New album Foregone out February 2023

[DE4life]

The problem with the idea of a "comeback to an aggressive sound" is that this isn't "back to the roots" because whilst they had some aggressive songs on previous albums - Morphing Into Primal, for example - by and large their music was far more geared towards melody than aggression. The closest they had to an aggressive sound was Come Clarity. Firstly, not back to da rootz as that was 2006, but secondly there's still plenty of melody there. It also has Jesper's touch which is simply impossible for them to replicate now.

I would have been fine with them sticking to and refining to the ITM sound, but when have they ever done that? Since they left Nordstrom they've always jumped to a new kind of sound every album, which makes it difficult to ever build up any expectations. How many other bands are so utterly schizophrenic in how they approach their music? It worked on some level before, as Jesper was able to tie it all together with his unique ability to compose in a certain way, but nowadays their change of sound just comes across as a band who have no idea who or what they want to be.

I don't want to give up on IF, but after 3 bad albums out of 4 (from a personal perspective), I've pretty much lost hope. As long as they are shacked up with Benson I don't think they'll record anything worthwhile, and even without him we may just get another dumpster fire like Siren Charms. The only way they record a solid new album (without returning to Nordstrom) is:

1) Dump Benson
2) Let a motivated Bjorn write everything again, like SOAPF. Broderick and Tanner could contribute, as I've heard enough to know they have good ideas

Sadly I don't foresee either of the above happening, so we're likely stuck with HB's In Flames until they finally decide to call it a day.

 

[GraemeSinclair]

For me, Foregone doesn't belong in the same conversation as Siren Charms and Battles in terms of a trend of deteriorating quality in the band's sound, or a loss of identity. Those albums really felt like IF had all but abandoned melodic death metal for something completely different.

Obviously Reroute was their breaking point with 'pure' MDM, but it generally felt like there was -something- of their signature sound in the albums that came after. The extent of that MDM influence varies, and it's not like a steady curve that took them further and further from their roots with each consecutive release; I'd argue that Come Clarity has a lot more MDM elements than Soundtrack to Your Escape, for example. Likewise, I think Sounds of a Playground Fading is a much more balanced blend of their classic sound and the alternative metal they've explored since 2000 than A Sense of Purpose was, although maybe it's just that the execution was lacking on ASOP in comparison to SOAPF.

Siren Charms, though, felt like the point to me where their sound became so distant from melodic death metal that there was almost nothing there that connected with me. It's an alt metal record, and Battles is a pop metal record. They were the ones that I found it hardest to put on after listening to something from Whoracle or Colony and telling myself 'this is the same band'. I find it hard to talk about I, the Mask as a whole, because half of it felt like the most MDM-influenced thing they'd done since Come Clarity and half of it felt like the worst parts of Battles.

I understand that claims that Foregone is an unadulterated return to their TJR-Clayman Studio Fredman sound are untrue and naive - it has too much of the Benson-era sound integrated, BUT, for my money, it also has the most melodic death metal of any of their post-2000 releases, and the longer I listen to it the less I find myself caring about the over-processed clean vocals and other flaws, and the more I'm just happy about the growls, the melodies, the riffs, the drums and the fact that the production absolutely pops. It's the first IF album since SOAPF that I'm happy to listen to front-to-back on a regular basis.

 

[The Grayfox]

Siren Charms is at the very bottom of my list of IF albums. Yes, even below Battles. It's not that it isn't a particularly heavy album. I listen to plenty of stuff outside of the MDM realm. Hell, I'm a big Beartooth fan and they're basically pop-metal at this point. But they know how to write a good, catchy tune. And that's the difference to me. I am probably biased because as DE said, we were coming off of STYE, CC, ASOP and SOAPF and SC was a real shock. I remember when they dropped Rusted Nail and thinking "what the hell is going on here?" I'll admit, I've never listened to SC all the way through, but not for lack of trying. I have tried to listen to it in it's entirety several times and I just can't get through it. I have heard every song on it, but I can't listen to it as a whole. So while I admit I am biased against it because of WHEN it came out, I also maintain that to my taste, it just isn't good.

