Reason for optimism?

http://www.metalinjection.net/av/in-fla ... irly-heavy

The fact they're touring with Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed eradicates what little optimism I have. Likewise with the fact it apparently sounds like something off of Come Clarity, which was not a good release by any means.

In Flames will remain In Flames.

Indeed. It sounds like the Soundtrack to Your Escape / Come Clarity era. That was not a good era. I'd say it was their worst until Siren Charms.

If this is their attempt to "stop sucking" then they should have backtracked to A Sense of Purpose and stopped there. The only modern In Flames album that's worth a damn.

Yeah, also similar to Clayman too. Nothing like TJR or Whoracle but it's ok...seems like they're going in the right direction, but the vocals...

Never thought I'd see the day that we would welcome a return to the Come Clarity sound

You must be kidding. Lol. That was dreadful.

They'll never produce decent pop music with melodic guitars ever, ever again (Whoracle-Clayman).

Come Clarity was the best of their modern albums, and sure enough that actually sounded quarter-decent until Anders came in, who sounds as awful as ever.

And the bands they're touring with made me think they would suck more.

It's 2006 all over again. It's definitely reminds me of Come Clarity, which was the last IF album I listened to when I still considered myself a big fan of them.

In Flames have been teasing for decades that they're going to do something interesting with melodies, yet time and time again it turns out the be an ever-worsening version of power chord chugging with croaking and whelping over it. Over a decade of hopeful wishing that they'd stop devolving into a dumbed down, declawed shadow of their former self, it's a little hard to be optimistic. At least there's no synthesizers or lyrics about Microsoft Word in this snippet.

This is just the band quickly going back to their Come Clarity / A Sense of Purpose sound because their last album was so poorly received and caused them to be dropped by Epic Records. In fact, it may have been part of the deal Nuclear Blast made with them. Either way, it's funny how in all their interviews when the last album came out, they stood their ground and claimed they didn't care if people didn't like it. Then how come they're already going back to their previous sound?

This preview is no better than any of their post-Clayman stuff. Even if the guitar leads occasionally have some nice moments, the vocals always ruin it. So does the dumb chugga-chugga moments. I'm sure their nu fans will eat it up, but I'm done with these guys. There are better bands out there to pay attention to, and if I want to listen to In Flames I'll listen to the 90s stuff.

I'm a bit out of the loop, have they announced a replacement or session drummer? who plays on that song?



lol. where was that?

Come Clarity is infinitely preferable to those last two pieces of shit they put out, but the second clip of new music in that video was absolute fucking garbage (after the static; the first bit was actually not that bad).

Even when they're actively trying to not suck they still suck.

I thought for a second they had disbanded. It's false advertisement.

If its something similar(in quality and style) to Come Clarity I would be a happy boy. This album blends different eras of the band. I think it was a great album(I know some people will kill me).

Lets listen to the samples!

I didn't mind anything up to the newest album... I couldn't listen to that at all. But I'm not saying any of it was technically 'good' and the whole 'A Sense of Purpose' and 'Sounds of a Playground Dying' era was technically garbage, but those albums were also guilty pleasures of mine and I really wanted to support a band that I once loved (even though they were barely a shadow of their former selves). Come Clarity was WAY better then A Soundtrack to Your Escape... I don't know, I'll give it a listen if they are at least moving away from that newer stuff.

"Borders and Shading" on STYE. Google it and the Microsoft Word menu is the first thing that comes up. The song isn't *actually* about Microsoft Word, just the title.

He's the Chris Barnes of Melodic Death Metal

In Flames haven't been good since Whoracle and even that was just ok

Come on now, Colony kicked ass.

It sounds like Colony but worse... Those clean parts are awful

Would be a first in their career.

Well, yeah, ok, the first part reminded me somewhat of Clayman (the album, not the song) 'til the vocals came on. At that point I basically became too uninterested to pay attention. But that was still lightyears better than their P.O.D. moment a while later... If my ears could puke, they would...

I'm apparently among a chosen few who think In Flames has sucked since day one. Nothing but the scraps of Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates followed by their fall into unfriendly waters that alienated their fan base. They're like the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise at this point: they build up hype when they manage to stop sucking as much, but still suck an astronomical amount on every level regardless. Grass might as well be the sky when your usual quality outputs are next to dinosaur bones.

There's a little known secret that I might as well let you all know: In Flames disbanded right after the Clayman tour and they haven't released a single album ever since. That was a good band. All of their output was good. Sad thing they disbanded and NEVER, ever released anything else past Clayman.

I don't know. The first sample sounded pretty damn good, and more interesting that anything off of their last three albums, but the second sample sounds like it could be a part of a very bad song. The last album I really loved was "Reroute to Remain", but even if they managed to climb back up to the level of "Soundtrack...." or "Come Clarity", that would be a welcome rise in quality. We'll see, I guess.

hah. thanks. I wouldn't have put it past him to write a song about MW, tho

That's about right. Not sure why people still even think about them or attempt to listen to any of their music. Friden alone is just a nightmare as a vocalist. Doesn't have a good voice. Doesn't use it well. Picks the worst possible vocal 'styles' to attempt to use. Friden is like, "What not to do as a vocalist, 101". Nevermind the music.

