IN FLAMES

The Gothenburg Hit Factory

Without any doubts this Swedish team is – at least for last few years - the star of first magnitude in the metal firmament. All those envy little creatures have to swallow the bitter pill, while they have to take a look at charts' positions of IF records. Consequence in building of their own career. Strained to their limits murderous tour plans and, above all, high-quality music served in the subsequent CDs have given the team top position in melodic noise league. Their latest work „A Sense of Purpose" for sure will contribute to strengthen this position. I'm sure that soon they'll get a bunch of enthusiastic reviews, the album will hit the charts, and guys will go on the next long-time tour . Bjorn Gelotte does not seem to be worried about such a perspective.

-The new album rocks as hell. It's exactly what I expected. I do not have any intention to submit objections. Because simply that's perfect stuff for me. But I wonder if there is equally enthusiastic mood in Gothenburg. Are you happy with the results?
You know how it is. Release of each of our CDs is accompanied by some tension associated with the fact that we have to go out with our music to the people. For us the biggest challenge in creating of the new material is to reach the level at which these songs will satisfy us in 100 percent. When we achieve that goal, the pressure drops. In fact, we do this music for ourselves. When we write new songs we always try to make sure that we've made some – at least minimal - progress. That's how it happens since „The Jester Race". We're always trying to find inspiration and put it in our new songs those small elements which make this stuff more interesting. I do not care whether the thing that comes up may be described as death metal. IF music simply must still be interesting for us. The new album is certainly not a return to what we went through in the past. But this time we tried to make songs which were based primarily on guitars and put into them a lot of melody. In terms of production we depend on an organic sound, as close to the concert soundu as possible. We did not want overpoduced boring stuff with triggered double bass.

-You've said about new elements in IF music. Damn me but I can't really hear them. For me, new material is a natural continuation of what yopu've done on "Come Clarity". Here and there I can find some references to older times - a period of "Clayman". How important is for you the continuity in what you are doing?
Of course, our roots will always be present in our music. They affect everything we do. This is something you carry inside. We love what we do. But still we're trying to develop and change. Sometimes we focus more on guitar riffs, sometimes more important is that the melodies are properly exposed. This is a wonderful feeling when we achieve established goals.

-It seems that you must have some problems with those melodies. The number of strings is limited, and you have already composed so many beautiful melodies, that it must be a pretty challenging to find a new ones?
We really do not look for those melodies. They simply appear in our heads. That's how it works. Sometimes I got haunted by melody, which I can not get rid of. All the time it stays in my head so finally I record it. I play the tape to Jesper, and he usually says: Wow. It's great stuff. I have an idea for the rhythm guitar part. That's how the magic happens. Cooperation with Jesper is pure pleasure. However, this time, work on new material took us a little more time than when we were writing songs for "Come Clarity". Most songs were ready relatively late. Only a few months before the recordings. But we like to work under pressure. When we 've choosen the time frame for the session we didn't have any songs. But since we've had a specific date we started to work really hard. And in one month we had 15 songs. The proper recording session was preceded by the pre-production. This gave us all the opportunity to try arranging ideas. and it was a great experience.

- I guess that recordings had to be pure pleasure. For the first time you've had a chance to work in your own studio. This is probably a pleasant feeling to be your own boss?
Sure. This time, many things were easier. It's our studio and it was we who decided, when and how long we want to work. There was nobody knocking on the door and saying: Hey! Now it's our turn. It was also important that we worked in Gothenburg. Most of us live in the city. So we were able to stay at our home and spend time with our families. When we bought the studio, we looked at the FREDMAN from band's perspective. We decided to invest in all these facilities like toilets or kitchen. Studio owners usually do not pay attention to such a things. Now it has become a very comfortable place. It's pleasure not only to work there, but also to stay at. You can sit and talk about music or work on new ideas. Everything in very nice atmosphere.

-Why did you decide to buy the studio. Did the need to secure a quiet old age was in the background of that decision? I mean if someday you will finally stop playing, it may be good to have something to do, and earn some money from that place.
In fact we didn't have such an intention. We do not make such a distant plans. We wanted to have a place, which will give us comfort in the recordings and where we can rehearse, record demos and work with other bands. It's also important that we have another thing - except the band, the albums and concerts - that we have in common. Our connections are stronger now. It is very good studio. So as a bonus we may also receive the opportunity to earn some money with it, but it was not our aim.

-I'd like to ask you about the session. For the first time you've worked with Toby Wrigh. I don't see any particular influence of that fact. What we have here is classic IN FLAMES sound. It seems like you've had the main influence on how does the album sound.
It turned out that Toby - a great and legendary producer - has an approach similar to ours. We wanted to get a natural, true sound. And he said that this is something he would like to do. So it was excellent. At the beginning we mixed the stuff ourselves. It sounded great. But when he took tracks and mixed them, it was fucking great. This is the question of small details and things that he does. Other producer probably wouldn't even think about it. His experience and dedication contributed to the fact that the album sounded exactly like we wanted.

-Before the album was released you've decided to give us a foretaste of forthcoming attractions with EP "The Mirror's Truth". There are three songs which aren't present on the album. Why did you decide to put them on EP and why is it available only on the European market?
The tracks that are on a disc and those of EP are all tracks, which were recorded during this session. Bonus tracks from the EP were mixed by Robert, that guy who worked with us on drums and bass. We decided not to include all the tracks on the CD, because in our opinion the album would be too long. It'd be almost a double album in fact. We wanted to release all those songs to show that we have a lot of energy. We didn’t record any extra bonuses during previous sessions. We put a live or acoustic versions for japanese releases. This is a fantastic feeling to have so much inspiration so we could write so many songs. As for the EP and its availability it is a matter of label's business. Frankly speaking I'm not interested in it and I do not know what are the reasons for that decision. In the age of the internet there's no problem for our fans to get those songs.

-Shortly after the release the tour machine will start. At the beginning you'll fly to US to take part in the Gigantour 3 Do you have any particular expectations connected wuth that tour? it's not the first time hen you'll play a large tour in States.
- I don’t know if this tour may be a breaking point. Such things can be seen only from the perspective of time. It is another opportunity to play before a large audience in the U.S. after Ozzfest, SOUNDS OF THE UNDERGROUND and tour with SLAYER. I hope that this will be simply a great tour. Personally I'm looking forward to see all those great guitarists. For me it's always very interesting. I'm not a great player so I'm always interested in what the real masters do and try to get inspiration from that. In MEGADETH played Marty Friedman, who is extremely talented guitarist. I hope that on the tour they'll play some songs which he composed and recorded. I'm interested how will it work out. Of course I know Chris Broderick. We played together a few tours. This is a great guy. And probably the most modest guitarist in the world. Also in CHILDREN OF BODOM there are two great guitarists. My all time favourites are: Chris Amott - I am very happy that he returned to ARCH ENEMY, John Petrucci from Dream Theater and Zakk Wylde. But number one is definitely Ritchie Blackmore. I love to watch how different the approach to this instrument may be and how excellent results it gives .