14 albums into their career and spanning 3 decades as a band, Sweden’s long-running metal veterans In Flames are one of the most influential and important bands to ever step foot in the Gothenburg sound.
Their history, reputation, and influence changed the melodic death metal scene forever with groundbreaking albums such as 1996’s sophomore release of “The Jester Race” and 1994’s debut of “Lunar Strain,” which are arguably considered landmarks for the Swedish extreme music scene.
Over the years, In Flames has gone through so many lineup changes as well as transitioning their sound during the early 2000s more notably with albums such as 2004’s “Soundtrack To Your Escape.” My introduction to In Flames all started with 2006’s “Come Clarity,” which was an album that became divided from both old school In Flames fans as well as the current. But as someone who’s been a fan since the Come Clarity album cycle, I have enjoyed seeing the band grow and experiment with different types of genres throughout their existence.
“Foregone” marks the first album since 2019’s “I, The Mask” and the first album to welcome Chris Broderick on guitars, marking this his debut album with In Flames.
Musically speaking, if you know In Flames, they’re known for playing a melodic, alternative, and metalcore style of metal in which their days playing melodic death metal during the earlier records are obsolete.
However, that shouldn’t change because “Foregone” brought back some of the melodic death metal soundscapes from the “Clayman” album, and this record reminded me of a mix of “Reroute To Remain” and “A Sense Of Purpose.”
What really impressed me with this album is that the members from In Flames really took their time to perfectly craft the best music possible, and they’ve successfully crafted the best album in the modern era of the band, likely since “Come Clarity.”
With hard-hitting tracks such as “Meet Your Maker,” “The Great Deceiver,” and my personal favorite track being “Foregone, Pt. 1,” this album does bring back the atmosphere and arrangements from “Sounds Of A Playground Fading” and added a modernized twist of songs ranging from unrelenting headbanging territories to adding a lot of groove-esque melodies while keeping the In Flames traditional sound alive and kicking.
When In Flames chose to take a more straightforward and matured approach in their sound, a lot of old school fans were left disappointed and stopped listening to them after “Clayman.” But for the first time since 2006’s “Come Clarity,” “Foregone” is by far In Flames’s most polished, progressive, and uncompromising album they’ve done in such a long time. Therefore, “Foregone” is somewhat a nice return to form that is infinitely better than the last four albums.