I probably rate Battles higher because it followed SC and I was prepared for it. I knew going in what was going to happen. Also, Wallflower is better than anything on SC in my opinion. But if I'm being completely honest, if you asked me to name the tracklistings for SC and Battles, you would probably get two tracklistings with songs from both because some of those songs are so unmemorable that I can't remember which albums they're on. I won't rehash my feelings on Foregone, I do think it is better than SC and Battles but it's still near the bottom of the list. It has some shining moments and some not-so-great stuff.

 

[DE4life]

In terms of tiers SC and Battles definitely come at the bottom for me. Something like:

[TJR / Whoracle / Colony / Clayman]

[Reroute / Come Clarity / SOAPF / Lunar-Sub]

[STYE / ASOP / ITM / Foregone]

[Siren Charms / Battles]

 

[A88]

Foreskin is a back to the roots album only if you consider IF a generic US melodeath/metalcore band from mid 00s somewhat influenced by the Swedish scene of the late 90s-early 00s.

In that case generic melodeath light riffing and ATG drums can be considered a return to something. HB produced and autotuned Anders still fucks up even that line of thinking.

In general, my interest for IF is at an all time low after this album.

 

[eochaid]

In terms of tiers SC and Battles definitely come at the bottom for me. Something like:

[TJR / Whoracle / Colony / Clayman]

[Reroute / Come Clarity / SOAPF / Lunar-Sub]

[STYE / ASOP / ITM / Foregone]

[Siren Charms / Battles]

While I put Foregone at the absolute bottom . I don't care about it being more aggressive. To me it's like Battles but with even more fakery.

 

[Moonshield_]

Here is my opinion about the post ASOP records :

1. Foregone -> Only one song doesn’t do it for me, « End of Transmission », plus I really am a fan of SOSD/Foregone pt.1/In the Dark/Meet your Maker/Bleeding Out and all the remaining songs in fact.

BIG production too.

Great Artwork.

8/10

2. I the Mask -> Some very catchy songs like ITM/Call my Name/I am Above/Follow me/In this Life/Voices/All the Pain. Bad and average songs too with House/Burn/We will Remember/Deep Inside.

Plus nice crunchy production.

Amazing Artwork.

7/10

3. Siren Charms -> A few songs I really enjoy in this one with Dead Eyes/With Eyes Wide Open/Through Oblivion/Rusted Nails/In Plain View but too much awful songs like Filtered Truth/Paralyzed/When the World Explodes/Monsters in the Ballroom)

Weird Production.

Weird but classy artwork.

6.5/10

4. Sounds of a Playground Fading -> Too much bad/boring/filler songs such as Liberation/Enter Tragedy/Jester’s Door/Darker Times/The Attic that tend to spoil the album which has nevertheless some good ones like A New Dawn/Fear is the Weakness/Ropes/Where the Dead Ships Dwell/The Puzzle (the outro in this song is genius to me)/All for me

Production is not metal enough to make the good songs really shine.

Average artwork.

6/10

5. Battles (The End/The Truth are nice but that’s about it)

Weak production.

Weak artwork.

4/10

 

[ThePhobiac]

After ASOP it was like this for me:

SOAPF - Big break from the typical IF sound. Jesper's absence was palpable. But I still quite enjoyed it. It hasn't aged all that well for me, but it's certainly not bad.

SC - Hits the spot for me, despite a couple of weak tracks and poor production that puts the drums ahead of everything else. Loved the laid-back and stripped-down approach they had here. Good for what should have been a one-off experimental record.

Battles - Pretty embarrassing. There's a couple of songs I like, but much of the band's worst material is on this record. Cliche, commercial, and fake. That SC gets lumped in with this will haunt me to my grave, lol

ITM - A step in the right direction, but not enough for me. It still inhabits the same space as Battles. There are some very good songs on here. But, again, a few of the band's worst tracks are on this record.

