New album Foregone out February 2023

[galvanized]

The intro is good and interesting. The rest of the song is quite literally a rehash. I’m not trying to troll here, but about halfway through the song, I started to wonder where I heard this melody before And how I was getting bored of it, before I realized that this was part one and part two.

I actually don’t think these are part one and part two. I think what happened is that Howard Benson and Anders wrote part two first, then the other guys had some feedback and came up with something harder, and we got part one. but they didn’t want to offend Benson and Anders so they decided to go ahead and record part two as well. These aren’t parts. They are just alternate versions. One of them is metal, one of them is not.

like I said, the instrumentation is good at the beginning. But then, after that, not so much. It’s slow and boring.

 

[galvanized]

The intro is good and interesting. The rest of the song is quite literally a rehash. I’m not trying to troll here, but about halfway through the song, I started to wonder where I heard this melody before And how I was getting bored of it, before I realized that this was part one and part two.

I actually don’t think these are part one and part two. I think what happened is that Howard Benson and Anders wrote part two first, then the other guys had some feedback and came up with something harder, and we got part one. but they didn’t want to offend Benson and Anders so they decided to go ahead and record part two as well. These aren’t parts. They are just alternate versions. One of them is metal, one of them is not.

like I said, the instrumentation is good at the beginning. But then, after that, not so much. It’s slow and boring.

I like the first two verses as well. The parts before the chorus and the harsh vocals turn it into a generic modern IF song. So I’ll say the first 1:40 are good. After that I get bored fast.

 

[eochaid]

I actually don’t think these are part one and part two. I think what happened is that Howard Benson and Anders wrote part two first, then the other guys had some feedback and came up with something harder, and we got part one. but they didn’t want to offend Benson and Anders so they decided to go ahead and record part two as well.

So, you're saying that there are things happening apart from Anders' will, that Bjorn is not a lazy songwriter and that the song that sounds more like IF from the singles was not actually and entirely made by them.

Did I get that right?

 

[ciko_gfb]

Statement about the song from Instagram post:

Anders states, “While revisiting songs in our catalog like Moonshield and Gyroscope, I felt we hadn’t done that style for awhile. We wanted honor those types of songs which incorporates the Swedish folk vibe, but bring it to the current era of In Flames. Musically and lyrically it is a continuation of Foregone.”

Official video:

 

[DE4life]

Moonshield and Gyroscope... two songs where Jesper has sole songwriting credits. Would have made more sense to pay tribute to songs that Bjorn had a hand in crafting, really. A fair few to choose from across TJR and Whoracle.

 

[Jester Slave]

The Truth is still the best autotune madness from IF. You pretty much either like it or hate it, because it is a straightforward pop-metal song. Dumb, cheesy, but imo it works. House takes itself too seriously, and the preachiness of the chorus and the embarassing lyrics are just a very weird mash to an otherwise not THAT bad song, as it has some neat hooks. But overall it's like Frankeinstein's monster.

Foregone 2 is Frankeinstein's next attempt at stiching together whatever he came across with, and this time he did a decent job. The problem is that at the end of the day it is still a stitch job, and some things just don't go well with others. Old school intro, very melodic first minute with a modern IF take on it. Around 0:48 it transitions into some very cool moodyness, reminiscent of TCP and Wallflower, but reminds me of the SOAPF vibe as well a bit. It really gives you the goosebumps at first, preparing you for some heavy, ballady sound.Then Battles/Depeche Mode Anders makes an entrance with heavy autotunes, catchy yet very simple rhymes, which could've been fine, if there wasn't a record already where nearly EVERY SINGLE SONG's base structure was this (Battles). As he continues the first verse it really reminds me of their Alice In Chains cover. The pre-chorus is very good, but the chorus just fucks it all away. The second verse is another highlight for me on which they could have built upon, but this whole song is the definition of dissonance.

