the other hand, I really like. I know I put LS&S in my A tier, but that's as a package. If I separate them, Lunar Strain is significantly lower.

Agreed on Save Me though. It COULD be decent. I think Us Against The World could be fine too but with slightly more tweaking than Save Me.

 

[Xpyro125]

It is very much the same over here in California, it just depends where you're at. If you're right around a major city, things are pretty decent. But when you get to the more rural areas, of which there are a lot in the state, things get dicey politically speaking. I've seen and heard people be openly racist to Hispanics here and it isn't rare. They're fine with Hispanic people doing the jobs they don't WANT, what they would consider the "shit jobs", but then when it's convenient to say so, its a lot of "they're coming here and taking our jobs!"

I’ve got a bunch of friends who live in California, and one’s family moved to Janesville like a year or so ago. That all completely checks out, they’re even more conservative than Midwest people over there and (I think) Susanville’s the same way too, though I could be misremembering there. Most have stayed in Stockton and Lodi, and I think shit’s more about just surviving there than getting involved in politics, which is the way I live my life, though I do hear about the housing and homeless crisis (Especially in San Fran) as well as Newsom’s incompetence quite often. From what I’ve come to understand, it’s all still fucked over there, just in different ways depending on the area.

 

[The Grayfox]

Pretty much, yeah. Stockton is not a place I would ever choose to live. People are constantly talking about Oakland and how dangerous it is but Stockton is up there as a place that is just as bad. I'm about an hour north of San Francisco which is far enough away that most of SF's problems don't effect us. Homeless population a little bit, but not really where I am. Lodi is pretty much just an extension of wine country really. Pretty boring out there though. It has it's bad areas like everywhere. San Francisco's housing issues are pretty fucked. The entire Bay Area really. The average price for a home in SF is well above a million dollars. That speaks for itself.

 

[Xpyro125]

I mean, Stockton’s fallen down to being I think the seventh most dangerous city in America in recent years, so clearly things are going splendidly there.

I only know about the shitty areas of Lodi, had no idea it was wine country otherwise. Kinda reminds me of where I live down here, with the west side being suburbs, the hood, and/or trailer parks, while the east side is all the old money and rich people shit. Only times I’ve ever gotten to go to the east side are when my Brasilian friend and his family invited me for birthday stuff over the years, and man, it was fucking strange being out of the lower class area. I’m just not used to that shit at all.

Homes are around 300-400K where I am, though that’s usually after a lot of fixing up. One million for a house is fucking crazy. Reminds me of when my ex demanded that we go live in LA or Vancouver so she could try to get an acting career— But I was to pay for that shit and provide for us. Suffice to say, we did not last.

 

[Jester Slave]

I genuinely can't take it seriously, when someone rates Lunar Strain higher than a C, unless there's some sentimental connection there, like it being someone's first ever mdm record, or it being bestowed by their dying grandpa. It is a hastily made, shitty sounding record with a few outlier songs peaking out. It doesn't really have any cultural significance either, because the true influence of In Flames started with TJR. Subterranean is a miles better record than LS. Skydancer also sounds like dogshit, but the actual songs are quite decent and much closer to the TJR-like mdm sound.

To me, speaking highly of LS, other than praising it compared to the circumstances it's been made in, is trying to act highbrow. Appreciate it for what it is, but anything above a C is pure hipster delirium. And I've only just realized that you actually put TJR BELOW this shit. How is that even possible? I dare you to spend a week only listening to LS (no skips allowed), then another with TJR and you will quickly re-evaluate their place on your list.

Slave, as I imagine him, is either a real hit at parties or a complete bummer. I just don't see an in between here. To be fair, I don't think terribly highly of Lunar Strain either. Mikael actually bothers me on most of it. Subterranean, on the other hand, I really like. I know I put LS&S in my A tier, but that's as a package. If I separate them, Lunar Strain is significantly lower.

If by party you mean any friendly gathering, then it's pretty on point. If I am almost exclusively surrounded by people whom I feel comfortable with, then I gladly take the role of the loud, obnoxious, controversial, funny bloke. This is even more so true when it comes to board games: I am there to win. Did you just move 5 squares instead of 4? I'm bringing your ass to court.

But if there are other people around who don't fit that bill, even just 1, I barely say a word, unless asked. Every time I'm forced to be with new people (new school, courses where you live together in dorm rooms), the people whose company I enjoy tend to gravitate to me without really doing anything, so I always end up in a sort of click of normal people. However, if it's not organic, I don't feel the need to force conversations. The brothers of my girlfriend are nice guys for example, but in the near 4 years we've known eachother, I barely told them anything else outside of "hello" and "goodbye", despite meeting or even being under the same roof many, many times.

