IN FLAMES Foregone | Weekly Heavy Metal Album Review

Released by  Nuclear Blast Records on February 10th, 2023

Quick Background

In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquility, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. Their 90's albums are classic Melo Death must haves but their sixth studio album Reroute to Remain (2002) showed the band moving toward a newer style of music that moved further away from melodic death metal and closer to alternative metal. This decision was criticized by fans of the group's heavier metal sound; however, it increased the band's mainstream audience and bolstered their album sales. I came to know the band in the year 2000 with the release and tour of Clayman, I love that album. I did lost touch with them until the release of Sounds of a Playground Fading (2011) which I surprisingly like quite a lot. But the 3 albums after that were really not for me, so I have been waiting for 12 years for an In Flames album that I actually like. 

Foregone

Foregone is their fourteenth studio album. It is the first album by the band to feature guitarist Chris Broderick and the first to entirely feature drums performed by Tanner Wayne. It features 12 songs in 47 minutes including "The Beginning Of All Things", a  2-min intro with acoustic guitars and symphonic arrangements. The album marks a return to their classic 90's elements without loosing their more recent influences. As a result many songs are quite heavy and mostly with death growls while others have a mix of growls and clean vocals. The focus on melody is a continuous stable in their sound. 

Following the intro the album kicks off with the high-energy track "State of Slow Decay" which is old school In Flames, I really enjoy this track. Fast paced guitar riffs, aggressive singing, relentless drumming, and melodic guitar solos. It's a perfect opener that demonstrates In Flames' ability to write memorable hooks while still maintaining their heaviness. Another standout tracks on the album is

"Meet Your Maker" which is also a heavy track with a lot of groove and a catchy chorus. "Foregone Pt. 1" is so Colony, I love it and Pt 2 is still OK but it's a much mellower song. Still, the guitar work and that heavy pre-chorus makes it an interesting song, it reminds me of Sounds of Playground Fading era. 

Throughout the album, the band seamlessly blends their heavier roots with the melodic sensibility of the 2000's. "Bleeding Out" is a clear example of that, it features heavy and engaging guitar riffs and a very cool guitar solo, kind of Malmsteen at half speed. On the other hand, the verse and chorus go much more into their softer melodic side of the last few albums. It sounds to me like Bullet For My Valentine. But this time it works for me as a whole experience. Then at track number 7 we hit the sort of ballad "Pure Light Of Mind" and I must say it's not too bad, I mean by the time we get here I am super invested in the album and while I will never love the song I think it bridges well into the single "The Great Deceiver" which is again a punch in the face and back to 90's In Flames! "End The Transmission" closes the album in a high note, a heavy mid tempo song that balances early sound with the direction of latest albums. So it's a good summary of this album and good way to close it. 

In Flames' musicianship is top-notch throughout Foregone specially when it comes to the guitar work. The melodic and short guitar solos are memorable and Chris Broderick contribution is a big plus for the band. In addition there are some harmonized guitars and tons of cool chugging heavy riffs. The keyboards are on the background only and the rhythmic section does a good job holding the album together. I also really like Anders Fridén harsh vocal delivery and there's a lot of it on this album. The clean vocals though are weird. I'm not sure what it is, but it sounds overproduced almost artificial at times.

The Picky Guy

I do struggle with albums with more than ten songs, and it's no different here. All in all, the last one third of the album is not so strong. "In The Dark" is a mid-tempo groovy and heavy song but I am on the fence on this one. The same for "A Dialogue In B Flat Minor". Both feel like they were trying too hard to build a catchy chorus but it didn't work. With that said parts of these songs are still quite OK. Then "Cynosure" doesn't help to bring me back into the album.  And that's my main problem with this album, but I am sure many old time fans won't like this album very much because it is still modern In Flames with lots of melody and clean singing. While that side of the album is not my favorite, at least this time around it is quite OK.  

Wrap Up Opinion 

Overall Foregone is the best In Flames album in many years, and while some songs really bring me back to their 90's sound, the band has maintained their later alt-rock influences very much alive, I just think the song writing and the balance is much better than in previous albums. At the end of the day, it may just be that I wanted to like a new album from them so much that I'm glancing over their over produced vocals and sounding like Bullet From My Valentine at times. With that said, I'm enjoying it and it's a very good effort deserving 82/100. 

SCORE: 82/100

Genre: Alterative Metal

Released by  Nuclear Blast Records on February 10th, 2023

Rating System

99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

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