New album Foregone out February 2023
- Thread starter TheJestersDoor
- Start date
Jesper still looking like a US scene kid I see.
As long as he's dressed and sober that's good enough
https://www.metalexpressradio.com/2004/03/01/interview-with-peter-iwers-in-flames/
Random interview with Peter from 2004, I only post it because I find it funny how blatant the interviewer's disdain for STYE is starts off by straight up saying he doesn't like the album, then spends the interview baiting Peter by talking about STYE being more 'modern', TQP being 'commercial', then says there's US influence on the album - "some Limp Bizkit maybe?" Anders would have walked out of this interview for sure.
Random interview with Peter from 2004, I only post it because I find it funny how blatant the interviewer's disdain for STYE is
starts off by straight up saying he doesn't like the album, then spends the interview baiting Peter by talking about STYE being more 'modern', TQP being 'commercial', then says there's US influence on the album - "some Limp Bizkit maybe?" Anders would have walked out of this interview for sure.
mindd
Faithless by Default
Thanks! I feel like shit, but at least I feel something...
I've realized that I'm more excited about Daniel's return than Jesper; even in comparison to Siren Charms (which wasn't the best work from anyone in the band) drumming felt so lifeless and boring on California Dreamin and I, the Mask
mindd
Faithless by Default
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVuuPPoI3Rl/?utm_medium=copy_link
Amon Amarth is going on tour with Machine Head and... The Halo Effect! Snippet of the song at end of the video. Sounds like DT.
Amon Amarth is going on tour with Machine Head and... The Halo Effect! Snippet of the song at end of the video. Sounds like DT.
So I don't really visit the In Flames reddit because it's practically dead, but I came across some Siren Charms posts on there and... my word.
"Siren Charms"
https://old.reddit.com/r/InFlames/comments/aycy1p/siren_charms/
"To me, Siren Charms is the boldest, out there and the best work by them till date in terms of sonics, sounds, atmosphere and pace. The album art is also one of their best. Props to Anders spending nights in the studio to produce this masterpiece, and that too in a very short amount of time."
I can't tell if this guy is being sarcastic or not. Best work to date? Masterpiece?
"The production, vocals, electronics, synths is absolutely top notch. Best experienced with a glass of wine in hand"
More like a barrel of wine. Or, best experienced not at all.
"I got into the band in the 90s, but for me they've had 3 fantastic albums in a row as I absolutely love Siren Charms, Battles, and I, The Mask."
Wow, this guy must be a rarity. A 90s fan (supposedly) who thinks those three albums are 'fantastic'. Even the fanboy bros on here admitted Battles is shit.
"It's my second favorite In Flames album after The Jester Race. I can't listen to a song off of Siren Charms without finding myself listening to the whole album. Every single track stands out and there's nothing on there that I would classify as filler."
Uh... did I find @ThePhobiac 's reddit account? I'm sure he had Jester Race as #1 and SC as #2 on his list.
"The songs lead into each other in a way that creates a narrative: hopelessness to newfound hope."
This sentence should have stopped at 'hopelessness'.
"There are only two bad things on the album: the production — which emphasizes the drums far too much and drowns out that perfect guitar tone — and the fact that the songs are too short and never reach their full potential. Lots of these songs are begging to be two to three minutes longer."
I take issue with every single part of this post. Way more than two bad things, perfect guitar tone my arse, and as for the songs being too short, no. I'm thankful they weren't any longer. Considering SC songs follow the exact same formula with minimal riffs or creativity, how does this guy think the songs should or even could be longer?
"I think it's an underrated gem and the best IF album of this decade, and I'm still so disappointed that the band decided to play it safe with the follow-up albums. I really, really think they were onto something great."
@Jester Slave 's reddit account?
"Also, "Siren Charms" is my favorite In Flames song of the past ten years and one of the best songs they've ever written."
I don't even know what to say. Who in their right mind would even pick Siren Charms as the best song off the album, let alone their favourite of the last ten years? As for one of the best they've ever written... I mean, I can only make sense of this by assuming it's actually an insult and this fellow actually hates all old IF tracks.
"Yes! Best work of theirs."
No! Worst work of theirs.
