IN FLAMES: New Video Interview With BJÖRN GELOTTE Available

HardTimes.ca conducted an interview with guitarist Björn Gelotte of Swedish metallers IN FLAMES prior to the band's September 8, 2009 concert in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Watch the 18-minute chat below.

In a recent interview with Live-Metal.net, IN FLAMES bassist Peter Iwers was asked about guitarist Jesper Strömblad's current status after he checked himself into rehab earlier in the year. "His status is that he's still working on getting himself 100 percent — getting well and coming back as soon as he feels he's ready," Peter replied. "Now it's not gonna change. We are five members of IN FLAMES and it's not gonna change, like some people are speculating. Jesper is very much in the band, but he needs to be ready. It's up to him when he's ready to come back and is strong enough to stay on the road. He really needs to do deal with his problems, and we are there for him as much as we can, trying to support him in the best way that we can, not rushing him and showing him that his position is here when he's ready to come back.

"It has been a problem for many, many years. At the beginning of this year, he delayed this decision, but his latest decision was to check himself in and get well once and for all. And with a few minor mishaps, he's been sticking to it.

"It's a disease and a lot of people don't know. And we all had to learn, obviously. Alcoholism is a disease — you can't help it. A lot of people might say [that alcoholics are] selfish and mean, and might take what an alcoholic can do to you very personal, but remember it's a disease. It takes some time to get well. And he's one of my best friends and I'm trying to give him all the support that he needs."

When asked if the band had to take part in an intervention in order to get Jesper into rehab, Iwers said, "No, because we didn't really know how bad it was. And when you're an alcoholic, it's a hard life, obviously, but I guess somehow you know about it. We didn't know how bad it was. He actually told us about it. That was his own decision. We are sticking by him. But we are still touring because we want to be out there and play and perform the commitments that we booked this entire year. We will want to fulfill them. We can't just keep on canceling. We got together with Jesper [and determined] to keep on touring without him until he's ready to come back."