Review: In Flames “Foregone” [Nuclear Blast]

Here is an ambitious, dark and melodic album about death and the end of the world. This is an album that feels big, and sinister, and yet very energized, heavy and catchy, all at once.

This is established in the first two tracks, the poetically-titled “The Beginning of All Things That Will End”, a slow but peculiar acoustic guitar melody, and the much heavier “State of Slow Decay”. I love the contrast between the two, and the dark little melody of “Beginning. State of Slow Decay” is pretty good too, with its mercilessly heavy riff, its urgent feel and mix of melodic and sinister riffs. It’s also a good showcase of Anders Fridén’s vocals, with ferocious screams, occasional lower growls and energized singing that doesn’t make the song lose any heaviness. “Meet Your Maker” has a more melodic, even catchy chorus, but there is the same sense of desperate urgency in the face of the apocalypse, or at least, of great torment. The raspy growls and fast solo prove that too. “Bleeding Out” uses even more catchy clean singing, creating an awesome contrast with the even more ferocious growls. “Pure Light of Mind” is one of the best written melodic tracks, with a catchy, big, almost majestic main riff, and its chorus that mixes powerful and desperate singing with loud screams.

It is followed by one of the heavier tracks: “The Great Deceiver” and its fast, fierce, relentless riff and vicious growls. That one’s so fast it’s almost thrash metal. “A Dialogue in B Flat Minor” is another fast, sort of thrashy song, introduced with an angry scream, followed some time later by a powerful chorus about “a ghost in my head I fight every day”. “In The Dark” also has vicious growled vocals, and feels big and menacing. “This is the war, no one will win it”, the chorus repeats, and yes, this song feels as dangerous as it should, even with its catchy “Countless voices in the dark” part. “Cynosure” is also a nice and heavy track, with a sort of groove metal feel. Its chorus is unfortunately not as catchy as the others, making it one of the weaker tracks on the album.

However, the title tracks (that’s right, “Foregone part 1” and 2!) are halfway between the heavier songs and the softer ones. The first one is super-fast and heavy, a really kick-ass track. It also has some interesting guitar work in the middle. The second one is built on contrasts as well, beginning with melancholic singing and adding heavy riffs and growls around the middle, though most of the verses are sung. They are some of the most interesting tracks of the album, and I guess, its most important, along with the first two, and the last one, appropriately titled “End of the Transmission”. It’s on the heavier side, with much lower, evil-sounding growls, one of the most impressive vocal performances on the whole album and another quotable chorus of “Choose your side: hell is too crowded and heaven’s full of sinners”. It’s a very memorable note to end the album on.

Here was a rather enjoyable album. It was full of energy, with a tasty mixture of heaviness and melody, and with interesting references to death and the apocalypse. I like how I ended up quoting many of the lyrics. Maybe it’s not the best or most interesting melodic death/thrash metal album about death and the end of times, and it has some weaker moments, but it still stands out by being really good. It’s a definitely good album, that will put you in a good mood.