"Sirens charms felt like what they were trying to do with playground. I thought playground was terrible, like a failed experiment with new styles. They got it right with sirens."
I think this chap got the albums mixed up, but considering Siren Charms was literally the opposite of SOAPF in almost every way he still isn't making any sense.
"I love siren charms too! Hated it on first listen but had the CD in my car and forced myself to listen to it."
Yes, nothing says 'great album' like 'I hated it but forced myself to listen to it over and over again until I bludgeoned my brain into accepting it as the best thing ever'. This is also known as brainwashing and is not a good thing.
"Unpopular Opinion: siren charms and battles are both better than I The Mask"
Sometimes opinions deserve to be unpopular.
"I know Siren Charms gets a lot of flack but..."
https://old.reddit.com/r/InFlames/comments/azk54e/i_know_siren_charms_gets_a_lot_of_flack_but/
"I think when it comes to song writing this album was close to the Pinnacle for them."
"People just hate it because of the clean vocals"
Which is a perfectly valid reason to hate Siren Charms.
"Yeah, filtered truth is one of their best songs."
Yeah, up there with Dead Eternity, Episode 666, Embody the Invisible, Zombie Inc, As the Future Repeats Today for sure.
"His cleans are amazing, ghe riffs are tough, well structured song, all aroubd powerful album. Ill say this ; hadnt it been for the fact that it was under "in flames" everyone wouldve loved it"
I'm pretty sure the opposite is true, the fact it was under "In Flames" is the ONLY reason ANYONE claimed to liked it.
"Phenomenal album all around"
Phenomenally shit.
"Siren Charms sounds heavy AF compared to the majority of I, The Mask. I actually don't mind Siren Charms, because it did what it did well."
Everything's Gone and WTWE aside Siren Charms sounds about as heavy as N'Sync. For fuck sake.
"People say The Jester Race is an amazing album, but its their worst material. It has a bunch os fast notes, sweep picking in a single string... and vad vocals! Sound quality sucks aswell."
In fairness this one did get downvoted, but just quoted to prove some people out there genuinely hold this insane opinion.
"It's their worst album, deal with it"
The only true comment in the entire thread is downvoted into oblivion.
Man, in retrospect maybe we were too hard on Ciko, Krofius and Slave in 2014. These guys put them to shame in terms of absolute delusion.
"Siren Charms"
https://old.reddit.com/r/InFlames/comments/aycy1p/siren_charms/
"To me, Siren Charms is the boldest, out there and the best work by them till date in terms of sonics, sounds, atmosphere and pace. The album art is also one of their best. Props to Anders spending nights in the studio to produce this masterpiece, and that too in a very short amount of time."
I can't tell if this guy is being sarcastic or not. Best work to date? Masterpiece?
"The production, vocals, electronics, synths is absolutely top notch. Best experienced with a glass of wine in hand
"More like a barrel of wine. Or, best experienced not at all.
"I got into the band in the 90s, but for me they've had 3 fantastic albums in a row as I absolutely love Siren Charms, Battles, and I, The Mask."
Wow, this guy must be a rarity. A 90s fan (supposedly) who thinks those three albums are 'fantastic'. Even the fanboy bros on here admitted Battles is shit.
"It's my second favorite In Flames album after The Jester Race. I can't listen to a song off of Siren Charms without finding myself listening to the whole album. Every single track stands out and there's nothing on there that I would classify as filler."
Uh... did I find @ThePhobiac 's reddit account?
I'm sure he had Jester Race as #1 and SC as #2 on his list."The songs lead into each other in a way that creates a narrative: hopelessness to newfound hope."
This sentence should have stopped at 'hopelessness'.
"There are only two bad things on the album: the production — which emphasizes the drums far too much and drowns out that perfect guitar tone — and the fact that the songs are too short and never reach their full potential. Lots of these songs are begging to be two to three minutes longer."
I take issue with every single part of this post. Way more than two bad things, perfect guitar tone my arse, and as for the songs being too short, no. I'm thankful they weren't any longer. Considering SC songs follow the exact same formula with minimal riffs or creativity, how does this guy think the songs should or even could be longer?
"I think it's an underrated gem and the best IF album of this decade, and I'm still so disappointed that the band decided to play it safe with the follow-up albums. I really, really think they were onto something great."
