Interview by Kris Peters
Swedish purveyors of metal In Flames are counting down to the release of their new album Foregone on February 10. It is an album that the band themselves promise to be heavy and aggressive and one which will nestle comfortably amongst a back catalogue featuring 13 other releases.
Known for their musical diversity while remaining true to their death metal roots, In Flames continue to create music by their own parameters and constraints, a recurring theme given more credence on Foregone.
This is the second album for new bass player Bryce Paul and drummer Tanner Wayne, both of which, as guitarist Bjorn Gelotte explains in the interview, have settled in more comfortably to their roles.
In Flames are also readying themselves for a visit to Australia in March as part of Knotfest Australia, which sees Gelotte in a chirpy mood when we spoke with him earlier this week.
"It feels really, really good," he enthused when asked how he is feeling about the imminent release of Foregone. "It is an album we didn't plan on making. We were still touring on I, The Mask so it was just a happy little bonus that we... I wouldn't say happy because the whole pandemic thing happened, but throughout that I felt absolutely useless and this is the light at the end of the tunnel making this record. If there was anything positive coming out of it from our part it's this album."
As mentioned In Flames are renowned for their musical diversity between albums, with Gelotte admitting as much when pressed on the direction of Foregone.
"I think we have, over the years, found our way of writing," he measured, "and our sources of inspiration have been pretty much the same. It's what we listened to growing up and what we learned throughout the years making all these albums and playing all these shows. We're pretty confident when it comes to writing. What we did want to do this time was expand the sound a bit and make it sound a bit more metal than we have the last couple of efforts. We've been super proud of every one - I especially love how I, The Mask sounds. I'm a guitar player, so for me it's fantastic o hear all the detail in the guitar playing (laughs), but it's leaning a little more to the rock sound so this time around we wanted to have it more metal. Maybe a bit more death metal in a way, and I think it sheds a new light on the riffing and the melodies. I think it suits the songs extremely well and it turned out to be a massive album and we love it."
In the full interview Bjorn discusses the album in greater detail, the singles released and how they represent the overall sound, writing and releasing the title track in two parts, the new members and how they are settling in, musical experimentation and where to draw the line, his writing relationship with Anders, how the sonic direction of each album is measured, touring plans and more.