Now Soilwork is the better example of how to try to keep a foot in the mainstream and one in metal. Straightforward, energetic, simple, professionally produced, and a vocalist who can at the very least fake some talent and hooky vocal lines in the studio, if not live.

Can't help but feel like In Flames are the Nickelback of accessible "melodeath"-cum-metalcore/alt. rock. They make a living, and apparently have millions of fans.. but where are they? WHO are they? Are they new teens? Are they nostalgia-blinded grown-ups? (tbh, the latter is my relationship with Soilwork, hehe.)

[ed]Te respond to the OP; they'd have to go back at LEAST as far as Clayman to be "not sucking". Not saying a band automatically sucks if they play a more mainstream style at odds with their career beginnings, but cummon, everything after Clayman is unmitigated garbage. At least a band like Soilwork stayed infectiously catchy for as long as they've been 'sold out'.

Huh? Chris Barnes was great once so the comparison doesn't apply. Anders Friden hasn't made a tolerable sound in his lifetime. If the guy had made a big contribution to some classic albums, yeah, but he never did anything even half-decent.

Besides, even musically, poorly covering an AC/DC album has more quality to it than anything In Flames have ever "composed".

Preach it. What a trash band this is. Whoracle was an awful album and I tried to listen to some of the ones after that, which were so bad that I never made it past one song. I just don't get it and I guess I never will. So fucking bad.

can't hear you. moonshield's playing, and it's LOUD!

You tried listening to The Jester Race Emp? It's pretty much the only In Flames album that stood the test of time.

He reviewed it.
http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/I ... real/88990

I have to give credit to In Flames, because even though like basically everyone else I haven't liked anything they've done since "Clayman" (and even that one is iffy for me), I still find myself interested in what the band will do next...I guess more out of morbid curiosity than anything. I do find it interesting that it appears they've retreated to the more "metalcore" sound they were doing a few years back, most likely because very few people had any interest in the Shinedown album they released in 2014, which turned away even their "In Flames We Trust" fanboys.



It's really a "you had to be there" moment, I guess. They were the first death metal band I ever heard, and "Colony" the very first metal at all CD which I bought, so naturally I have a lot of nostalgia for them as the band that introduced me into this music. I can see how people who probably were never into the band before can listen to them later on, and not understand the appeal at all, but I really have a "special moment" with their music, it means a lot to me, it's not like I'm "blinded by nostalgia" though, either. Listening back today, the riffs & melodies are not only incredible but also extremely catchy, and while it's true that Anders was never a good vocalist to begin with (I wouldn't say he was necessarily bad though, more like average), there's a certain charm, spirit, & overall sense of excitement to his voice during those early years that really appeals to me, similar to Johan Edlund during his death metal years, I think.

I think for me, part of the appeal is a mixture of how catchy and fun it sounds, while at the same time being very serious and "epic" in nature as well. But I have to admit they are a bit of a "guilty pleasure", because while I recognize the people who criticize them and for the most part, can sympathize with what they say, I can't make myself give a fuck - I don't care what anyone else says, they are/were truly an amazing band for me.

It's one thing for a band to overhaul their sound and identity to appeal to a mainstream audience and reach for such exposure. It's exponentially worse when a band repeatedly tries and fails to do so. There's nothing left for In Flames but continued stagnation. They'll never make that crossover and there's no going back.

That sample sounds better than what they've been doing lately, but we'll see.

I've never understood the hate that 'Colony' gets around here. That's a great, fun, catchy album, probably the best they ever did. I've always liked 'Whoracle' too. Really, everything up to and including 'Clayman' is A-ok in my book.

Eh, wasn't a big fan. It's better than their later stuff but I think it's still pretty boring, tame and devoid of the atmosphere it seems to be trying to create.



I suppose it is. I'm a big Iron Maiden fan and I love trad and power metal, so I never really much cared for any melodeath that sounded like that but with shorter songs and bad harsh vocals. I was just weaned on different metal.

I can't listen to The Jester Race because their band logo looks like a teenager practicing karate.

Jester Race is definitely my favorite album of theirs. I listened to it for a few weeks straight when I first got it. Minus Heartwork, this was my first true exposure to the concept of death style vocals over traditional sounding guitars and drums and it blew my mind. I quickly went out and got Whoracle and Colony and liked each of those, albeit less than Jester Race. The former had a weird production and the latter lacked enough good songs. I got Clayman when it was released and I remember being let down a little on that one. I have not listened to that in 10 years so it is definitely time for reevaluation. I hated Reroute to Remain. Bought it and traded it in the next day. I haven't bought or listened to any In Flames since, minus seeing a video from Soundtrack to Your Escape that is on one of these Monsters of Metal DVD's that I have. (Nuclear Blast made those a while back and they are pretty cool.)

I owe In Flames for at least somewhat getting my wife into extreme metal (Well, at least to be able to let me listen to it around her). When we first met she could not stand death/black vocals. But, the tracks "Moonshield" and "Ordinary Story" won her over with their catchy but also very substantial melodies. Next came Emperor and Dimmu Borgir and I kept on incrementing from there. I only got so far though as Paysage D'Hiver is probably never going to happen.

That's because they think Clayman is only for the weak.

EDIT: I know I misread, but I just had to say it.

I see what you did there.

And "Embody the Invisible" is one of the best album openers ever.