Stop bitching the New In flames !
- Thread starter Fratt
- Start date
As this review says (I post it because I agree with it)
"If you're one of those who also took this journey, then it's no use reminding the leads and catchy melodies are all but afterthoughts, replaced by waves upon waves of unremarkable riffs, soloing that feels more like a contractual obligation than a form of expression, and, to my perpetual chagrin, navel-gazing lyricism ranging from cringe worthy to awkward. "Battles" is filled with words trying their damnedest to just be there because they need to (since an entirely hummed album would seem too experimental, I guess), hardly conjuring up any images or feelings at all, instead - much like the rhythm guitars and drums - existing inside a factory-esque void of generic self-loathing aimed at... whom? Scene kids still gobble up stuff such as "I can't wait to hear your voice again\I am far from lonely but without you I'm a mess"? In the future of In Flames' catalogue, there will never again be anything like the expressionistic, eye-catching verve of "Artifacts of the Black Rain", the implied horrors of abuse of "Dead God in Me" or even the halfway clever wordplay of "In Search for I". Now, there is "You killed the part of me that kept us alive", so get used to it.
On a general note, the entire thing consists of an overlong series of heavy rock songs laced with forgettable keyboards, with the only elements distinguishing it from a run of the mill alternative or groove album being the eventual throwaway guitar harmonies, an overall lack of a self-conscious swagger that would maybe paint it with a comical tinge akin to Adrenaline Mob, and the breathy vocal performance from Anders Friden, who, despite having stepped beyond his early disastrous attempts at clean singing, is still annoying in his nasal inflection, which displays a squeaky, desperate character to it that is less akin to his better adapted contemporaries like Stanne or Strid, and more to a deeper take on Jared Leto."
"If you're one of those who also took this journey, then it's no use reminding the leads and catchy melodies are all but afterthoughts, replaced by waves upon waves of unremarkable riffs, soloing that feels more like a contractual obligation than a form of expression, and, to my perpetual chagrin, navel-gazing lyricism ranging from cringe worthy to awkward. "Battles" is filled with words trying their damnedest to just be there because they need to (since an entirely hummed album would seem too experimental, I guess), hardly conjuring up any images or feelings at all, instead - much like the rhythm guitars and drums - existing inside a factory-esque void of generic self-loathing aimed at... whom? Scene kids still gobble up stuff such as "I can't wait to hear your voice again\I am far from lonely but without you I'm a mess"? In the future of In Flames' catalogue, there will never again be anything like the expressionistic, eye-catching verve of "Artifacts of the Black Rain", the implied horrors of abuse of "Dead God in Me" or even the halfway clever wordplay of "In Search for I". Now, there is "You killed the part of me that kept us alive", so get used to it.
On a general note, the entire thing consists of an overlong series of heavy rock songs laced with forgettable keyboards, with the only elements distinguishing it from a run of the mill alternative or groove album being the eventual throwaway guitar harmonies, an overall lack of a self-conscious swagger that would maybe paint it with a comical tinge akin to Adrenaline Mob, and the breathy vocal performance from Anders Friden, who, despite having stepped beyond his early disastrous attempts at clean singing, is still annoying in his nasal inflection, which displays a squeaky, desperate character to it that is less akin to his better adapted contemporaries like Stanne or Strid, and more to a deeper take on Jared Leto."
That's the main reason to why I don't like the song.Clever wordplay of In Search for I
BUT I AM READY TO GIVE YOU THE M
IT MIGHT EVEN BE THE E
AS I BEGIN TO SEARCH FOR I
THE I IS LOST IN ME
Genius.
Clay-Man
Anders pre-2003
- May 18, 2008
- 1,099
- 53
- 48
Clever wordplay of In Search for I
BUT I AM READY TO GIVE YOU THE M
IT MIGHT EVEN BE THE E
AS I BEGIN TO SEARCH FOR I
THE I IS LOST IN ME
Genius.
