New album Foregone out February 2023

[galvanized]

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.

Or both. That’s my point. It’s like they started with too many riffs and then jammed the new stuff in the first 1:00, then rehashed the other song for 5 minutes because they couldn’t figure anything else to do.

For a title track it’s weak AF.

 

[ThePhobiac]

One of the songs I've written for my EP was originally twelve minutes long, but I figured that since the first half and the second half were basically different genres, I decided to split them into two parts. Once they were their own separate songs, I developed them further and they became much more distinct from each other. But they still have the same overarching melody that ties them together. I'm pretty sure In Flames did something similar here.

 

[GraemeSinclair]

Who exactly is supposed to sing this song live?

The best we can hope for is that live it sounds like older songs that Anders sang clean on, with that creaky, earnest delivery from the likes of Metaphor, Evil in a Closet or Come Clarity.

 

[TheJestersDoor]

I say this very tongue in cheek but I called it ages ago, In Flames can't win - they do different stuff (last few albums) and they get dragged here, they write some genuinely old school arrangements and they get criticised for trying to sound like the wrong old school songs

Pretty much all criticisms I've heard of the new song are valid (even though I like it), it just amuses me.

The message from Anders about revisiting the Moonshield/Gyroscope sound confirms it's a conscious effort to make a more typical melodeath influenced album this time around though. Not a bad thing in my opinion, just interesting to hear they've backtracked on almost 20 years of "never look back" mindset. Wonder how much of that was brought about by re-recording Clayman tracks - even if that project was an abject failure that was dead on arrival.

 

[ThePhobiac]

As far as negative reaction goes, I've just been seeing "this is as bad as Battles" and "this invalidates the first three songs" which makes me wonder if I listened to the same Battles as everyone else, or if it's the same hyperbole of people comparing STYE to St. Anger back in the day. I have my critiques of the song but I'm scratching my head at the extremes some people are jumping to.

Then again, I knew a guy back in high school who thought The Jester Race was their sellout record, so who knows, lol. This band has the weirdest fanbase.

 

[Jester Slave]

Or both. That’s my point. It’s like they started with too many riffs and then jammed the new stuff in the first 1:00, then rehashed the other song for 5 minutes because they couldn’t figure anything else to do.

For a title track it’s weak AF.

These stories are getting spicier by the minute.

I mean, they have a history of making some bland tracks or even records, so we of all people should know very well that if they want to just wing it, they can. But not now. You just have this feeling that this time they literally could not come up with anything to fill that song with. These guys are making music for ~30 years now, but they just said "fuck it, let's copy some stuff fro Foregone and just name them part 1 and part 2!" This has to be the most reasonable answer to this.

I go even further: the album was actually named "I don't fucking know. How do you name an album?", but after the embarassment of having to copy and paste Foregone into another track, they decided to cover their tracks and named the record Foregone as well, so the idiots will think there is some concept behind this all. But they couldn't fool you; you've seen right through them.

I think you should go even further into your analysis of the other tracks as well, because I smell a story here. Is Benson an alcoholic and State of Slow Decay is what his ex-wife labeled his condition which he told Anders, who wrote a song about it? Is The Great Deceiver about the band themselves and how they deceived us into thinking Foregone pt1 and pt2 were just your regular concept songs, when in fact it was an embarassing cover up? I want to know the whole story man. Don't leave us hanging!

 

[Xpyro125]

The Puzzle is such a sick track.



It's funny because lyrically and even vocally Anders is far from his best here. Somehow the production on this album just makes it work, though. They really managed to nail a sound which hides Anders' vocal weaknesses perfectly whilst enhancing the instruments at the same time. Why they totally abandoned this afterwards is a total mystery to me. The Puzzle as a song isn't particularly intricate or groundbreaking, the solo is in a lot of ways the usual Bjorn #198 wahfest, but again, the production just makes it all work.

I do like the outro on this one.