 

[Xpyro125]

I genuinely can't take it seriously, when someone rates Lunar Strain higher than a C, unless there's some sentimental connection there, like it being someone's first ever mdm record, or it being bestowed by their dying grandpa. It is a hastily made, shitty sounding record with a few outlier songs peaking out. It doesn't really have any cultural significance either, because the true influence of In Flames started with TJR. Subterranean is a miles better record than LS. Skydancer also sounds like dogshit, but the actual songs are quite decent and much closer to the TJR-like mdm sound.

To me, speaking highly of LS, other than praising it compared to the circumstances it's been made in, is trying to act highbrow. Appreciate it for what it is, but anything above a C is pure hipster delirium. And I've only just realized that you actually put TJR BELOW this shit. How is that even possible? I dare you to spend a week only listening to LS (no skips allowed), then another with TJR and you will quickly re-evaluate their place on your list.

I will completely agree that Lunar Strain’s production sucks, but I quite like the compositions. For TJR, I’m just not huge on Graveland, Lord Hypnos, and Dead God in Me— Jester’s Dance is pretty great, but I have to be in the mood for Wayfaerer to fully enjoy it. I personally didn’t count Black Ash Inheritance for TJR since it’s sort of its own thing (And bonus tracks in general), but if we are then it goes up to A tier. I’ll definitely have to give them both full listens again at some point, but that’s where I was at last time I listened to IF nonstop.

I only just noticed now that it’s above Subterranean, and that was 100% not intentional. I would never put LS above Sub, ever.

 

[The Grayfox]

The Jester Race is not only the top IF album for me, but I would put it on my top 10 albums of all time list. To me, the magic of TJR comes to life when listening to it front to back. As far as melodic death metal goes, in my mind it's the pinnacle. Storm of Light's Bane, The Gallery, Slaughter of the Soul, Heartwork, all timeless. But I'd say the magic of TJR still surpasses all of them. There are albums by newer MDM bands like Be'Lakor, In Mourning and some others that may some day get the 'classic nod' from me, but not yet.

If by party you mean any friendly gathering, then it's pretty on point. If I am almost exclusively surrounded by people whom I feel comfortable with, then I gladly take the role of the loud, obnoxious, controversial, funny bloke. This is even more so true when it comes to board games: I am there to win. Did you just move 5 squares instead of 4? I'm bringing your ass to court.

But if there are other people around who don't fit that bill, even just 1, I barely say a word, unless asked. Every time I'm forced to be with new people (new school, courses where you live together in dorm rooms), the people whose company I enjoy tend to gravitate to me without really doing anything, so I always end up in a sort of click of normal people. However, if it's not organic, I don't feel the need to force conversations. The brothers of my girlfriend are nice guys for example, but in the near 4 years we've known eachother, I barely told them anything else outside of "hello" and "goodbye", despite meeting or even being under the same roof many, many times.

I'm very much the same, so I can relate.

 

[ThePhobiac]

I always considered Lunar Strain to be sort of just a "skeleton", whereas subsequent albums (including Subterranean) are way more fleshed out. Like, here's pretty basic compositions and arrangements, basic production, basic drumming (sorry, Jesper), but we can harmonize our guitars in a way that draws from Swedish folk music. It's an effective proof of concept, and I can see the appeal if you're into that stripped-down sort of metal. And every band has to start somewhere, right? It's one of my least favorite IF albums not because it lacks quality, but just because it feels like a polished demo and just barely a finished product, unlike, for example, Skydancer or The Red in the Sky is Ours.

I can kind of see Jester Slave's "highbrow" point. To use another example -- although I think this album is way more fully realized than Lunar Strain -- I tend to throw on Ulver's Nattens Madrigal when I'm feeling pretentious, because people have sung its praises and I respect Ulver as musicians. But I'd be hard pressed to say that I'm listening to it because I genuinely like it, lol. It's more a feeling that my intelligence stat is slowly rising while it's on. Although with Lunar Strain it's not so much that I'm getting smarter and more that I'm getting closer to understanding the true meaning of Carl Naslund.

