[non opeth] In Flames???

[skyshock1]

Sorry for the NOC (non-opeth content), but I've really been digging that band In Flames lately. What would be a good album to get for someone who is just starting into them?

I figure, if you can't trust a fellow Opeth fan with such incredible music, who CAN you trust?



Thanks in advance folks!

 

[Dan]

Get The Jester Race first. Kinda folk inspired metal and really good album with acoustic passages throughout. I think Clayman is their second best, but a lot of people don't like it. It's not much like The Jester Race. Whoracle and Colony is a tossup because both are really good and Whoracle is the most like The Jester Race and is worth the price for Jester Script Trans Figured. Lunar Strain and Subterranean are good, but the vocalist takes a while tog et used to because there was a different one on these albums and has more of a shriek. Synopsis:
1.The Jester Race
2.Clayman
3.Whoracle
4.Colony
5.Lunar Strain/Subterannean

 

[benny]

I would say get Whoracle first, that was my first In Flames record and since I think every record rules I think your safe buying pretty much anything by them.

 

[BurzumBeast]

If you like In Flames, check out At The Gates and The Haunted. They are both vastly superior to In Flames, IMO.

 

[HoserHellspawn]

In Flames are hard to go wrong with when choosing a record because their sound has not so much evolved (since Jester Race... Luner Strain/Subterranian was a little different) as being constantly mildly tweaked. Jester Race used more acoustics throughout, but...

Whoracle has a couple of great tracks that really stand out in In Flames' catalogue (i.e. Jester Script Transfigured), but of the four albums (Jester Race, Whoracle, Colony, Clayman) I'd say it's the weakest. I'll stick my neck out a bit and suggest Clayman, the new one. Every track on that record is pretty damn good.

 

[jesse]

I began listening to In Flames a few months after "Lunar Strain" came out, so I'm one of those people who is NOT a fan of newer In Flames. I'd check out the albums in this order:

1 - The Jester Race
2 - Subterranean MCD
3 - Whoracle
4 - Lunar Strain

and if you are BEGGING for more, I'd say get Colony, but it's not NEARLY as good as those mentioned above. Clayman has rapmetal parts in it and overall I just find it uninspired and boring. Considering that album was a 'commercial breakthrough' in someways for them, I'm sure many here (who may have began listening to In Flames with Colony/Clayman) will disagree with my opinion of it. But definitely you should start with those 4... (and perhaps STOP ).

 

[svenske kocken]

Whoracle would be a good record to start with, since it is their best.

1. Whoracle
2. Lunar Strain
3. The Jester Race
4. Subterranean
5. Clayman
6. Colony

Even better would be to check out At The Gates (the band who started the whole "Gothenburg Sound" or The Crown from Trollhättan. Go get Slaughter Of The Soul with ATG and Deathrace King with The Crown and you will have to marvelous records.

 

[svenske kocken]

forlorn soul >>>>>

I agree. I started listen to In Flames when Subterranean was relased in 1995 and is of the opinion that their newer material, like the awful Colony and the not so good Clayman, is nothing compared to the older records.

 

[skyshock1]

I'll look into all those suggestions.

FWIW, I saw something about The Haunted on MTV of all places!!!!! There was some brief news stint about them. They showed some live clips. They sounded REALLY good. I'll have to look into them.

Heard At the Gates, but didn't really care for them much. Maybe I should give 'em a second listen?

 

[svenske kocken]

Yeah, ATG is (was) the best Gothenburg band, you know. Slaughter Of The Soul is easily the best melodic death metal record ever.

 

[demonfall]

In Flames got me into the whole Gothenburg scene early last year and eventually led me to Opeth, but what is the criticism behind "Colony"? I understand and agree with the criticism against "Clayman," as that IF album never gets played anymore. 'Swim' and the title track are about the only tracks I still dig from that release, mainly 'cos I got the hear the songs live first, which certainly helped their longevity.

Yet "Colony" has always felt incredibly solid to me. The interplay of headbanging riffs and solos was more pronounced between Jesper and Bjorn, whereas "Whoracle" had so many guitars being played at once that the intricacy was sometimes overpowered (I'm thinking of "The Hive" here, despite its brilliance). Is "Colony" bashed just because it came after two works of art, where the band started refining a more commercial Gothenburg sound?

At any rate, to newbies interested in the band, both "Whoracle" and "Colony" linger in my mind as IF's masterpieces, genuinely accessible albums with not a bad song between them. ok, enough praise.

Paul

 

[Demonspell]

I really don't get all the criticism of Clayman...I think it is a great album and many of its songs, especially on its second half, are highly underrated. I actually like it more than Colony.

1. Whoracle
2. The Jester Race
3. Clayman
4. Subterranean
5. Colony
6. Lunar Strain

 

[Protoss]

At least before you go to the newer ones(which are damn good too)

 

[Servo]

At the Gates is required listening. I still need to get The Red in the Sky is Ours, but Terminal Spirit Disease and Slaughter of the Soul are important albums and great listens.

In Flames....hmmm, what to say. I hope they take a little time before releasing another album. Clayman seemed rushed. I think they might have been trying to cash in on the success of Colony while the going was still good. The Jester Race is an amazing album and Colony is great too.

 

[benny]

I heard they are releasing a live album this summer. Then later their new studio album comes out. Why are all live albums in Japan?

 

[warsofwinter]

Just wanted to bring this post back from the dead . See the title of this post , keep it in mind

 

[benny]

Wow this thread is really old, our own peice of Opeth forum history.

 

[Demonspell]

What does everyone think of In Flames opening for Slipknot in the UK? While it clearly indicates an effort to exand their commercial potnetial, it also gives them the opportunity to blow them off the stage and hopefully convert a few nu-metallers...

 

[jesse]

In Flames wears UNIFORMS on stage now. As I'm sure many of you are aware, their newest album "Clayman" has down-right nu-metal (or rapmetal, whatever you want to call it) parts in it. I know personally that In Flames highly admire Slipknot, Korn and the like. It's not surprising they are touring with Slipknot then. They want to BE part of that genre, not just cross-over. They already are part of it IMO, and I think those who follow them into future albums will see it develop even more.

 

[FleischBrenner]

Am I the only one here who doesn't really like In Flames? I find it kind of strange that Opeth and In Flames get sort of lumped together, at least, people expect you to like In Flames if you like Opeth, I've found a lot. They're completely different, In Flames is just sort of power metal with growled vocals while Opeth is, well... Opeth, beyond description or categorization.