Taipei Metal

In Flames: The Fire Still Burns

Sometimes, bands don’t know when it’s time to bow out gracefully. Well past their prime, they knock out a few more albums of mediocre material before leaving the game not by choice, but by necessity, and in a state of semi-disgrace; their hard-earned legacy, what’s left of it, tarnished by a smattering of ill-conceived material written in the band’s waning days. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. One gets the sense when talking to In Flames front man Anders Friden that his band, one of the forerunners of the melodic death metal Gothenburg sound, won’t let such a scenario befall them. Though they may not know exactly how long they have left, the continually evolving quintet will definitely know when it’s time to go, and if they continue on their present course, their legacy will be nothing less than sterling. In January, Friden spoke to Fight about In Flames’ recent recognition, their inspiration past and present, the ongoing battle of their friend and recently departed band mate Jesper Stromblad against alcohol addiction, and their plans for the future. (Editor’s Note: As of the time of this interview, Stromblad had not yet announced that he was leaving the band)

Fight: What does it mean to you as a band to be considered one of the pioneers of melodic death metal?

Anders Friden: That we’ve been doing this for a long time; we’re getting old. It’s cool, I guess, to be held as a pioneer. It doesn’t make me better than anyone. It doesn’t make me feel like I can relax and just rely on the fact that I would be one. I still have to push myself and push In Flames as far as possible.

F: You’ve now won four Swedish Grammy Awards. What does that kind of recognition mean to you?

AF: Again, it’s great to be recognized. It doesn’t make me better, as I said. I can’t just say, ‘I won it, now you have to buy my album because I won it.’ It’s really cool to have something when you’re done, and it’s really good to show your parents that you’re actually doing something serious. What was really great when we won all these awards was when we won this award from our government. It’s very special, the Swedish Export Award. That was the highest ranking pop acts that used to get those. It brings us into a different level when it comes to media attention.

F: Come Clarity was also named the best Swedish album of the past decade.

AF: That’s another great achievement, really. That was a competition with everyone. That shows the strength of the fans. It was through the biggest newspaper we have, Aftonbladet. Anyone could promote whatever album they wanted, and it was down to 50 and then 10, and we got number one.

F: Your lyrics used to focus on abstract themes like astrology and fantasy, and then after Clayman you switched to singing about depression and internal struggles. What led to that change?

AF: It was boredom. You can’t do the same again, and again, and again. It was something that was closer to my heart at the moment. I still write personally, but it’s not about me anymore, it’s more about the world outside and my reflection on what I see. That is something I could grab on more than this astrology type of lyrics, and nobody understood them anyway. I haven’t yet seen a good explanation on what they are about. People try, which is cool in a way—I like that. I write that way that everyone can have their interpretation. But I want to write about my world and what I see around me, that both younger and older fans can relate to more than mumbo jumbo shit that nobody understands.

F: As your lyrics have changed to, so has the music, from Reroute to Remain onward you have moved away from death metal to something more melodic.

AF: I think we never were death metal to begin with. Maybe we were considered melodic death metal, but I would say that’s from maybe the early stages. If you listen to songs on even the Subterranean EP, there’s stuff there that doesn’t sound at all like that. But we always try to combine melody and aggression, one way or the other. We don’t want to repeat ourselves.  

F: And in combining these very different styles, you have opened yourselves up to criticism from fans or critics who either say you’re not heavy enough or not melodic enough. How do you react to that?

AF: That’s fine. As soon as you start working in the music business you should be open to that. Otherwise there’s no point in getting a record deal. It’s just part of it, really. I sleep well, I don’t care. I actually find the ones that complain pretty funny sometimes, because they don’t really know what they’re talking about. I’m quite sure that there are tons of those who complain that will complain about the next album already. They already made up their mind. So, fuck it.

F: How do you feel the latest album, A Sense of Purpose, fits into the evolution of the In Flames sound?

AF: Perfect as number nine. It’s a development and we’re going to a place, I don’t really know where we’re going, but I think that fits. I wouldn’t have done it any other way. I’m pleased that every single album we’ve made, they are pictures of who we were at that point in our life, and that’s where we were in 2008.

F: About Jesper and his treatment for alcoholism, is he close to completing it?

AF: No, far from it.

F: So he’s still in rehab?

AF: Well, he’s not in rehab, really. I think he’s trying to self-medicate, but it’s not working that well. The whole story is really sad. I don’t know when he will be back or if he ever will be back. Right now we don’t know for sure.

F: At this point are you in contact with him?

AF: Sure, we try.

F: And you say he’s self-medicating.

AF: Well, you think you can do it on your own. When you have an addiction problem that always creates a lot of other issues. I mean, this is nothing new. This was going on for years, it’s just that we’d been kind of hiding it towards everyone else and we didn’t want everyone to know. So for us, we couldn’t hide it anymore. It didn’t work. In a working relationship, it wasn’t possible anymore. I think he tries to solve it on his own without getting the professional help that he actually needs. It’s a lot of issues that come with the alcohol addiction. The band will survive; the band is bigger than one person, no matter who leaves. But as a friend, for his own sake, I hope he gets better. But I don’t know when that’ll happen.

F: Did Jesper used to be the main songwriter?

AF: That’s another mistake. Everybody thinks that he is the main man but he has never been. He’s been writing but Bjorn is doing a lot of stuff as well and they’ve been working together since Bjorn joined in ’95 or ‘96. Even though we had another guitarist, Bjorn has always been involved somehow. So to me it’s not a really big difference. Jesper’s great, he’s a talented guy, but he’s not taking care of that talent, unfortunately.

F: Are there any plans for the next In Flames record yet?

AF: Yeah, we hope we can record at the end of the year. We’ve been on the road almost two years now, so we’re gonna take a nice vacation for a few months and then we’ll start to get together and start writing again. I hope at the end of the year we can have an album done and release sometime in 2011. We’ll see, if everything goes to plan that’s the way it will be.

F: After nine albums and two million records sold, what do you feel you have left to achieve and what do you envision for the future of In Flames?

AF: I don’t feel I have anything to prove. It could end today and I’d be really proud of what we’ve achieved and what we’ve done. I’ve been traveling the world with my friends many times and took this band further than I could ever imagine. But at the same time, if I still feel the way I feel when I play live and I see people, then we’re gonna continue as long as that spark is there. If you have a good time and not just do it because you have to pay your rent, because that will just be a drag. It’s not that fun to sit in hotel room and talking to you guys all the time. Even that’s part of the business, but at the same time there are certain things I could be without, but the actual meeting the people, the fans, the people that appreciate what we’re doing; that’s the rewarding part. As long as I feel that, we will continue. I don’t know how long that will keep going.

By Joe Henley