I do think Mikael is the weakest link here. I don't mean it as an insult. I think he is spread too thin and he's kind of phoning it in. When you're singing in 150 bands at the same time, many of which are recording albums, it's understandable.
Also, I like the real Cruel Perception much more.
I think I somewhat disagree with the phoning it in part, but just in terms of his actual vocal performance. It’s clear that he cares about that a lot and has striven to make his growls better than they were even though there wasn’t an outright need for that like Anders after SC and Battles. However, I think in terms of structure and how he goes about making vocal melodies, he does follow too straightforward of a path in just about every song— To the point where simply adding an growled end line in Forever Astray’s(?) clean chorus was a pleasant surprise. I will agree with you in that respect, as I think he doesn’t challenge himself enough with THE compared to how Cemetery Skyline or Endtime Signals inherently did.
I think the instrumentals fall into the same exact pitfall though, and it feels weird to not acknowledge that or to say that that’s fine— I don’t say that to say that you guys are wrong about liking what you like, I’m glad it does more for you than it does for me, but I find that the IF guys have rarely challenged themselves on THE the way that their prior bands have. 2000s melodeath was already safer than 90s melodeath, but they’re doing it in a style that is far more focused on straightforward, accessible melody than either heaviness, technicality, or progressivism. I don’t think that’s inherently awful, and Days of the Lost is a fantastic album in spite of that, but it was fresh as the debut effort, and it had tracks like Conditional and Gateways to provide a bit of variety, even if most of the songs were unfortunately stuck being 100 BPM and 4/4. I will give them their due credit though, Detonate was around 110 BPM, March was around 140, and Cruel Perception (Don’t know if that’s Forever Astray or the real Cruel Perception) is apparently 195. They made songs that aren’t just 100 BPM, instead all being and feeling rather different, solving my biggest issue with DotL. I respect that a lot.
I remember seeing quite a few (but not a majority of people) at the time disliking Karma not for the instrumentals, which were beloved for feeling like classic In Flames, but for it not having harsh vocals/not being melodic death metal. I can’t help but feel in retrospect like having to write for a melodic metal band actually challenged Jesper more than what March of the Unheard may have demanded. Couple that with Daniel’s performances not being as standout as he was in IF or Sacrilege and with Peter taking more of a backseat role here, and I just don’t feel that the talent is showcased entirely well on the instrumental side either— And this is an issue I also take with DotL, even as an album I love. Maybe this is something I should have felt and brought up then, but I was just happy in the moment seeing all these guys come back together since I never thought it’d happen, and in fairness, I was enjoying the music a lot more than I am with March’s singles.
It’s just a bit more difficult to excuse with March of the Unheard since it is the follow-up material, since it isn’t as new and fresh as first hearing Shadowminds was. I do believe that if March came first and DotL came second, I’d feel the same sort of way about DotL not being the shakeup I wanted, but I do think it’d be a small step up in quality for me. I haven’t listened to Detonate since it came out. It’s a fine song, but that’s it. I can’t say that for any of the singles from DotL. I’ve only listened to March’s title track a couple times since, but that is more than Detonate.
Stanne's general vocal patterns and lyrics have been pretty consistent for a long time now, going back before THE even existed. I don't feel like that really changed on DotL, it's just the first time in a very long time that his vocals were put to a more classic Swedish MDM sound as opposed to DT's style. Also the way they were produced sounded really good (and imo continues to do so). Exception is the cleans which to me don't sound as good as on DT stuff. Still quite good but something a little bit off - might be the mixing/production again.
Honestly, all four tracks so far feel like they have different treatment on Mikael’s vocals. Detonate doesn’t sound nearly as I guess developed as Cruel Perception for him in both layering and production in general. Forever Astray (Which you can still listen to through the iTunes preview btw) is notably lacking in harmonies for his clean vocals as well. March is about what you’d expect, but I find that he genuinely sounds just a step above on Cruel Perception, and I don’t think that’s a simple “well he just put in more effort” sort of thing. There weren’t too many instances of that being the case on DotL, with A Truth Worth Lying For’s inconsistent chorus volumes and In Broken Trust’s muted harmonies being the only things that come to mind for me. All of the harsh vocals were pretty much consistent, and that doesn’t feel like the case here. It’s fascinating, if nothing else.
mostly, my opinion is the dame as with the no single track. I still feel that Mikael is the weakest point in the songs. His vocals are great. But he feels uninspired. DOTL was a bit of fresh air for someone like me who has never been into his vocal melodies. Now, I'm just listening to his average work that is really good while I considere DOTL to he excellent. But, that's just my opinion.
