New album Foregone out February 2023

[ThePhobiac]

Can't wait to hear the track. I will say that the intro to Food for the Gods is also a blatant "homage" to Slaughter of the Soul.

If I'm correctly remembering discussions here when SC was released, I'm pretty sure if they started ripping themselves off, that would be considered self-plagiarism. (just poking fun )

Speaking for myself, I'm totally okay with the original Gothernburg bands sounding like each other, and it sounds like IF put their own twist on it. Yeah I know it raises questions about creativity and originality, but I'm beyond the point of caring all that much.

 

[Vermyn]

Anyone have a link? I’m on vacation and don’t have much time for vpn mess lol

 

[Vermyn]

Anyone have a link? I’m on vacation and don’t have much time for vpn mess lol

Also, been silent a while, but I’m always reading up. I will try to be more vocal as the new album is coming

 

[galvanized]

I would rather they rip off other good bands than themselves. I already heard them rip off their Clayman-era solo note for note on House. Don’t do that again, mmmkay?

I do think THE beat IF to the MDM revival because Anders would have been busy with his “If Anything Suspicious” electronic album that was released at the same time as the first THE single. So, Anders was occupied. Instead of rocking out he was getting wasted playing Minecraft. Bjorn was just chilling playing banjo and drawing WoW characters.

 

[DE4life]

THE are the right guys to do the MDM revival stuff. All guys with passion for the genre who are doing it for the right reasons and have respect for the fans.

No offence to Anders & Bjorn, but I don't think they meet the same criteria. I don't think either of them really appeciate MDM or their fans from that time period. They claim to, but the proof is in the proverbial pudding. THE tracks sound like songs that could have come off albums from back in the early 2000s, but don't sound specifically like any songs from those albums. You don't listen to a THE song and say "that's the riff from Swim" or "that's the melody from Lost to Apathy". SoSD meanwhile is a mashup of Blinded By Fear and basic metalcore, which sounds fine in of itself but is far less impressive creatively. One band 'gets' what MDM is meant to be, the other just copies what has come before.

Granted we only have one song to judge IF from thus far, so we'll see how the rest of the album turns out. I'm just not convinced IF have it in them to do with THE are doing at anywhere near the same level of competency.

 

[DE4life]

Behind Space from Sweden Rock... what's funny is that if The Halo Effect had played this, there would be more people actually involved in playing the song on the album, regardless of whether it was Lunar Strain or Colony

 

[ThePhobiac]

Edit: Well let's wait until I hear the whole thing lmao

 

[TheJestersDoor]

Complete live stream of Nova rock. He sits down to talk to the crowd about the new song at 34:20, after finishing Graveland. I'll check out the whole thing at some point I'm sure, but the new one sounded okay. You can tell it's new and they've not got it perfectly clean yet, but Tanner kills it on the sticks.

 

[DE4life]

So I notice there appears to be a keyboard player on stage with IF now - is this a permanent thing?

 

[mindd]

So I notice there appears to be a keyboard player on stage with IF now - is this a permanent thing?

I think it's the same guy, Niels Nielsen, he's been touring with them on and off for quite a few years now

 

[TheJestersDoor]

So I notice there appears to be a keyboard player on stage with IF now - is this a permanent thing?

It's Niels Nielson, he does all the big shows and that's about it, has done for 5 or 6 years now

 

[DE4life]

I think it's the same guy, Niels Nielsen, he's been touring with them on and off for quite a few years now

It's Niels Nielson, he does all the big shows and that's about it, has done for 5 or 6 years now

Fair enough, I actually do vaguely remember this guy appearing on other vids. Considering the amount of synths they use they really should have a permanent keyboard player on tour with them.

As an aside, Anders moralising in that vid whilst having an anti-vax loon as the band's bassist doesn't sit too well with me. Glass houses.

 

[A88]

Now that I hear the song...I can honestly say it is much worse than I thought it was.

It's an SC/Battles number with stolen ATG riff attached.

Main improvement is the drummer who has a lot of energy. So that part is better than the robotic, sedated shit we had on last 3 albums.

5-6/10 for me. It is a random metal song. Nothing too offensive and nothing I really want to hear again.

Bonus point deduction for that shitty generic solo. Come on man, let Broderick write some random wankery at least.