@Jester Slave 's reddit account?
"Also, "Siren Charms" is my favorite In Flames song of the past ten years and one of the best songs they've ever written."
I don't even know what to say. Who in their right mind would even pick Siren Charms as the best song off the album, let alone their favourite of the last ten years? As for one of the best they've ever written... I mean, I can only make sense of this by assuming it's actually an insult and this fellow actually hates all old IF tracks.
"Yes! Best work of theirs."
No! Worst work of theirs.
"Sirens charms felt like what they were trying to do with playground. I thought playground was terrible, like a failed experiment with new styles. They got it right with sirens."
I think this chap got the albums mixed up, but considering Siren Charms was literally the opposite of SOAPF in almost every way he still isn't making any sense.
"I love siren charms too! Hated it on first listen but had the CD in my car and forced myself to listen to it."
Yes, nothing says 'great album' like 'I hated it but forced myself to listen to it over and over again until I bludgeoned my brain into accepting it as the best thing ever'. This is also known as brainwashing and is not a good thing.
"Unpopular Opinion: siren charms and battles are both better than I The Mask"
Sometimes opinions deserve to be unpopular.
"I know Siren Charms gets a lot of flack but..."
https://old.reddit.com/r/InFlames/comments/azk54e/i_know_siren_charms_gets_a_lot_of_flack_but/
"I think when it comes to song writing this album was close to the Pinnacle for them."
"People just hate it because of the clean vocals"
Which is a perfectly valid reason to hate Siren Charms.
"Yeah, filtered truth is one of their best songs."
Yeah, up there with Dead Eternity, Episode 666, Embody the Invisible, Zombie Inc, As the Future Repeats Today for sure.
"His cleans are amazing, ghe riffs are tough, well structured song, all aroubd powerful album. Ill say this ; hadnt it been for the fact that it was under "in flames" everyone wouldve loved it"
I'm pretty sure the opposite is true, the fact it was under "In Flames" is the ONLY reason ANYONE claimed to liked it.
"Phenomenal album all around"
Phenomenally shit.
"Siren Charms sounds heavy AF compared to the majority of I, The Mask. I actually don't mind Siren Charms, because it did what it did well."
Everything's Gone and WTWE aside Siren Charms sounds about as heavy as N'Sync. For fuck sake.
"People say The Jester Race is an amazing album, but its their worst material. It has a bunch os fast notes, sweep picking in a single string... and vad vocals! Sound quality sucks aswell."
In fairness this one did get downvoted, but just quoted to prove some people out there genuinely hold this insane opinion.
"It's their worst album, deal with it"
The only true comment in the entire thread is downvoted into oblivion.
Man, in retrospect maybe we were too hard on Ciko, Krofius and Slave in 2014. These guys put them to shame in terms of absolute delusion.
To be honest I don't even think Slave was that crazy he explained his reasonings behind liking Siren Charms, admittedly in a lot of detail, so I respected him for that even if I completely disagreed with the majority of his points. I'm thinking maybe these reddit threads were intentional troll threads, like, let's think of everything that applies to Siren Charms and state the opposite as the truth. My brain can't comprehend any other logic for these comments.
he explained his reasonings behind liking Siren Charms, admittedly in a lot of detail, so I respected him for that even if I completely disagreed with the majority of his points. I'm thinking maybe these reddit threads were intentional troll threads, like, let's think of everything that applies to Siren Charms and state the opposite as the truth. My brain can't comprehend any other logic for these comments.For sure. You also get the opposite idea where people say old fans are prejudice against the newer albums and so will be negative towards them no matter what.
On here, at least, I don't think that's true at all. SOAPF was and still is very well thought of by most on here, despite being a post-Jesper album. ITM was, I think, treated very fairly by most of us. We all gave it a chance, and praised some of the songs (Voices, ITM, Deep Inside, All the Pain, Stay With Me).
To be honest I don't care if people like Siren Charms or not. It's their right to like whatever they want. I'm sure some of the music I listen to would be considered shit by a lot of metalheads too! I just find comments about SC being a 'masterpiece', 'the pinnacle of their songwriting', etc completely absurd. I can't even comprehend anybody truly believing the song Siren Charms is the best IF song in the past 10 years. I don't remember a single person on here or anywhere even touting that song as the best on the album, let alone of the past ten years. Even Phobiac, who holds some truly eclectic opinions, didn't go that far.