 

[Xpyro125]

I always considered Lunar Strain to be sort of just a "skeleton", whereas subsequent albums (including Subterranean) are way more fleshed out. Like, here's pretty basic compositions and arrangements, basic production, basic drumming (sorry, Jesper), but we can harmonize our guitars in a way that draws from Swedish folk music. It's an effective proof of concept, and I can see the appeal if you're into that stripped-down sort of metal. And every band has to start somewhere, right? It's one of my least favorite IF albums not because it lacks quality, but just because it feels like a polished demo and just barely a finished product, unlike, for example, Skydancer or The Red in the Sky is Ours.

Although I do quite like LS, I can absolutely agree there. I think the compositions, particularly guitar-wise and structurally, are pretty great, though the drums and especially the production do leave a lot to be desired. Edit- I realize I just said the same shit that I did in my last post. Fuck.

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to Skydancer in full, so I can’t comment on it, but I do also like The Red in the Sky is Ours— At least as much as I like At the Gates’s music, which admittedly isn’t nearly as much as In Flames’ and Dark Tranquillity’s.

I can kind of see Jester Slave's "highbrow" point. To use another example -- although I think this album is way more fully realized than Lunar Strain -- I tend to throw on Ulver's Nattens Madrigal when I'm feeling pretentious, because people have sung its praises and I respect Ulver as musicians. But I'd be hard pressed to say that I'm listening to it because I genuinely like it, lol. It's more a feeling that my intelligence stat is slowly rising while it's on. Although with Lunar Strain it's not so much that I'm getting smarter and more that I'm getting closer to understanding the true meaning of Carl Naslund.

While I can certainly see the point in that regard, Lunar Strain certainly isn’t a record I’d associate with pretention, even if one enjoys it more than something like TJR. Admittedly, after listening to LS again yesterday and today, I would put it in A-, but it’s certainly better than C where I had it before.

There’s definitely music I’d say I pretentiously enjoy, though I can’t really think of what that’d be off the top of my head. Nebularium by Disarmonia Mundi is an album that I really do enjoy that much, and I think that much is justifiably so, especially when other tough reviewers love it almost as much as I do. Same thing with In the Constellation of the Black Widow by Anaal Nathrakh and Above the Weeping World by Insomnium. Vilosophe by Manes would be one I’d say is pretentious to like, but I only like about half of it because the other half is completely fucking boring. I’m sure there’s something, but I just can’t think of it.

 

[The Grayfox]

It would've been really cool if IF had re-recorded all of Lunar Strain when they did Behind Space and Clad in Shadows. To me, those sound so much better than Lunar Strain did.

 

[Jester Slave]

The pretentiousness aspect comes from the fact that LS is pretty much a glorified demo, which basically no one considers to be anything special, not even the makers of it. It's not even a controversial record, because it's your run of the mill mdm-attempt by session musicians, and a bang average at that if we exclude Behind Space, which I don't personally like, but undoubtedly a very interesting track. I'm playing through some of the tracks as I am writing this comment, and the title track is what I would imagine a brain aneurism feels like. I'm at the 2:50 mark and so far I've heard 6 different song snippets in this one track, 5 of them which suck ass, 1 of them is passable (the main riff, if we can call it that), but most importantly, it has no rhyme, reason or any structure.

Upon an Oaken Throne sounds like a prototype Hammerfall song minus the singing, which is a plus in my books, but why would anyone listen to that over an actual Hammerfall record? Same thing with Clad in Shadows, but while UAOT kinda just chugs all the way to the end, CIA once again falls into the category of being all over the place.

I'm also not a fan of songs like Graveland or Lord Hypnos, but at least they sound like actual songs, instead whatever the fuck is going on with LS. But how does anyone listen to Moonshield and not recognize that TJR is in a different universe than LS? Are you familiar with those (imo 100% fake) videos on youtube where people record their first time listening to some popular music? If I was shown some TJR bangers like Moonshield, Artifacts, December Flower or Dead Eternity for the first time, I would make the same faces those guys do, which look like they are being anally fisted, but they enjoy it a lot. TJR has 10/10 melodies, depth, an actual (albeit to me still very much so crude) production, while also having that youthful energy and willingness to experiment which only debut albums can have. TJR would be a legit contender for being the very best old-school mdm records out there, whilst LS' name would not even come up.

Also, you shouldn't have A- categories, because it gives room for some cop-out decisions. An A- should either be A or B.