 

[Ilias7]

Looks like we are going to get a music video tomorrow. There is a small preview on Spotify.
Hopefully, we will also get more info about the new album and we won't get another single like House to show their diversity.

Edit: Anders also uploaded a story with the video preview

 

[ThePhobiac]

I will say I did hear the preview on Apple Music and it wasn't as strong as the live footage from yesterday led me to believe. Production has some weight to it, thankfully, but the chorus is disappointingly Battles/ITM-esque and I don't care for the synths. I do love the riffs throughout the song.

This seems to be another step away from the Battles sound, but they haven't completely shaken it off.

 

[TheJestersDoor]

After a few listens I think the production still suffers from the Benson effect, but it is significantly beefier so getting it mixed elsewhere seemingly has made a difference.
Tanner absolutely kills it on the drums, I'm looking forward to what else he has done on the new album as this was great.
I like the stylistic shift back towards a more metallic sound, it makes the release somewhat more interesting than the last 2 albums, and I want to see what else they bring to the table.
Not fully convinced on Anders's lyrics and delivery on this one, verses leave a lot to be desired but the pre-chorus sounds great. Chorus has great lyrics, but let down by a very sterile clean sung performance.

Track is a solid 7/10 for me, nothing special but is enjoyable enough, and I'm looking forward to the album now because of the difference in sound from the last one.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Looks like we are going to get a music video tomorrow. There is a small preview on Spotify.
Hopefully, we will also get more info about the new album and we won't get another single like House to show their diversity.

Edit: Anders also uploaded a story with the video preview

Awesome. Music videos where the band actually performs (not counting live videos with the studio track superimposed) have been pretty rare from IF these days. The last one was Save Me in 2017.

Edit: Yeah, watching that story Anders posted, I really can't be mad about that main riff, haha. I really like that sound. It may not be classic In Flames, but it is classic Gothenburg, and it's nice to be able to say that about an IF song.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Heard the song.

Instrumentally great, pretty much what I would've expected to hear from a new IF song back in like 2006 or 2007. I like that phaser effect on the opening and closing riffs. The riffs throughout the song are great. Tanner may be no Bastian Thusgaard but I think his skills could open up some awesome possibilities for the band. Bjorn's solo was pretty meh live, but I think the harmony in the studio version added that element it needed. I personally would've resolved the solo on a lower note that led into the chorus rather than the high note he went with.

My problem with the chorus is the higher note Anders hits when he goes "FOR-give" and "FOR-get". It just sounds cheesy to me and I would've preferred he just repeated the vocal melodies of "faith alone can't sustain".

I also think the song ends clumsily after the last chorus. I think a melodic section with dueling leads could've worked as an outro. And I'm not sold on the synths in this song. They're unnecessary and I think they clash with the old-school MDM vibe the song is going for.

So a few weak moments but otherwise a strong track. Makes me wonder why I liked I Am Above when it came out, lmao

 

[shad0w__]

Have heard the song 2-3 times now.

Intro is very reminiscent of Blinded by Fear, its the progression from the main tremolo riff to the chuggy riff just before the verse that reminds me of that song.

The verse is great as is the pre chorus, i like Andrer's screams over the main riff.
Solo isnt anything special. Chorus is catchy but surprised they only play it two times, structure overall is a bit strange.

I am not too fussed about the AtG comparison, its very hard to find a metal song nowadays that doesnt have similarities to other songs and i am pretty sure most modern In Flames fans dont know who AtG are. What fusses me is that the song misses a melody after the solo and / or at the end to give it that In Flames signature. MDM was one of the most copied genres, the biggest metal bands in the 2000s (Parkway Drive, Killswitch, Trivium, As I Lay Dying) recycle MDM riffs all the time, the difference is that they then layer in their signature sound on top.

I would say 7.5/10 from me, its decent but nothing too special. A better solo and a signature outro melody could have pushed this to 8-9/10.

Having said that, i am intrigued as to whether we'll get a more "metal" album this time. I hope we dont get the equivalent of This is Our House for the 2nd single!

 

[eochaid]

So a few weak moments but otherwise a strong track. Makes me wonder why I liked I Am Above when it came out, lmao

I Am Above might be less heavy but it still sounds like IF.

This one sounds like Anders doing a guest appearance in other band's song.