On here, at least, I don't think that's true at all. SOAPF was and still is very well thought of by most on here, despite being a post-Jesper album. ITM was, I think, treated very fairly by most of us. We all gave it a chance, and praised some of the songs (Voices, ITM, Deep Inside, All the Pain, Stay With Me).
To be honest I don't care if people like Siren Charms or not. It's their right to like whatever they want. I'm sure some of the music I listen to would be considered shit by a lot of metalheads too! I just find comments about SC being a 'masterpiece', 'the pinnacle of their songwriting', etc completely absurd. I can't even comprehend anybody truly believing the song Siren Charms is the best IF song in the past 10 years. I don't remember a single person on here or anywhere even touting that song as the best on the album, let alone of the past ten years. Even Phobiac, who holds some truly eclectic opinions, didn't go that far.
Siren Charms, the song, I'll never grow tired of saying this, is a bad imitation of 30 Seconds to Mars.
Apart from that, the song itself has little value. That is catchy is the best thing that can be said about the song. The guitar work is lame. The vocal work... Why even trying something that goes far beyond Anders real ability? I cannot imagine him being able to sing it live under any circumstances. And, it's weird that this was the only way that they found to give some presence to the bass in one of their songs.
The only way to think that this is one of their greatest songs ever is to forget what their music was about and to think that IF has always been about vocals and autotunes.
The album? Is plain bad. No structure. Bad decisions. Writing that feels rushed and extremely simplistic. Every song feels like have been influenced by a different band or style rather than by the band's own way of writing songs.
It's not death metal. It's not modern metal. It's not alt rock. It's not hard rock. It's not pop. But it really feels as if they pretended it to be all of those things and even more.
The difference with battles is that Battles is awful but is equally awful from the beginning to the end and I can see that it comes eom.an idea of an album while SC comes from many ideas for different albums.
Does this make sense?
Apart from that, the song itself has little value. That is catchy is the best thing that can be said about the song. The guitar work is lame. The vocal work... Why even trying something that goes far beyond Anders real ability? I cannot imagine him being able to sing it live under any circumstances. And, it's weird that this was the only way that they found to give some presence to the bass in one of their songs.
The only way to think that this is one of their greatest songs ever is to forget what their music was about and to think that IF has always been about vocals and autotunes.
The album? Is plain bad. No structure. Bad decisions. Writing that feels rushed and extremely simplistic. Every song feels like have been influenced by a different band or style rather than by the band's own way of writing songs.
It's not death metal. It's not modern metal. It's not alt rock. It's not hard rock. It's not pop. But it really feels as if they pretended it to be all of those things and even more.
The difference with battles is that Battles is awful but is equally awful from the beginning to the end and I can see that it comes eom.an idea of an album while SC comes from many ideas for different albums.
Does this make sense?
Yes, I agree. Siren Charms always felt half-finished to me. Like a bunch of ideas that did have some merit but were rushed and executed poorly. Considering what we know about the album's conception - that it was created in six weeks with little prep beforehand - that probably isn't too far from the truth. In comparison I can remember them saying they took three months to write SOAPF, including various demos and structural changes. For me it shows in both albums - SOAPF feels like a complete, solid album, whereas SC feels like an unprofessional, unfinished project. I remember reading an interview where Bjorn said Anders didn't even tell the rest of the band that there was going to be a female singer on 'When the World Explodes'. The first he and Peter knew about it was when they were listening to some of the songs from the studio whilst driving and were shocked to hear the changes. I couldn't help but read that and think what a shitty way to go about things from a band perspective. Bjorn obviously acted like it wasn't a big deal but it does make you wonder if shit like that was why Peter left shortly afterwards.
Battles in contrast feels complete and professional, it's just that the ideas are garbage. SC had some good ideas, they just weren't executed very well. With the possible exception of Wallflower, Battles basically had no good ideas and so it doesn't matter how complete the process was. I put SC above Battles in ranking solely because I think there were some good intentions on the album, even if it turned out badly. I don't think there were any good intentions on Battles, it was just Howard Benson corporate pop-metal shit. Neither album is very good but at least Siren Charms is somewhat earnest, even as the epic fail it became.