I really don't understand that chorus at all. Moody, melancholic verses being released with the harsh but melodic part is great, but why put in an upbeat chorus which is not even catchy????? And the most annoying part of the autotune is that Anders' fails to recognize that his unique strength as a vocalist is his flaws. His tender yet raspy voice with all it's imperfections are an amazing vehicle to transfer the emotions he wants to convey here. Compare these verses and chorus to Your Bedtime Story. Sure, it's still heavily edited, but he sounds like an actual human being desperate and angry. Sounding like plastic creates such a dissonance when you are trying to portray a broken, hopeless man.

This song could've been broken up into 2 amazing ones and a shitty one. Instead we got this roller-coaster which is... why would anyone keep listening to this? It's not bad, but it doesn't scratch any musical itches you may have. Everything they do here they have done it better in the past. Listen to Down In A Hole, Before I Fall, Moonshield, TCP and Foregone pt. 1.

The intro is good and interesting. The rest of the song is quite literally a rehash. I’m not trying to troll here, but about halfway through the song, I started to wonder where I heard this melody before And how I was getting bored of it, before I realized that this was part one and part two.

I actually don’t think these are part one and part two. I think what happened is that Howard Benson and Anders wrote part two first, then the other guys had some feedback and came up with something harder, and we got part one. but they didn’t want to offend Benson and Anders so they decided to go ahead and record part two as well. These aren’t parts. They are just alternate versions. One of them is metal, one of them is not.

I sincerely hope you are being facetious here, otherwise it's just embarassing. Lately I've seen too many people online being way tooo parasocial, and coming up with the dumbest fucking head canons without any solid foundation whatsoever. But I give you the benefit of the doubt that you are just joking.

As for part 2 borrowing elements of part 1... yeah. Crazy. Next thing you tell me is that siblings share similarities.

As far as I'm concerned there are two lgetimate stance on "part songs". You either hate the idea to begin with or you don't mind it so you don't bitch about the fact that they are obviously similar or even very similar. There's not really a middle ground where you are fine with the concept, but then get flabbergasted when these songs are actually similar, which is the fucking poin-- ah, whatever.

 

[DE4life]

Two part songs work better if they have an obvious purpose - continuation of some kind of explicit story/theme, or created some years later on a separate album so making a nostalgic callback (Unforgiven II or Back to the Land of Light, for example).

Not sure the story/theme is strong enough to justify a part 1/part 2 dynamic here. Just doesn't work for me.

 

[DE4life]

Everything they do here they have done it better in the past. Listen to Down In A Hole, Before I Fall, Moonshield, TCP and Foregone pt. 1

To be fair if my choice is to listen to Foregone Pt 2 or four shit songs and Moonshield I'd probably go with the former. Or just listen to Moonshield.

 

[eochaid]

You must remember that this is current IF. Which means that this is, most probably, the best that they could do to approach this kind of composition.

My thought is that they probably had too many riffs for a single song so they decided to divide it into two instead of creating a longer song.

This or that they run out of ideas so they recicled some melodies.

 

[Jester Slave]

To be fair if my choice is to listen to Foregone Pt 2 or four shit songs and Moonshield I'd probably go with the former. Or just listen to Moonshield.

I meant that if you dig all or some parts of Foregone 2, then you are still better off listening to songs which they borrowed from individually. In your case, why would you even listen to this track and not just pop in Moonshield when you feel like it?

Sure, if you hate Before I Fall and Down In A Hole then Foregone part 2 overall is less insulting to your ears, but that just makes this song forgettable to you instead of flat out hating it, but at the end of the day it's the same, because you will rarely or ever listen to it.

 

[DE4life]

Well, yeah. The song is just an odd mixture of IF elements that are OK but nothing you haven't heard before, and better, so I agree with you for once.

 

[eochaid]

Just the fact that they mention Moonshield or Gyroscope amazes me. And I fail to see how this song is related in any way to those more than it's related to what they've been doing for the past decade. Though I shouldn't be surprised if I considere that they think that their first single, I cannot remember the name now, is a representation of their past.

It's like they have heard those songs but don't know or understand them.

 

[DE4life]

Just the fact that they mention Moonshield or Gyroscope amazes me. And I fail to see how this song is related in any way to those more than it's related to what they've been doing for the past decade. Though I shouldn't be surprised if I considere that they think that their first single, I cannot remember the name now, is a representation of their past.