 

[Xpyro125]

But how does anyone listen to Moonshield and not recognize that TJR is in a different universe than LS? Are you familiar with those (imo 100% fake) videos on youtube where people record their first time listening to some popular music? If I was shown some TJR bangers like Moonshield, Artifacts, December Flower or Dead Eternity for the first time, I would make the same faces those guys do, which look like they are being anally fisted, but they enjoy it a lot. TJR has 10/10 melodies, depth, an actual (albeit to me still very much so crude) production, while also having that youthful energy and willingness to experiment which only debut albums can have. TJR would be a legit contender for being the very best old-school mdm records out there, whilst LS' name would not even come up.

Moonshield and December Flower are two of my favorite IF songs, so that much is a pretty good point. TJR’s high points are definitely infinitely higher, and it does make sense that it is discussed to this day while LS isn’t. But when I feel that I just don’t enjoy three out of the ten songs, one being the closing track, it brings down my impression of it significantly. If we were to include Black Ash Inheritance with TJR, it’d absolutely beat out LS since Goliaths and Acoustic Medley are two more of my favorite IF songs, and I end up enjoying ten out of thirteen tracks by that point.

But I guess in a way, I don’t really believe that common discourse necessarily correlates to quality (Or a lack thereof when there isn’t any)— Some of my favorite albums are generally neglected by their fanbases or as a whole, and sometimes overrated pieces of shit get way too much time in the limelight. I don’t think that means LS is the best of the best, since it isn’t, but I just enjoy what I enjoy, and I do enjoy it in spite of its faults. I’ll always acknowledge its faults and how those being down the listening experience, but I’ll (hopefully) still enjoy it.

Also, damn, the title track’s my favorite song on the album. I respect your opinion, but damn.

Also, you shouldn't have A- categories, because it gives room for some cop-out decisions. An A- should either be A or B.

That’s a pretty good point, though I really didn’t want to push everything in A- through C down a tier. Reroute is definitely better than D tier, though I think STYE is in at least one tier above it— But then I don’t feel that albums like Clayman and TJR should drop down to the same tier as STYE. They’re far better objectively, and depending on my mood subjectively too. ITM could absolutely be a B tier album if I had to condense them, though I also don’t feel like I’d put Clayman and TJR, albums which have great highlights but multiple tracks I’d instantly skip in with an album like Colony, where Resin is the only sour spot for me. I know this is definitely overthinking it, but I’d prefer to just take the caveat of a grading curve over making my opinions appear more negative than they actually are. I love In Flames, they’re my favorite band even with the shit they’ve put out since 2014. I feel like I acknowledge all of their colossal fuckups enough, maybe even more harshly than I should at times. Probably not since House exists, but you know.

If I really had to put A- albums in different tiers, I think Clayman would be in A and ITM in B. I’m not sure where TJR and LS would end up, but maybe it’d be A. I think Colony and Subterranean are quite a ways better than everything A-, but that’s just prolonging the discussion more than it needs to be.

 

[DE4life]

Damn, mention Lunar Strain and it's like the bat signal for Slave. Barely said a word for years until LS is praised, then bam, back to the good ol' days. Brings a tear to my eye.

I like most of LS. Only the title track, Dreamscape and Everlost Part I are tracks I don't enjoy. Apparently that means I'm being pretentious, whereas I always thought I just enjoyed the songs, lmao. TIL.

Production on LS is obviously shit. Nothing anyone can do about that. BS and CiS on Colony show what the true potential of LS tracks were. The Colony versions sound incredible.

On Subterranean the production is still pretty weak, shrieky vocals an acquired taste at best, lyrics like something out of a vampire erotica novel, and a quite slow, gothic sounding EP as a whole. I like it but I don't consider it better than LS. It's just different. TJR combines the more aggressive elements of LS and the melodic guitar work of Subterranean to present the completed package.

 

[The Grayfox]

I mean, it's all subjective I suppose, so really, who gives a shit? I don't think it's pretentious to like any IF album. Unless you live in Brooklyn and swear up and down that the avant garde black metal jazz band that has 5 monthly Spotify listeners is "the best band you've ever heard", I think you're fine. When you hit that territory, we can start throwing the word "pretentious" around.

To me, Subterranean has better quality songs on it, even if it is an EP. Stand Ablaze and the title track especially I just think are really good MDM songs. Sure, Lunar Strain has a few good songs, I won't argue that, but the production and Mikael kill it for me. That weird throaty almost Louis Armstrong-singing-death metal thing that was really apparent in the early years is on full display here and I just don't like it. You hear it a lot when there's no post-processing or a record is badly mixed. I remember his voice sounded like shit on the Live Damage DVD too, at least to my ears.