ANDERS FRIDÉN: 'We Try To Develop Our Own Style And Take Our Sound As Far As We Can Without Losing The Essence Of IN FLAMES'

Etic's Live conducted an interview with vocalist Anders Fridén and guitarist Björn Gelotte of Swedish metallers IN FLAMES prior to the band's November 9 concert at Auditorio Citibanamex in Monterrey, Mexico in support of DEEP PURPLE. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the band's current plans:

Anders: "We released an album called 'Battles' and that was released two years ago, I think. We are working on something, and people who know what we sound like today will definitely recognize it, but there are elements there that will feel a little bit new here and there. With IN FLAMES, we don't want to change it too much, but we want to change a little from album to album. It's still important for us to have the melody, that's the first thing. We grew up on melody and melody is everything for us. Then you can do a lot of things, of course. It's very melodic and heavy at the same time."

On his relationship with social media:

Anders: "It's a love and hate relationship in a way. I'm here to make the music and I know I have to reach people and I know I have to sort of fight…there's so many bands, so many records released that you have to fight your way through in a way, but I believe in the name IN FLAMES that we are strong enough and we have a strong fanbase that will hear us even if we just don't post anything."

On IN FLAMES integrating different styles into their music:

Anders: "I see it as a natural evolution. You can only do so many riffs on the guitar. It's all about notes in a different order and a lot of things has been done, but you're taking influences from here and there and you mix it up and make it your own. That's how the music develops. I really think that we all fit within this. Then, it's obviously up to the audience if they're open-minded enough. Can you mix classic with more than the heavier, can you do this and that? In my opinion, good music is good music. You can do that. I like bands that try to take something and move it forward and mix and match from different outlets. That's progress. In my world, there are no different genres, just good music and bad music."

On touring with DEEP PURPLE:

Anders: "First of all, we're extremely honored to be asked to be part of this tour, of course, because, for us, it's a legendary band that we look up to. But, I think there's more similarities between us than people actually see on the surface. Bjorn, for instance, he grew up listening to DEEP PURPLE and it's always been there. The way we write music is not that we look so much at what is going on in today's scene, we draw inspiration from what we heard when we were kids and when we were small. When I was super-tiny, DEEP PURPLE was very active and it's always been there. They created so much good music and nobody can deny good music, so I think it fits and what I really like, also, is when promoters think and give something for everyone and have what you call is 'classic' and you have something that is not exactly the same. When you buy a ticket, you want value for your money and I think with this tour you definitely do."

Bjorn: "I agree. It's a legendary band. It's something I've listened to all my life; it's probably the first band, so I'm amazed I'm sitting here right now being able to hopefully share their audience and stage in a good way. Yeah, as Anders said, the songwriting process is usually derived from what we come from and this is one of those bands that changed us. Over the years, we have developed different tastes and discovered other bands we like and we're craving the old stuff again. Yeah, it's exciting times."

On the band's influences:

Anders: "It's difficult to say. We can't pinpoint any certain, definitely not a musical, like say, we draw inspiration from this group or this type of music. As we answered before, we come from a heavy metal background and that's where still, our passion lies. That's where it's at, but we just try to develop our own style and take our sound as far as we can without losing what we think is the essence of IN FLAMES, which is a blend between aggression and melody, but also broadening our horizons a little bit and pushing boundaries and make our fans, 'think' is not the right word, but to feel something different from album to album, challenge them a little bit and ourselves, of course. That's what it is. It's difficult to say what our influences are; there's still this burning passion for what we do, that's it and a love for metal."

IN FLAMES recruited American drummer Tanner Wayne, best known for his work with UNDERMINDED, SCARY KIDS SCARING KIDS and CHIODOS, to sit behind the kit for the band for its 2018 live appearances.

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

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

Longtime IN FLAMES drummer Daniel Svensson announced in 2015 that he was leaving the band to focus on his family life.

IN FLAMES' current lineup features American bassist Bryce Paul, who has been playing most of the shows with the group since longtime bassist Peter Iwers's November 2016 exit.