It's like they have heard those songs but don't know or understand them.

Because they don't. Jesper wrote those songs, Bjorn has never shown he's capable of producing that form of MDM. In fairness very few can, Jesper's compositions of the time were extremely unique, but maybe reference something Bjorn had some involvement in like Artifacts or The Hive. The more straightforward metal tracks from those albums.

 

[Jester Slave]

Just the fact that they mention Moonshield or Gyroscope amazes me. And I fail to see how this song is related in any way to those more than it's related to what they've been doing for the past decade. Though I shouldn't be surprised if I considere that they think that their first single, I cannot remember the name now, is a representation of their past.

It's like they have heard those songs but don't know or understand them.

I think they were actually right with the comparisons this time. Listen to the 0:18 part onwards till ~:0:45, then listen to the pre-chorus. It didn't dawn on me first, but they are indeed similar and it is not far-fetched that parts of Foregone 2 is a modern variation of the sound they went for on Gyroscope. I don't have an elephant brain, so correct me if I'm wrong, but the kind of metal they do in the aformentioned part on Foregone 2 and what they did on most of Gyroscope was pretty rare if straight up non-existent on most of their releases. Clayman-ASOP was balls to the walls fast paced (melodic) mayhem, but Colony already leaned into that as well. It was SOAPF which stepped on the breaks and introduced that rock sound with its' beefy guitar sound, but the problem was that it lost a lot of its' melodic touch. Others can word it better I'm sure. Anyway, SC was the same, then Battles said who even needs guitars? ITM was once again very similar to the beefy SOAPF sound.

Compare everything post Whoracle to the very first riff of State of Slow Decay and I can't remember anything which sounded similar. This side pretty much evaporated by Clayman. And we are back to Foregone 2 which takes it a step forward, and slows everything down, just like could hear it on some TJR and Whoracle tracks. That part around ~0:45 could seamlessly transition into Gyroscope funnily enough. Moonshield is also similar. Heavy, but slow melodic riffs in tandem with Anders. They just fuck it up here with everything else.

 

[eochaid]

Mimicking something that they did in the past is not going back to the roots or understanding those same roots.

The difference with jesper is that, him being the main force behind those songs, is also the one who understands how they work. They can copy the structures, even the notes, bit they are missing the vibe. That doesn't seem to be a part of their DNA as musicians.

You play Moonshield on a piano and it sounds classical. You play Foregone pt 2 and it still sounds like a modern IF song, but in a piano.

 

[Jester Slave]

I get it but there is no harm in trying to evoke that sound or mood. And imo it's not even that they failed to do so, because parts of this song clearly shows that they can do it. No, it wouldn't have been the new Gyroscope or Moonshield, but it would've been a pretty dope and unique song by modern IF standards. Where they failed was at the drawing board. Those verses and that chorus is with all the invasive autotune shithousery just do not work here. That is where a producer should've stepped in and told them that they should make up their mind about what kind of song they want exactly, and if they can't, then slash it into two songs, even if that means a Foregone part 3. We would've clowned on the fact that they have 3 Foregones, but if it meants 2 cool songs and one for the pop metalheads then it still would've been a net positive.

 

[eochaid]

Maybe the whole album should have been the different parts of foregone . From Foregone, the Prelude to Foregone pt. 11.

 

[DE4life]

Isn't that what Eochaid was saying though? They can replicate parts of what they used to do, but they don't really get what made those songs special. 15 seconds of something like Moonshield isn't worth anything if the rest of the song is a hot mess. They can't structure an old school, Swedish folk melody type song in the vein of Moonshield or Gyroscope because they don't really get how such a track could be fully composed. Any musician could mimic parts of that sound - many MDM bands have done so since 1996 - but none of them sound like old IF because they just don't get it in the way Jesper and Glenn did. I'm not even sure Jesper and Glenn get it anymore, as neither have come close to that sound since either.

 

[eochaid]

As always, you express my thoughts better than I could.

 

[drawntoblack]

Who exactly is supposed to sing this song live?