ANDERS FRIDÉN Says IN FLAMES' 15th Studio Album Hasn't Been Mixed Yet: But 'It Sounds Amazing Already'

In an interview with Paolo Phoenix of Magenta TV conducted at last weekend's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany, IN FLAMES frontman Anders Fridén spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's fifteenth studio album. The Swedish/American metallers once again worked at the Los Angeles studio of Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson — who has previously worked with MOTÖRHEAD, BODY COUNT and SEPULTURA, among others — as well as engineer Mike Plotnikoff. IN FLAMES has been collaborating with Benson since the group's twelfth studio album, 2016's "Battles".

Asked if the new IN FLAMES album is finished, Anders responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Ah, the rumors. The rumors are not true. We're still building, you know, building the LEGO. It's going well, though."

Regarding what will be unique about IN FLAMES' upcoming LP, Anders said: "It will sound like IN FLAMES and like no one else. That's as unique as you can get, I would say. But I think we continue what we've been creating and putting everything that IN FLAMES [has] ever been into one big album. And I can't wait for people to hear it. We are really proud of it. Everybody's on top of their game. And, yeah, it sounds amazing already, and it's not even mixed."

Asked if he and his IN FLAMES bandmates were aware that they were helping shape the sound of melodic death metal when they first formed the group more than three and a half decades ago, Anders said: "No, no, no, no, not at all. We were just fans of music, and we just wanted to create our way of what we thought heavy metal was… We were just having fun creating what we loved and took inspiration from tons of other bands. I'm really honored and humbled to hear those things, but I don't let it get to my head. It's not good for you."

Anders went on to say that he has heard some riffs from newer metal bands which are "very similar" to IN FLAMES, "but it's fine. We did it too," he admitted. "If IRON MAIDEN is listening right now, then we stole some of your riffs. And that's just the truth.

"It's so difficult to be super, super, super original," Anders explained. "And then that's how this music evolves, too. You take bits and pieces, and you throw in some of your own ideas and it just keeps the music moving forward. And I think that's wonderful. It should not be, 'This is ours, this is ours, this is ours.' And, to be fair, when we create an album, and when we're done, we give it to the fans, and it's out of our hands. We can't do anything anymore. It's just up to everyone else. We can't control it. It's yours. And if someone wants to take those ideas and be inspired to create their own band or in an already existing band, feel free."

Fridén also talked about the fact that heavy metal fans can often be very vocal about their opinions when it comes to their favorite bands. "I love that people are passionate," he said. "I mean, heavy metal fans, they will judge you left and right, but they're also super passionate, and that's what I love about the genre. That's why I wanna be in it. It took me by surprise that, all of a sudden... 'Cause I wanted to be part of heavy metal because I thought there were no rules whatsoever. You can do whatever you want, right? Like, scream and play lloud music, and that's fine. And years later, I found out, 'Oh, you can't do this, can't do that, can't do that.' But fuck that. Do whatever you want."

IN FLAMES' upcoming follow-up to 2023's "Foregone" will apparently mark the recording debut with the band of drummer Jon Rice, who has been touring with IN FLAMES since May 2025.

On February 3, IN FLAMES guitarist Björn Gelotte took to the band's social media to share a video from the studio and he wrote simply "XV", which is the Roman numeral representation for the number 15, a reference to the fact that this will be IN FLAMES' fifteenth studio effort. That same day, Plotnikoff shared a photo of Rice's drum kit in the studio and he included the following caption: "Drums have begun @inflames @bgelotte @andersfridn @jon.charn.rice @howardbenson @joerickardproductions @decarli_editor @iansthunder @sunsetsoundrecorders #sunsetsound #studio2 #makinghits".

Rice had previously played with BEHEMOTH, UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS, THE RED CHORD, JOB FOR A COWBOY and SCORPION CHILD.

In May 2025, IN FLAMES parted ways with their drummer of seven years, Tanner Wayne.

Wayne, who was previously best known for his work with UNDERMINDED, SCARY KIDS SCARING KIDS and CHIODOS, joined IN FLAMES in time for the band's summer 2018 tour.

Wayne stepped into IN FLAMES following the departure of Joe Rickard, who played on the band's 2016 album "Battles".

Tanner made his live debut with IN FLAMES on July 4, 2018 in Brno, Czech Republic.

IN FLAMES is continuing to tour in support of its latest album, "Foregone", which was released in February 2023 via Nuclear Blast. According to a press release, the LP "combines the greatest aggressive, metallic, and melodic strengths of their landmark records with the seasoned songwriting of their postmodern era."

"Foregone" was the second IN FLAMES album with bassist Bryce Paul and Wayne, the first with ex-MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick, and the third with Benson. Plotnikoff (ALL THAT REMAINS, WARBRINGER) engineered at Benson's West Valley Recording Studios. Joe Rickard (10 YEARS, STARSET, DIAMANTE),who played drums for IN FLAMES from 2016 through 2019, handled mixing duties.

In 2023, IN FLAMES parted ways with Paul and replaced him with Liam Wilson (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

Wilson made his live debut with IN FLAMES on June 7, 2023 at the Release Athens festival in Athens, Greece.