Fucking love "The Puzzle", absolutely wonderful song in everything it does (To me, anyways).

In terms of where I'd provsionally rank this one based on what we've heard so far I'd probably go

The Great Deceiver
State of Slow Decay
>> Foregone Pt 2
Foregone Pt 1

I couldn't remember a thing about Pt 1 before I played it again today. TGD and SoSD I do remember even if I wasn't bowled over by them.

For me, it goes like this:

Foregone Pt. 1
State of Slow Decay
>> Foregone Pt. 2 (Would've been above SOSD, but I hate the hollow overdriven guitar tone from the intro as much as we all hate the autotune)
The Great Deceiver

Just heard the song. I'm not sold on Anders' vocal melodies and the autotune drags it down, but I have no complaints regarding the instrumentation. It feels inspired the way their music hasn't for the past couple of records.

There's another IF song this really reminds me of, but I can't think of it at the moment (no, it's not Foregone Pt 1). Probably Moonshield, especially the chorus if you listen past the clean singing. It has the same overall vibe and paints a similar picture, in my opinion.

I tend to think the solos in their recent stuff have been pretty ho hum, but I actually liked this one.

The lack of rhyming in the chorus was good, because imo a lot of Anders' worst lyrics come from trying to rhyme lines in really tortured or cheesy ways.

Absolutely agree with this last part, yes. So many fucking bands write their absolutely worst lyrics from desperately trying to keep up a rhyme scheme for the sake of catchiness.

Also watched an interview with Chris, he said that the new 3 singles were heavy but there's heavier songs on the album. He also said that at the same time album will have so much diversity.

With Foregone part 2 coming, I think we'll hear 1 more song till album released. Don't know why but it looks like record labels release more singles than ever. For example, Arch Enemy's new album Decievers released at 12.08.2022. They released their first single at 21.10.2021 and released 4 more with span of 2-3 month, total 5 single. I guess THE released 5 single too.

Soilwork also released a good chunk of the whole thing.
My guess is because they cannot longer care about albums sold, but rather about tracks played in Spotify + other cloud services. It's easier to stick around to an artist if you have 5 tracks from the new album as compared to playing one on repeat.

Actually, there is a pattern to notice here: All of these bands are signed to Nuclear Blast. I don't think it's the bands doing that for this reason, I think it's the label putting out all these singles for this reason.

 

[Xpyro125]

Also, I actually liked the solo this time around. Nothing special, but the wah didn't piss me off this time. It's a grower, if nothing else, but the autotune and awful, hollow overdriven guitar tone in the intro kill it for me.

That being said, the ambient keyboard and nice bass presence in the verses are fucking perfect.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Yeah, I'm not huge on that clean guitar tone either. I still like the song a lot -- it just has a few flaws that hold it back.

Foregone Pt. 1 is still by far my favorite of the singles released so far. Not that the other ones are bad, but for me that one's just on another level.

 

[Xpyro125]

Yeah, I'm not huge on that clean guitar tone either. I still like the song a lot -- it just has a few flaws that hold it back.

Foregone Pt. 1 is still by far my favorite of the singles released so far. Not that the other ones are bad, but for me that one's just on another level.

Completely agreed.

 

[GraemeSinclair]

As far as negative reaction goes, I've just been seeing "this is as bad as Battles" and "this invalidates the first three songs" which makes me wonder if I listened to the same Battles as everyone else, or if it's the same hyperbole of people comparing STYE to St. Anger back in the day. I have my critiques of the song but I'm scratching my head at the extremes some people are jumping to.

Where have you been reading that? The only places I've really looked are here and the comments for the YouTube video, and on YouTube, pretty much everything I read was hailing it as the continuation of the triumphant return to their classic sound that's been established with the last three singles. Maybe YouTube's algorithm pushes positive feedback, and I'd have to scroll down pretty far to find some dissenting voices.

I agree with you, though, it's miles closer to their classic sound than anything on Battles.