It's a good song. Better than gay furry shit like "LINKED HIS FUR TO THE GYROSCOPE OF TIME" "NEO WOLF AGE" or "PENETRATONAUT IN COSMOLOGY OF LUST"
The older lyrics are a bit strange and yeah there's definitely a case of trying to fit in too many words. Sometimes Anders just completely ignores words that are in the booklet 
TJR lyrics make more sense than Whoracle when I read them. Colony and Clayman are probably the peak of the band's lyrics for me. Reroute is watered down but OK, STYE is great if you're 12, Come Clarity decent enough, ASOP an absolute fucking disaster, SOAPF again not so bad, SC and Battles mostly bad.
TJR lyrics make more sense than Whoracle when I read them. Colony and Clayman are probably the peak of the band's lyrics for me. Reroute is watered down but OK, STYE is great if you're 12, Come Clarity decent enough, ASOP an absolute fucking disaster, SOAPF again not so bad, SC and Battles mostly bad.
Clay-Man
Anders pre-2003
- May 18, 2008
- 1,099
- 53
- 48
I was kind of joking with my post, they're not bad at all, but I agree that Niclas kind of tried to make it too abstract and overdone, sometimes nonsensical. Whoracle was a bit obnoxious in that regards.
King of agreed. TJR had purpose, Whoracle became more pointless sounding, almost pretentious.
Colony was more straight forward but thought provoking.
Clayman was the start of the personal lyrics, and I think Clayman and Reroute are the best display of the nature of those lyrics, though Reroute was more inclined to apply to people in general than just Anders himself. I actually thought Reroute had some of the most strong lyrics in those topics.
STYE had a decline in a lot of songs, while some songs stand out well, F(r)iend, My sweet shadow, Evil in a closet.
Come Clarity had more deeper lyrical content. Vacuum has to be one of my favorite songs due a lot because of the lyrics. Dead End is another stellar song.
ASOP, I hated for a long time, but I think I've finally kind of appreciate some of the work. It has some pretty bland lyrics though.
SOAPF was great. Not as provoking as Come Clarity, but it's very solid and engages you in the music very well.
Last 2 albums, not really sure what to say because I barely spin them.
The older lyrics are a bit strange and yeah there's definitely a case of trying to fit in too many words. Sometimes Anders just completely ignores words that are in the booklet
TJR lyrics make more sense than Whoracle when I read them. Colony and Clayman are probably the peak of the band's lyrics for me. Reroute is watered down but OK, STYE is great if you're 12, Come Clarity decent enough, ASOP an absolute fucking disaster, SOAPF again not so bad, SC and Battles mostly bad.
King of agreed. TJR had purpose, Whoracle became more pointless sounding, almost pretentious.
Colony was more straight forward but thought provoking.
Clayman was the start of the personal lyrics, and I think Clayman and Reroute are the best display of the nature of those lyrics, though Reroute was more inclined to apply to people in general than just Anders himself. I actually thought Reroute had some of the most strong lyrics in those topics.
STYE had a decline in a lot of songs, while some songs stand out well, F(r)iend, My sweet shadow, Evil in a closet.
Come Clarity had more deeper lyrical content. Vacuum has to be one of my favorite songs due a lot because of the lyrics. Dead End is another stellar song.
ASOP, I hated for a long time, but I think I've finally kind of appreciate some of the work. It has some pretty bland lyrics though.
SOAPF was great. Not as provoking as Come Clarity, but it's very solid and engages you in the music very well.
Last 2 albums, not really sure what to say because I barely spin them.
My understanding is that for TJR and Whoracle Anders gave Sundin general themes and Sundin wrote practically all the lyrics. Anders wrote most of Colony with some translation help from Sundin and from Clayman it was all Anders.
Sundin has form for pretentious lyrics. I love Skydancer but those lyrics are ridiculous
Sundin has form for pretentious lyrics. I love Skydancer but those lyrics are ridiculous
If I remember right, during r2r or stys days anders said in some interview that he usually wrote his lyrics in Swedish and then have it translated by another guy. But I might be wrong.
As for tjr and whoracle, I have to watch (is it correct, to watch?) the booklet.
As for tjr and whoracle, I have to watch (is it correct, to watch?) the booklet.
Krofius would be the man to ask. I think I remember a couple of songs off Whoracle were Anders lyrics (episode 666 possibly?) but I think Colony was the first album where it was solely Anders lyrics. There's a clear change in lyrical style from Whoracle to Colony for sure.
