New album Foregone out February 2023

[ThePhobiac]

That actually gets to why I like TGD -- if I heard this song 15-20 years ago when Reroute was new I'd be like "yeah this sounds like In Flames, let me add this to my MP3 player."

 

[Xpyro125]

If you enjoy it, all the more power to you. I understand that to a less biased party who stumbles upon this forum most of the posts here must come off as deranged because it makes no sense to expose yourself to music you know you will dislike just so that you could go on and rant about how you dislike it - and that's how most people here are. If you enjoy what they are putting out, I don't think anyone here will demean you.

This band meant the world to me when I was a teenager, so it's almost incomprehensible how irrelevant they became personally, to the point where I don't even bother listening to the albums fully when they come out anymore. I still hang around because I hope that they will eventually come up with another random lightning in a bottle like Come Clarity was. I still listen to the new songs attentively and I genuinely want to like it... but man are Anders and Bjorn making it unnecessarily difficult lately.

Anders was never really a poet but I think most would agree that TJR lyrics are pretty interesting at least. How do you write something like that when you are 20 years old and then write stuff like this when you are 50? How many songs do you have left in the tank with the exact line "this is the end"? Can you really not try a bit harder to put out something slightly more creative and unique?
Bjorn is less of a problem because there is nothing exactly wrong with him, I can understand his Kirk Hammettisms because it's very common among guitar players when they get older, but he desperately needs another guitarist to bounce ideas off. That another musician isn't going to be Chris Broderick because as virtuosic as he is I don't think he stringed three original notes in his life, and it sure as hell isn't Howard "autotune" Benson.

That's completely fair- I'd like to believe and hope I'm kind of middle of the pack when it comes to both my love for and jadedness for the band. They've been my favorite band for five or six years now, but yeah, I definitely have to agree that they're making it difficult with the current songwriting and whatnot. I love how varied the band is with their discography (I'm sure I'm in the minority on that take), but I dunno, something's just not clicking with me yet for these songs as an overall package. I like them for what they're worth, but I'm nervous that they're representative of the album just not being very... In Flames, I guess. The stylings of their melodies is just nowhere to be found, and while I'm not asking for Jesper because that's ridiculous and impossible, it feels like the music finally has a fantastic foundation, particularly as a rhythm section, but that's about it. I guess that's what people thought of an album like Stabbing the Drama though, and I absolutely love that album.

I've always found the lyrics of the four classic albums, Come Clarity, and SoaPF to be fucking incredible. It's likely something everyone else would disagree with, but considering just how highly most think of Dark Tranquillity's lyrics, I think those albums rank right up there on par with them. That being said, yeah, They just haven't been good for eight years now.

Completely agree about Bjorn. While his guitarwork peaked on SoaPF for me, I just don't think he's been at that level of creativity or balance when it comes to his work either before then or afterwards. I guess it's a similar sort of thing for me when it comes to Euge in Cyhra- I love what he can do, but his guitarwork is at its best to me when bouncing off of Jesper's. And Niclas' in THE. Maybe it's just Jesper who really elevates things, I dunno. Either way, he's a constant when it comes to quality for all of the bands he's been in (Well, I haven't listened to The Resistance, anyways). And no matter what, let's just hope it's not Benson that he goes to for ideas. That man fucking ruined modern In Flames.

Disagree. You’re assuming Anders and Bjorn would not have learned about it until recording. But they started this a long time ago and the Swedish scene is not that big. All these guys are VERY well connected and no doubt share friends. I’m positive at least they heard rumors of them forming.

I'm sure there were possibly rumors, considering how tight-knit the scene (Particularly Gothenburg) is, but I definitely don't think they ever heard anything from them until they finally released "Shadowminds". Either way, there wasn't any sort of social stigma nor comparisons before the announcement of the band and the release of "Shadowminds". The stigma and comparisons have been the bases of peoples' theories so far, hence why my counterargument is what it is. Of course, I could definitely be wrong, I dunno.

