The Halo Effect - New Album 2023/2024
- Thread starter DE4life
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I try not to treat IF and THE like they're in competition. I think the world is richer for having both of them actively recording and touring, and I hope they continue to do so for many years to come, but I understand why their output is compared by those of us who're interested in their legacy and future.
March of the Unheard has the advantage of no overproduced, autotuned pop-metal choruses. It has a very capable clean vocalist who utilises his natural abilities well, so it never hits the lows of the worst moments on Foregone. I'd say no track on MotU is below a 7/10, whereas Foregone has a few songs at 5 or less (Bleeding Out, Dialogue and Become One).
That said, I think the best tracks on MotU are about even with the best tracks on Foregone. I think The Beginning..., Foregone I & II, The Great Deceiver and especially In The Dark can hang with Our Channel to the Darkness, March of the Unheard, A Death that Becomes Us and The Burning Point, while State of Slow Decay and End the Transmission are on a par with most of the rest. I know that Jesper is seen as the 'cooler' of the two, he's been on top form in THE and he doesn't have Siren Charms or Battles on his resumé, but I think Björn created some great melodic hooks with that signature IF sound on Foregone. I also think the harsh vocals on Foregone are better than those on MotU. I really don't mean that as an insult to Mikael, I'm glad he's part of THE, but Anders at his growly best is on another level.
I'm glad I'm able to enjoy both.
March of the Unheard has the advantage of no overproduced, autotuned pop-metal choruses. It has a very capable clean vocalist who utilises his natural abilities well, so it never hits the lows of the worst moments on Foregone. I'd say no track on MotU is below a 7/10, whereas Foregone has a few songs at 5 or less (Bleeding Out, Dialogue and Become One).
That said, I think the best tracks on MotU are about even with the best tracks on Foregone. I think The Beginning..., Foregone I & II, The Great Deceiver and especially In The Dark can hang with Our Channel to the Darkness, March of the Unheard, A Death that Becomes Us and The Burning Point, while State of Slow Decay and End the Transmission are on a par with most of the rest. I know that Jesper is seen as the 'cooler' of the two, he's been on top form in THE and he doesn't have Siren Charms or Battles on his resumé, but I think Björn created some great melodic hooks with that signature IF sound on Foregone. I also think the harsh vocals on Foregone are better than those on MotU. I really don't mean that as an insult to Mikael, I'm glad he's part of THE, but Anders at his growly best is on another level.
I'm glad I'm able to enjoy both.
Suprisingly great album, I'd say it beats their debut as well.
The only thing that comes to mind as annoyance is the guitar tone and how overproduced overall it is, I wish the guitars had some teeth to them.
The only thing that comes to mind as annoyance is the guitar tone and how overproduced overall it is, I wish the guitars had some teeth to them.
Quite a positive surprise, this one.
Didn't expect much, but this might be on level and in some elements better than the first one.
The only thing that bothers me is the guitar sound. Even when they have some Whoracle style stuff playing, it never really sounds agressive and epic.
Didn't expect much, but this might be on level and in some elements better than the first one.
The only thing that bothers me is the guitar sound. Even when they have some Whoracle style stuff playing, it never really sounds agressive and epic.
Blast_The_Virginborn
Member
The Burning Point. Those riffs slap so hard! What a BANGER!
Great, great album.. The more I listen to it, the more I like it!
Great, great album.. The more I listen to it, the more I like it!
I cannot think of a single situation in which Anders makes his vocals better than my cat when she's on heat, much less a single situation in which his vocals are better than any average metal singer.
The higher note that I can give to any song from Foregone is a 5 out of 10, and that in a day where I'm in a good mood and have taken my meditation. No. Really. Giving them a 3 out of ten is being extremely generous.
The higher note that I can give to any song from Foregone is a 5 out of 10, and that in a day where I'm in a good mood and have taken my meditation. No. Really. Giving them a 3 out of ten is being extremely generous.
And don't be fooled. They are not doing The Jester Race 2 because they can't. None of them were a main part in the writing of that album and they don't have the slightest clue on how to make that style of music. The best that Bjorn would be able to do is to copypaste riffs and then pretend that they are new.