At the very least Siren Charms will always be remembered in a "WTF" kind of way. The anti-IF album with all kinds of weird shit going on. Battles is truly irrelevent as a soulless sellout album with no merit whatsoever. Nothing even worth discussing about it.
To be honest, I struggle to remember more than a few songs/song names from Battles.
When I turn off that little IF fanboy in me, I must say you could barely make one decent album when you combine all of their released efforts from the previous decade.
So sad.
But it can't be better with a diva who can't sing and a single, lazy, rarely inspired guitarist at the helm plus a bunch of random paid guns around them.
When I turn off that little IF fanboy in me, I must say you could barely make one decent album when you combine all of their released efforts from the previous decade.
So sad.
But it can't be better with a diva who can't sing and a single, lazy, rarely inspired guitarist at the helm plus a bunch of random paid guns around them.
ThePhobiac
be at ease
Uh... did I find @ThePhobiac 's reddit account?
Holy shit there's someone out there with good taste.
But nah, I don't rank SC these days because I find it impossible to compare to the rest of their catalogue. I used to have it as top three. I will say that the title track is my favorite off that record, but I wouldn't say it's the best of their '10s music (that would probably be A New Dawn or Voices).
I'm not sure I could argue that SC is objectively good or bad because as the late Lou Reed once said, you either like it or you don't. It's not rocket science. It just happens to click just right with me. That's why I cringe when I see some of the positive reactions that try to justify why it's good, because I actually don't agree with a lot of them. Some of the songs on that record don't really work or needed more time in the oven (In Plain View, Everything's Gone, Rusted Nail). Anders doesn't sound fantastic on some of it. But the rest makes up for it, for me at least.
What makes me cringe is the people who say SC, Battles, and ITM are a string of good IF albums, or that they're in any sense a trilogy or a series. As a SC fan I refuse to group it with Battles and ITM. SC was an experimental effort and you can argue whether it worked for you or not, while Battles and ITM were retreats into design-by-committee music (less so with ITM, which was a step in the right direction).
From the perspective of SC I can find merits in most of the songs, it's just that the majority of the them also have big flaws which weren't addressed.
In Plain View - first 47 seconds are actually pretty good. Nice, SOAPF-style electronics and good guitar melodies. The song gets derailed instantly by the first verse, which completely alters the tempo of the song and doesn't sound good at all. Drums and vocals aren't working together at all, guitars barely exist. Pre-chorus doesn't have enough power behind it. Guitars need to be more at the forefront and the vocals need to be stronger. Anders sounds too whiny. Chorus is decent, vocals not particularly good but some nice guitarwork briefly. Second verse has the same problem as the first verse. 02:15 it sounds like we're building up to something decent, but then the guitars get stuck repeating the same riffs. Breakdown section with Anders yelling 'all the lights' sucks. There is potential in this song, but it doesn't feel like enough time or effort was put into fixing the problems with the flow and tempo of the track.
Everything's Gone - the fabled 'florida death metal track'. The Black & White riff ripoff at the beginning is something I can't ignore. The verses on this are just terrible. Riffs aren't interesting, vocals are terrible. Chorus is decent enough. Guitar melodies around the 02:12 mark don't really fit in with the rest of the track at all. This one just sounds all over the place to me. Needed a lot more work.
Paralyzed - first 30 secs are alright as an intro, but listen to those uninspired, boring riffs that follow for the next 20 seconds. Pointless. The first verse sounds OK with the electronics & Anders vocals, but not so much when those same boring riffs return. Once again the chorus is fine. Second verse does a better job transitioning from electronics to guitars, as the intro riffs for whatever reason don't appear this time. Decent enough solo from Bjorn, but why bring back those shitty riffs at 03:03? Instead I'd suggest going straight from the solo to 03:12, which wouldn't lose momentum. The ending is nice, good scream from Anders at the end. Again I see a lot of potential in this track, it just needed more work.
