Album review: In Flames – Foregone

By DAN SOUTHALL

PERSONALLY I gave up on In Flames’ recorded output a long time ago.  It just stopped being the kind of thing I found enjoyable and then album by album got worse.  What made me check this out then? Well the editor did … sort of.  In truth the rumours began swirling that this album was going to be a step back towards the darkness the band were originally rooted in and with new guitarist Chris Broderick (ex-Megadeth) in tow it felt like something to which I needed to listen.

From the off the album starts with theatrical acoustic “The Beginning Of All Things”, not necessarily a good start when my ears were ready to be sceptical and I had to built myself up for another 45 minutes wasted listening to something that barely registered on the scale of fucks I can give. This opinion changes quickly as “State Of Slow Decay” comes barrelling out and slaps some quick sense into me.  Gone are the mellow stylings, replaced with vocalist Anders Friden in full death voice.

This heavy attitude continues through “Meet Your Maker” despite its glossy chorus that smacks of absolutely any current modern metalcore band with tuned vocals and electronica floating needlessly through the aggression that the rest of the track lays down, with dualling solos helping to keep things interesting.  Here the band take another dip into more modern metalcore territory with “Bleeding Out”, a number that is the first odd fit on the sound the band have built for this album. Far from the awful attempts at music In Flames has made for the last 20 years, it is still far more generic than what has already been put on display.

The title track is split into two tracks to help cross the many genres In Flames’ output has covered.  “Part 1” stomps along much in the vein of the thrashy melodeath of their early output, and reminded me more of Peter Dolving-era The Haunted than it did of In Flames. “Part Two” plays more with the melodic side of the band, flying closely to power ballad territory more than once. The less said about its follow up the better: have we hit the mid album sag?

Thankfully from here they actually dig in harder on what originally made them stand out from a crowd, an ability to play melodeath with a spin that made them leaders a long time ago. An ebb and flow with quiet moments allowed to stand out amongst the cacophony, and Anders Friden in full voice.  All of this lends me to think that perhaps the last half of this album is the heaviest, a reward for those of us that have doubted the band for so long. From the almost cocksure groove of “A Dialogue In B Flat Minor” or the chaos of “The Great Deceiver”, In Flames have made an album to both endure and enjoy, depending on your perspective of their recorded output.  

Foregone is far from perfect, and in typical In Flames style doesn’t pay lip service to anyone in particular except for themselves, but the addition of another thrash loving guitarist certainly has added a certain something that plenty of people will hope this band continues to explore.

Get Foregone on Amazon HERE

Get Foregone on Apple HERE