Release dates in general seem really off lately. Arch Enemy announced their new album in January with a release date of August. So did the Halo Effect. Announcements are being made way earlier than normal. Especially when the announcements come with artwork, album title, pictures of finished products, etc. Obviously they're already done but they're pushing out the release dates 7-8 months. Just tell us in May or June that it's coming in August. Pretty soon we're going to get album announcements with artwork, titles, merch, etc. in January with a release of March the FOLLOWING YEAR. I just think it's weird. And then bands will release like 4 or 5 songs from the album in advance from an album that has 10 songs on it so when I finally get the album, I feel like I'm listening to an EP because I've already heard half of it and because the songs were released so long ago, I'm already burnt out on them.

It could be due to the vinyl shortage, I'm not sure. I just hope it doesn't become a regular thing.

That's what I've been feeling recently, especially when it comes to albums with shorter tracklists. That sort of ruining of the surprise of it all when I go to listen to an album is why I've been so burned out of a ton of new music lately. THE's a big exception because I actually feel like the singles barely scratch the surface of their debut, but that just frustrated me because three of the four singles have such a similar structure, and only "The Needless End" sounds really different. I don't really follow vinyls, but anytime I go to the store for a band I like, the vinyls (Save for one or two colors) are all sold out fucking instantly. I'm not too sure that the announcements are linked to the shortage, but I guess I also wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

 

[The Grayfox]

Yeah, I think that's what I was trying to get to; the surprise is just not there. I think releasing one song as a teaser is fine. Maybe two, but putting out 4, 5, 6 songs before release just feels like I'm hearing the album in a way that it wasn't designed to be in. I get that it's for promotional purposes and that I don't HAVE to listen to it, but when it's a band you really like, and the song is out there for months before release, it's pretty hard not to. I guess it's just the way things are done now.

 

[Xpyro125]

Yeah, I think that's what I was trying to get to; the surprise is just not there. I think releasing one song as a teaser is fine. Maybe two, but putting out 4, 5, 6 songs before release just feels like I'm hearing the album in a way that it wasn't designed to be in. I get that it's for promotional purposes and that I don't HAVE to listen to it, but when it's a band you really like, and the song is out there for months before release, it's pretty hard not to. I guess it's just the way things are done now.

The label's (Or any sort of publisher, really) intention is for people to listen to all of them to get a taste of the album... But when it's nearly half the album, that's way more than just a taste. So yeah, I'd say giving 30%+ of the album is a bit of a bad idea in my opinion.

Funnily enough, THE completely subverts that expectation by not really delivering anything that's truly representative the album whatsoever, but maybe that's a good thing.

 

[The Grayfox]

With THE, it really does sound like each song will stand on it's own, which is somewhat amusing since the detractors claim that they're doing nothing original, capitalizing on an old sound, etc. Yet, it would be a safe bet that Days of the Lost will be more varied (using an "old sound") than the new In Flames record will be.

 

[Xpyro125]

With THE, it really does sound like each song will stand on it's own, which is somewhat amusing since the detractors claim that they're doing nothing original, capitalizing on an old sound, etc. Yet, it would be a safe bet that Days of the Lost will be more varied (using an "old sound") than the new In Flames record will be.

If anything, the singles have been incredibly aggravating to me simply because while they're all great, all of them but "The Needless End" sound very DT (And are the only ones on the album that do to me), and all of them but the title track are four minutes with a 100 BPM tempo. I simultaneously get completely why they chose those four as the singles and don't understand it in the least. If I didn't hear the whole album live, my excitement for the album would be at such a low due to the similarities of the singles. Thank Christ the rest of the album shows more variety than what we've seen so far.

 

[The Grayfox]

The title track sounds more like IF than DT to me personally. Shadowminds and Feel What I Believe definitely have a DT feel though. I guess with the members of the band being who they are, I just automatically assume that there's going to be songs that sound like IF and DT.

 

[eochaid]

I still think that Sahdowminds has a lot in common with TQP and I still feel that what is giving that DT vibe are Mikael vocals. I don't see many similarities to any of the bands though.