Through Oblivion - This should have been an 'Anders solo project' song, as it has barely anything to do with the rest of the band. I think it's fine as a random electro-pop song, but I don't know what the point of it is on an In Flames album.
With Eyes Widen Open - one of the only songs on the album that feels 'complete'. It's the 'IF ballad' in the mould of Metaphor, Evil in a Closet, Come Clarity and Liberation. I don't really have any gripes with this one structurally.
Siren Charms - vocals and instruments do not work together in this song. It's like Anders was working to one template and Bjorn to something totally different. The second part of the chorus is the only section of the track that feels connected vocally and instrumentally, but it's weird because it completely changes the tempo and flow of the song for 7 seconds or so. 01:49 - 02:03 might as well be labelled "filler riffs - insert actual riffs later". There is no point to them. The solo is absolutely redundant as well. This track really does feel like an early demo.
When the World Explodes - exactly the same issue as the previous song, in that the verse vocals and instruments are going in two completely different directions. Doesn't help that the instruments and vocals in this instance have no sense of rhythm or melody individually either. It's a mess. The chorus sounds like it was spliced in from a totally different song. The solo also sounds like it was inserted independent of everything else.
Rusted Fail - nice opening. First 25 seconds are good. Then we get these awful chugging riffs and a totally out of place solo layered over them. The verses have zero merit. Vocal rhythm and melodies aren't discernable, and there's literally nothing interesting at all happening instrumentally. Pre-chorus has the same problem. Guitars leading to the chorus and the chorus itself are good, but once again sound like they were inserted from a different, better song. Literally the exact same issues are then repeated for the next verses until the next chorus. The solo that comes in at 03:12 is just plain ugly. Wah pedal abuse to the max.
Dead Eyes - much like With Eyes Wide Open I think this one is actually one of the more 'complete' tracks on the album, but it's too long. They needed to cut at least a minute out of this one. The section from 02:40 - 03:50 is really good. Rather than continue on for another 1 minute 30, they should have gone straight from the end of the section at 03:50 to the chorus, then end. Don't bother wiff the riffs in the last 23 seconds of the song - they add nothing and are, again, pointless.
Monsters in the Ballroom - A nice, groovy intro. Guitars and drums working together very nicely until 00:43 - and guess what? Vocals come in and aren't carrying any kind of melody or rhythm. Problem is that because the instruments have also devolved to nothing we're now left with a void until the chorus, which is fine. Second verse is a bit better in this regard, and for whatever reason Anders decide to half-yell this section. 02:37 - 02:55 is good, but then the tempo and flow gets fucked up until the chorus hits again. Cut 02:55 - 03:05, just go straight from 02:55 into the section starting at 03:05 and into the chorus. No need for the filler riffs and vocals during those 10 seconds. They add nothing.
Filtered Truth - HIM style intro which isn't so bad, and the guitars sound fine here, but what is Anders doing with the vocals? It's another case of the vocals and instruments doing two different things. The guitars on this one are pretty good, but the vocal melodies needed to be completely reworked here. Chorus aside it just doesn't work properly.
A significant amount of SC's problems (forgetting Anders vocals and the overall production) come from the song verses, which often sound incomplete, with the vocals and instruments seeming to compete with each other rather than work together. There are also far too many effortless riffs and uninspired solos which sound like they were given the absolute minimum effort.
In Plain View - first 47 seconds are actually pretty good. Nice, SOAPF-style electronics and good guitar melodies. The song gets derailed instantly by the first verse, which completely alters the tempo of the song and doesn't sound good at all. Drums and vocals aren't working together at all, guitars barely exist. Pre-chorus doesn't have enough power behind it. Guitars need to be more at the forefront and the vocals need to be stronger. Anders sounds too whiny. Chorus is decent, vocals not particularly good but some nice guitarwork briefly. Second verse has the same problem as the first verse. 02:15 it sounds like we're building up to something decent, but then the guitars get stuck repeating the same riffs. Breakdown section with Anders yelling 'all the lights' sucks. There is potential in this song, but it doesn't feel like enough time or effort was put into fixing the problems with the flow and tempo of the track.