Foregone - Very nearly back on track for me, but the vestiges of Battles and ITM are still there, mostly in Anders' vocals and lame vocal melodies. But it's the first IF album since 2014 where I like every song except one or two tracks.

 

[DE4life]

For what it's worth, I don't think SC and Battles are lumped together because people think they sound the same. Not for me, anyway. More because they both represent some of the worst stuff IF have put out. SC is the band in a state of discontent and it shows on the record with how disjointed and unfinished it sounds. Battles is the band trying to be someone else, so far removed from anything related to their original sound (barring The End and maybe Wallflower) that it's barely recognisable as In Flames anymore. I think SC and Battles are bad, in most people's eyes, for very different reasons.

 

[The Grayfox]

I can’t even fathom somebody liking SC over SOAPF. I just can’t comprehend it. Does not compute. Yeah, there are definitely a few mediocre tracks on SOAPF but SC is 100% awful. The only thing interesting about SC to me is the artwork.

 

[ThePhobiac]

For what it's worth, I don't think SC and Battles are lumped together because people think they sound the same. Not for me, anyway. More because they both represent some of the worst stuff IF have put out. SC is the band in a state of discontent and it shows on the record with how disjointed and unfinished it sounds. Battles is the band trying to be someone else, so far removed from anything related to their original sound (barring The End and maybe Wallflower) that it's barely recognisable as In Flames anymore. I think SC and Battles are bad, in most people's eyes, for very different reasons.

For sure, I totally get that. I'm okay with people shitting on SC (even though I do love to defend it ) but I bristle at the taint of Howard Benson being anywhere near it.

I can’t even fathom somebody liking SC over SOAPF. I just can’t comprehend it. Does not compute. Yeah, there are definitely a few mediocre tracks on SOAPF but SC is 100% awful. The only thing interesting about SC to me is the artwork.

I think it's because I've always looked at SC as a deliberately experimental release that's difficult to directly compare to their other stuff because it's trying to do something different. Whereas I view SOAPF as a good but flawed-and-missing-something follow-up to ASOP. Doesn't mean experimental releases can't suck ass, which is the consensus view of SC, but it just happened to be a hit with me. Some things just can't be explained, lol.

It's like how I view Assembly by Theatre of Tragedy. It's a complete genreshift into lame Europop, yet I like it more than some of their gothic metal classics.

 

[The Grayfox]

But not more than Velvet Darkness They Fear right? RIGHT?

 

[ThePhobiac]

I'm going to blow your mind:

Velvet Darkness They Fear is my least favorite ToT album.

 

[The Grayfox]

 

[DE4life]

In terms of personal preferences Phobiac has always lived on the edge. He's the only person I know who ranks TJR and SC as his top two in Flames albums. I respect the total honesty and ability to explain why, even if I may not understand it.

 

[The Grayfox]

For sure. TJR and SC, that's just two completely opposite ends of the spectrum right there. It's like saying your two favorite Metallica albums are Kill 'Em All and St. Anger. But... maybe those are his two favorite Metallica albums, I don't know.

 

[ThePhobiac]

@The Grayfox I love Aegis, though, lol. Hopefully that makes up for it.

I'm not a Metallica fan and I've never listened to any of their albums all the way through, so it's hard to say. I've heard great things about St. Anger, though...

I don't rank SC at #2 these days, lol. I think TJR, Reroute, and Colony would be my top three IF albums, in that order.

 

[DE4life]

Now I'm disappointed.

 

[galvanized]

I think Anders and Bjorn just stopped liking metal a long time ago. They aren’t metalheads anymore. Like, other people would hear a good riff from another band and headbang a little, throw up the horns or something. I doubt Anders and Bjorn have done that for over 20 years.

 

[eochaid]

Foregone is an aseptic album. It's not as if they've been putting too much passion in their latest efforts. But, the feeling that they're just in autopilot mode is there.

Even for the songs that I like, I don't feel any kind of emotion behind them. And I feel no emotion towatds them. They just serve to fill a playlist.