Definitely not the happiest of interviews I’ve ever done but Anders is a legend and to have the chance to talk to him was absolutely awesome! We talked about how stoked he and the rest of the crew is to be back on tour for the first time in two years and what really inspired the new album Forgone. I asked if it was playing old stuff that got them wanting to play really angry stuff again and he said this.
‘Oh no I would say that the pandemic and the lack of being a part of this In Flames community was extremely frustrating and just the view on the world at what happened after the pandemic how we went back to our lives almost like nothing happened. It’s even more hostile in a sense and that’s what made this album sound the way it does. Like that anger and frustration…desperation almost.’
He goes on to say that the roots of the origins of In Flames have always remained within the band but this album will really lean heavy on guitars and and bass along with the melodies we become accustomed to.
One of the more bleak moments in the interview was when I asked what he felt the future would hold.
‘I thought we’d take a step back and realize what we had…as I say in ‘Great Deceiver’ “Two year break, to reset our brains. But times are changing for the worse, and we are doomed and we are cursed.” Exactly what I say there, you know? And I thought we’d be like ‘Holy shit! This is what’s dear to us, let’s try to be more respectful and friendly and everything…just go online and see how people are talking to each other, nations talking to each other, how the words of our politicians are more hostile and it’s just like we lost this game and we’re on the downslope to nothing…like this world is going to end, for sure. Soon. Sooner than we think.’
That’s pretty bleak. But if you look at how the world is turning these days you can see where he’s coming from. As to us finding a new path away from global destruction, Anders feels there isn’t one.
‘Honestly, I don’t think so. Because we are living in a world where it’s all “me me me” all the time. “What can be good for me?” not “What can be good for a lot of people? And our planet…”
The new In Flames record will come out February 10th and is called Forgone. You can check out the full track listing and some of the tracks already released below!
The Beginning of All Things That Will End
State of Slow Decay
Meet Your Maker
Bleeding Out
Foregone Pt. 1
Foregone Pt. 2
Pure Light Of Mind
The Great Deceiver
In The Dark
A Dialogue in b Flat Minor
Cynosure
End The Transmission