Everything's Gone - the fabled 'florida death metal track'. The Black & White riff ripoff at the beginning is something I can't ignore. The verses on this are just terrible. Riffs aren't interesting, vocals are terrible. Chorus is decent enough. Guitar melodies around the 02:12 mark don't really fit in with the rest of the track at all. This one just sounds all over the place to me. Needed a lot more work.
Paralyzed - first 30 secs are alright as an intro, but listen to those uninspired, boring riffs that follow for the next 20 seconds. Pointless. The first verse sounds OK with the electronics & Anders vocals, but not so much when those same boring riffs return. Once again the chorus is fine. Second verse does a better job transitioning from electronics to guitars, as the intro riffs for whatever reason don't appear this time. Decent enough solo from Bjorn, but why bring back those shitty riffs at 03:03? Instead I'd suggest going straight from the solo to 03:12, which wouldn't lose momentum. The ending is nice, good scream from Anders at the end. Again I see a lot of potential in this track, it just needed more work.
Through Oblivion - This should have been an 'Anders solo project' song, as it has barely anything to do with the rest of the band. I think it's fine as a random electro-pop song, but I don't know what the point of it is on an In Flames album.
With Eyes Widen Open - one of the only songs on the album that feels 'complete'. It's the 'IF ballad' in the mould of Metaphor, Evil in a Closet, Come Clarity and Liberation. I don't really have any gripes with this one structurally.
Siren Charms - vocals and instruments do not work together in this song. It's like Anders was working to one template and Bjorn to something totally different. The second part of the chorus is the only section of the track that feels connected vocally and instrumentally, but it's weird because it completely changes the tempo and flow of the song for 7 seconds or so. 01:49 - 02:03 might as well be labelled "filler riffs - insert actual riffs later". There is no point to them. The solo is absolutely redundant as well. This track really does feel like an early demo.
When the World Explodes - exactly the same issue as the previous song, in that the verse vocals and instruments are going in two completely different directions. Doesn't help that the instruments and vocals in this instance have no sense of rhythm or melody individually either. It's a mess. The chorus sounds like it was spliced in from a totally different song. The solo also sounds like it was inserted independent of everything else.
Rusted Fail - nice opening. First 25 seconds are good. Then we get these awful chugging riffs and a totally out of place solo layered over them. The verses have zero merit. Vocal rhythm and melodies aren't discernable, and there's literally nothing interesting at all happening instrumentally. Pre-chorus has the same problem. Guitars leading to the chorus and the chorus itself are good, but once again sound like they were inserted from a different, better song. Literally the exact same issues are then repeated for the next verses until the next chorus. The solo that comes in at 03:12 is just plain ugly. Wah pedal abuse to the max.
Dead Eyes - much like With Eyes Wide Open I think this one is actually one of the more 'complete' tracks on the album, but it's too long. They needed to cut at least a minute out of this one. The section from 02:40 - 03:50 is really good. Rather than continue on for another 1 minute 30, they should have gone straight from the end of the section at 03:50 to the chorus, then end. Don't bother wiff the riffs in the last 23 seconds of the song - they add nothing and are, again, pointless.
Monsters in the Ballroom - A nice, groovy intro. Guitars and drums working together very nicely until 00:43 - and guess what? Vocals come in and aren't carrying any kind of melody or rhythm. Problem is that because the instruments have also devolved to nothing we're now left with a void until the chorus, which is fine. Second verse is a bit better in this regard, and for whatever reason Anders decide to half-yell this section. 02:37 - 02:55 is good, but then the tempo and flow gets fucked up until the chorus hits again. Cut 02:55 - 03:05, just go straight from 02:55 into the section starting at 03:05 and into the chorus. No need for the filler riffs and vocals during those 10 seconds. They add nothing.
Filtered Truth - HIM style intro which isn't so bad, and the guitars sound fine here, but what is Anders doing with the vocals? It's another case of the vocals and instruments doing two different things. The guitars on this one are pretty good, but the vocal melodies needed to be completely reworked here. Chorus aside it just doesn't work properly.
A significant amount of SC's problems (forgetting Anders vocals and the overall production) come from the song verses, which often sound incomplete, with the vocals and instruments seeming to compete with each other rather than work together. There are also far too many effortless riffs and uninspired solos which sound like they were given the absolute minimum effort.
Similar threads