I say this very tongue in cheek but I called it ages ago, In Flames can't win - they do different stuff (last few albums) and they get dragged here, they write some genuinely old school arrangements and they get criticised for trying to sound like the wrong old school songs

Yeah, a few years ago, I remember people on here (myself included) lamenting: "They're not even a melodic death metal band any more."

Now, it's more like: "They're failing to recapture their old sound."

Fuck it, I'm glad they're trying, and in the main I've enjoyed their efforts so far. More please, lads.

 

[Xpyro125]

Where have you been reading that? The only places I've really looked are here and the comments for the YouTube video, and on YouTube, pretty much everything I read was hailing it as the continuation of the triumphant return to their classic sound that's been established with the last three singles. Maybe YouTube's algorithm pushes positive feedback, and I'd have to scroll down pretty far to find some dissenting voices.

Eh, yeah, people in Youtube comments say that shit about every album they do, it's a fucking echo chamber of idiots there

Not saying anything against the band, just those fans

 

[GraemeSinclair]

Eh, yeah, people in Youtube comments say that shit about every album they do, it's a fucking echo chamber of idiots there

Not saying anything against the band, just those fans

Yeah, obviously my "triumphant return to their classic sound" comment is slightly tongue-in-cheek, but I get the sense that some of those people genuinely felt that way.

 

[eochaid]

Where have you been reading that? The only places I've really looked are here and the comments for the YouTube video, and on YouTube, pretty much everything I read was hailing it as the continuation of the triumphant return to their classic sound that's been established with the last three singles.

Saying that this sounds like battles is, in my opinion, like saying that their first three singles is a return to their old sound. Both statements show a lack of knowledge and understanding of the band's music.

 

[DE4life]

I mean, reaction on here to the first three singles was generally pretty positive, and reaction to ITM was overall quite positive too, so I don't get the "they can't win" comment.

 

[DE4life]

Also who on here specifically is asking for 'old school arrangements' ? Me, Eochaid and A88 are probably considered the more highly critical posters and I don't think any of us have ever suggested we expect Anders and Bjorn to recreate the classic IF sound. In fact I think we've all been consistent in saying they can't, because without Jesper and Glenn it won't work.

Typically it's been more asking for another album in the vein of CC or SOAPF, which doesn't seem unreasonable. The reason TGD is top of my list is mainly because it reminds me of a mixture of those two albums.

 

[eochaid]

Indeed I never thought that repeating old patterns was a good thing. I have always liked how their albums have their own personality. I just care about music being good.

 

[CladInShadows971]

It seems strange to me that they are clearly trying to at least partially capture some of their old-school sound, but are so far missing the main big thing that defined that sound which was the harmonised guitar melodies. None of these tracks are carried by a strong, memorable guitar lead in the way Moonshield, Artifacts, Jotun, Embody, or really most other pre-RTR tracks were.

It reminds me of Come Clarity where they tried to be heavier but in the process lost a lot of the "IF" sound and ended up creating an album that was good but sounded like it could have been made by any generic metalcore band. Here, they seem to be doing something similar but it's generic melodic death metal instead.

 

[shad0w__]

I dont think they are trying to necessarily capture the old school sound. I think they are trying to win over the US metalcore / modern metal crowd who would react well to this heavier sound and probably know IF from STYE and CC (guitar hero / take this life etc)

 

[Xpyro125]

Also who on here specifically is asking for 'old school arrangements' ? Me, Eochaid and A88 are probably considered the more highly critical posters and I don't think any of us have ever suggested we expect Anders and Bjorn to recreate the classic IF sound. In fact I think we've all been consistent in saying they can't, because without Jesper and Glenn it won't work.

Typically it's been more asking for another album in the vein of CC or SOAPF, which doesn't seem unreasonable. The reason TGD is top of my list is mainly because it reminds me of a mixture of those two albums.

If everyone was as reasonable, I'd absolutely agree, but I just know that's not the case.