That's 100% the case, unfortunately. Anders was never a part of the musical process during the peak years (or probably ever, in any significant way), so you can rule him out straight away. The new members have no history of making MDM, although I respect Tanner's Nightfiends work.
That just leaves Bjorn. We know he contributed to TJR and Whoracle to a degree, but the majority was written by Jesper and Glenn, so the chances of Bjorn on his own being able to authentically replicate that old school MDM sound is slim. Best he could do is something like SoSD where they are copying a band like ATG. I am unsure when it comes to Colony/Clayman sound. Bjorn was a bigger part of the creative process then, so is it possible for him to create something similar now? Maybe. But without Jesper there as a creative partner and guiding hand I don't think it would work.
I do think Bjorn could create something similar to STYE/CC/ASOP if he wanted to, and for sure he could create an album on the same level as SOAPF - as on that one he was, after all, the sole songwriter and it was only 13 years ago. It's clear he doesn't want to put that kind of effort into an album again, or he would have done it by now, but I have no doubt he could if he really wanted to and if Anders would let him. It would mean ditching Benson though, which seems unlikely.
THE is totally different. It's a bunch of guys who are all steeped in the traditions of the genre from the very beginnings - and, more importantly, who appreciate the genre and the audience who still loves that sound. Anders has always had barely hidden disdain for fans of the old material, despite his weak protests of "if yuh don't have dah jestah race you ain't da real fan of in fflames" - yeah, I guess that's why you barely played any songs from that album live for over a decade, bro.
Anyway, in both Jesper and Niclas you have two guys who wrote great MDM during the classic period (even though Niclas' stuff isn't as well known, Gardenian is great work). Daniel had the short-lived but awesome Sacrilege as his own project. Peter showed what he can bring to the table with his contribution to Gateways, and I'm sure he's been helpful elsewhere with composition and ideas. Stanne's credentials need no explanation.
We know Anders and Bjorn don't really appreciate classic MDM. At least, creatively, they don't care for it. Possibly because creating good MDM is beyond their abilities as a duo, so alt metal with MDM influence is the best they can do. If so, fine - better to know your limits and attempt to focus on what you're good at, as opposed to failing at recreating a sound because you're out of your depth, or releasing hollow echoes of a sound that either wasn't yours to begin with or that you've already done and are just mimicking in the hope people won't notice.
Foregone is the only album in the entire IF discography that I totally dropped after a few days and have never come back to it. I could not tell you what the majority of songs on the album sound like, because I don't remember. Even with SC and Battles I listened to them enough to recall what every song sounds like. It would take a lot for IF to totally push me away, but somehow they did it with Foregone. It just felt so fake and plastic to me that I couldn't stand it. I think the reason my reaction to Foregone was worse than Battles, which was also fake and plastic and gross, was that at least with Battles they were being upfront with what they were doing. The California pop-metal thing, they just went balls out with it and said this is us now. We suck but hey, here you go. I don't respect it but at the same time it was just a "lol OK then, get it out of your system lads and let's go again next time". Foregone feels different, more insidious in trying to fool people into believing the band care about "da rootz" and want to be an MDM band again. It's a sham, and to me that's even worse. Battles was laughable, but Foregone is insulting to me.
That just leaves Bjorn. We know he contributed to TJR and Whoracle to a degree, but the majority was written by Jesper and Glenn, so the chances of Bjorn on his own being able to authentically replicate that old school MDM sound is slim. Best he could do is something like SoSD where they are copying a band like ATG. I am unsure when it comes to Colony/Clayman sound. Bjorn was a bigger part of the creative process then, so is it possible for him to create something similar now? Maybe. But without Jesper there as a creative partner and guiding hand I don't think it would work.
I do think Bjorn could create something similar to STYE/CC/ASOP if he wanted to, and for sure he could create an album on the same level as SOAPF - as on that one he was, after all, the sole songwriter and it was only 13 years ago. It's clear he doesn't want to put that kind of effort into an album again, or he would have done it by now, but I have no doubt he could if he really wanted to and if Anders would let him. It would mean ditching Benson though, which seems unlikely.