 

[CladInShadows971]

I'm sorry but anyone who says Days of the Lost is more DT than IF has forgotten what IF used to sound like

 

[eochaid]

I still don't see the connection with DT in any of the songs. I don't know how to say this but it's like DT sounds more... Baroque? Bizarre? Dark? While the music from THE is... Lighter?

It's hard to express it.

 

[DE4life]

I don't think there's a huge amount of IF in The Halo Effect, personally. You hear it every so often, but so far I haven't heard anything that sounds like it could have come off an old IF album from any period in their discography. I just don't get that feeling from THE at all.

There's a stronger sense of DT there, and whilst some of that will undoubtedly come from the vocals, the guitar tone plays a part as well. I'm often taken back to Character/Fiction when listening to THE, but again it's only in certain parts of songs, not the entire thing.

Overall I wouldn't say THE sound like DT or IF. They have elements of both, but the sound is actually more unique and original than people are giving it credit for. Niclas has done a fucking amazing job crafting this album (happy to say that even before the release, based on what we've heard from the live tracks). This is, for me, the best thing he's ever done.

 

[eochaid]

Yes. That's the thing. I don't think that they sound like any of their previous bands. While, of course, there will be certain common elements, the songs are, not something new or unheard of but unique. It's their own recognizable style.

 

[DE4life]

Absolutely. I think it does them a disservice to say their sound is from one band or another. It really isn't. Of course there are going to be influences, but everyone should remember that it isn't Jesper or Mikael writing the bulk of the songs, it's Niclas. Yet, what I'm hearing doesn't sound like Engel or even Gardenian. It's something that takes influence from many different places and combines it into a really cool package. I'm really impressed with Niclas as I didn't really think he had something like this album in him. Having the likes of Jesper and Mikael there to bounce ideas and structures off helps, though, no doubt, and you hear those influences sometimes too.

I was listening to DT's 'Moment' today and it reminded me how different modern DT sound compared to THE. With that said I actually think Moment has a lot of nice tracks. Phantom Days, Standstill, Failstate, Empires Lost to Time, In Truth Divided, Silence as a Force and Time in Relativity are all really good songs. But they don't sound anything like THE's output.

 

[Xpyro125]

I don't think there's a huge amount of IF in The Halo Effect, personally. You hear it every so often, but so far I haven't heard anything that sounds like it could have come off an old IF album from any period in their discography. I just don't get that feeling from THE at all.

There's a stronger sense of DT there, and whilst some of that will undoubtedly come from the vocals, the guitar tone plays a part as well. I'm often taken back to Character/Fiction when listening to THE, but again it's only in certain parts of songs, not the entire thing.

Overall I wouldn't say THE sound like DT or IF. They have elements of both, but the sound is actually more unique and original than people are giving it credit for. Niclas has done a fucking amazing job crafting this album (happy to say that even before the release, based on what we've heard from the live tracks). This is, for me, the best thing he's ever done.

Yeah, it's absolutely more mid-era DT than modern when I think of my comparisons between THE and DT. I think the overall feel of the melodies is more DT than IF, but DT's typically been slower-paced and more somber, at least from what I've heard from them. In a way, it feels kinda like we're getting more stuff in the vein of "Punish My Heaven", but also not really. I think it just has elements of DT, IF, Gardenian, and Sacrilege that are easy to get a baseline of, but not really be a carbon copy of any of them. To be fair, that's the way it should be, though listening to Sacrilege again, I kind of feel like THE's instrumentation feels the most like them, but modernized.

It's a bygone conclusion at this point that it'll never happen, but it's a pipe dream to hear Svensson on vocals again. If he really wanted to do vocal work again, I'm sure he would've. A man can still dream though, I guess. It'd be a better time now than ever, especially with Stanne in the band as well.

 

[ciko_gfb]

Been listening the new song for a while and I didn't wanna comment right away cause I didnt like State of Slow Decay first and i thought it was bad but listening to it for a while i liked it. So here's my comment after listening the new song for a couple of days.

First of all, I think this one is a lot better from SOSD. TGD actually is inline with what Anders said, it represents past, present and future of IF.