THE is totally different. It's a bunch of guys who are all steeped in the traditions of the genre from the very beginnings - and, more importantly, who appreciate the genre and the audience who still loves that sound. Anders has always had barely hidden disdain for fans of the old material, despite his weak protests of "if yuh don't have dah jestah race you ain't da real fan of in fflames" - yeah, I guess that's why you barely played any songs from that album live for over a decade, bro.
Anyway, in both Jesper and Niclas you have two guys who wrote great MDM during the classic period (even though Niclas' stuff isn't as well known, Gardenian is great work). Daniel had the short-lived but awesome Sacrilege as his own project. Peter showed what he can bring to the table with his contribution to Gateways, and I'm sure he's been helpful elsewhere with composition and ideas. Stanne's credentials need no explanation.
We know Anders and Bjorn don't really appreciate classic MDM. At least, creatively, they don't care for it. Possibly because creating good MDM is beyond their abilities as a duo, so alt metal with MDM influence is the best they can do. If so, fine - better to know your limits and attempt to focus on what you're good at, as opposed to failing at recreating a sound because you're out of your depth, or releasing hollow echoes of a sound that either wasn't yours to begin with or that you've already done and are just mimicking in the hope people won't notice.
Foregone is the only album in the entire IF discography that I totally dropped after a few days and have never come back to it. I could not tell you what the majority of songs on the album sound like, because I don't remember. Even with SC and Battles I listened to them enough to recall what every song sounds like. It would take a lot for IF to totally push me away, but somehow they did it with Foregone. It just felt so fake and plastic to me that I couldn't stand it. I think the reason my reaction to Foregone was worse than Battles, which was also fake and plastic and gross, was that at least with Battles they were being upfront with what they were doing. The California pop-metal thing, they just went balls out with it and said this is us now. We suck but hey, here you go. I don't respect it but at the same time it was just a "lol OK then, get it out of your system lads and let's go again next time". Foregone feels different, more insidious in trying to fool people into believing the band care about "da rootz" and want to be an MDM band again. It's a sham, and to me that's even worse. Battles was laughable, but Foregone is insulting to me.
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I personaloly hate Battles and still, Forgone is the album that made me stop caring about the (current) band.
ThePhobiac
be at ease
Still need to check this out, but Forever Astray kicks serious tushy.
Conspire to Deceive is rising up the ranks for me. It's got a different vibe to the rest of the tracks, but in a good way.
The Grayfox
Nija
Conspire to Deceive is probably a top 3 track for me. Excellent opener too. I'm a big fan of that one, What We Become, The Burning Point and Our Channel to the Darkness. As a whole I think I may enjoy this album more than DotL. DotL has some great tracks obviously, but March feels very. very cohesive to me.
Funnily enough, I'm liking Forever Stray a lot. Having in mind that I'm not a fan of Stanne's cleans that is amazing. But the Death that Become Us is still on top.
Still, the one that has really grown into me is The Burning Point. Mostly due to the end of the song.
Now, what do those three songs have in common? They remind me a lot to the classic IF era (TBP could have easily been a part of the Colony album). The melodies and guitar work are really touching.
Now, even the tracks that I felt were just OK at the beginning are constantly growing. The level of detail in the guitar work, the almost hidden layers... With every listening I find some tune that I didn't notice before.
And, there is this thing... The first time that I've listened to cruel perception, I wasn't excited about it. And, I have come to the conclusion that it was a fault of the video. I definitely feel s different vibe when I listen to the song than when I first saw the videoclip.
Still, the one that has really grown into me is The Burning Point. Mostly due to the end of the song.
Now, what do those three songs have in common? They remind me a lot to the classic IF era (TBP could have easily been a part of the Colony album). The melodies and guitar work are really touching.
Now, even the tracks that I felt were just OK at the beginning are constantly growing. The level of detail in the guitar work, the almost hidden layers... With every listening I find some tune that I didn't notice before.
And, there is this thing... The first time that I've listened to cruel perception, I wasn't excited about it. And, I have come to the conclusion that it was a fault of the video. I definitely feel s different vibe when I listen to the song than when I first saw the videoclip.
Moonshield_
Member
Cronopio
Glorious Imperator
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