Song starts with a blast, awesome melodic riff which totally is an old-ish IF riffs. Also awesome drumming through out the whole song. Verse starts with awesome vocals and tight guitar sound and it feels amazing.

"Nothing but pain" part is really caught me off guard, awesome guitar work once again.

Chorus guitars awesome again, though I didnt like the first part of chorus vocal vise. Cause its the chorus and I expect something big but first part felt flat, i might say. But after the first "angels cry" part, yup that was the chorus i was waiting. It felt big and background tapping was an awesome addition with the leads on top.

Second verse drums were awesome as well. Again, tight guitars.

"Man kind too unkind" part was awesome but I didnt like the Joey part. It might be better if Anders did something else to that part, lyric vise.

Breakdown part reminded me ATG, its not a bad thing cause I really enjoyed it. With solo I want to say "meh, another classic Björn solo" but when you think about it, it really is great solo. If I heard this solo on another band I would say "wow" but when I heard it on IF, it feels meh. Though it has some amazing harmonic parts.

After breakdown part there's a guitar only part which is straight out of Colony - Clayman. Sounds pretty similar to Zombie inc. which is awesome, might be my favorite part of the song.

I checked the comments about the song at Youtube, Blabbermouth, reaction videos and everyone seems to like it cause it really is a good song. A 8.5/10 for me as well.

Also this part on the song reminds me Jesper

Bend the truth to fit your opinion
Another excuse, another lie
It's not what you say, it's what you do

 

[DE4life]

It's a bygone conclusion at this point that it'll never happen, but it's a pipe dream to hear Svensson on vocals again. If he really wanted to do vocal work again, I'm sure he would've. A man can still dream though, I guess. It'd be a better time now than ever, especially with Stanne in the band as well.

There were talks of Sacrliege putting something out around 2006/2007, but for whatever reason it never happened. It would be really cool to hear Daniel lay down some vocals, even if just briefly in a verse or something, but it does seem unlikely. Still, you never know.

The great thing about THE is that it just suits everyone involved. Peter and Daniel don't want a full-on touring schedule, and with THE they won't have that. The schedule will have to work around Mikael's commitments to DT which will mean he rotates between those bands. That'll give Peter and Daniel a chance to rest up and only tour every so often. Jesper we know can't tour much at all, but he's in a band where everyone understands how he needs to be handled and everything it set up to allow him the space he needs. Niclas has plenty of other projects going on, so he can continue to devote time to those whilst still driving THE's direction. Meanwhile Mikael doesn't seem to have any intention of leaving DT, so this all works fine for him as well.

Also this part on the song reminds me Jesper

Bend the truth to fit your opinion
Another excuse, another lie
It's not what you say, it's what you do

Should remind you of hipster and Bjorn as well those bells come out with so much nonsense that their reality is warped into total insanity at times. For example Anders claiming he's never heard anything from THE another excuse, another lie indeed.

 

[TheJestersDoor]

Brought tickets to see In Flames at Brixton in London in November with At The Gates and Orbit Culture. Will be an awesome show. 6th IF show I'll have been to. At The Gates will be amazing to see, super excited for that, and Orbit Culture are one of my favorite new bands so I'm super happy to be seeing them on a bill with other bands I want to see, and not going to a shit show for one band!

 

[TheJestersDoor]

In Flames played Stand Ablaze at Dalhalla Brinner. There is a clip of it on their Instagram story. I hope someone filmed it
Also they ended with MSS and the clip of that they shared was pretty spectacular with the pyro. Beautiful location for a concert.

 

[ThePhobiac]

In Flames played Stand Ablaze at Dalhalla Brinner. There is a clip of it on their Instagram story. I hope someone filmed it
Also they ended with MSS and the clip of that they shared was pretty spectacular with the pyro. Beautiful location for a concert.

I thought you were joking about Stand Ablaze but holy shit they actually did.

 

[eochaid]

In Flames played Stand Ablaze at Dalhalla Brinner.

It's confirmed that THE has not had any influence in them .