IN FLAMES Parts Ways With BRYCE PAUL, Recruits Ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Bassist LIAM WILSON

IN FLAMES has parted ways with bassist Bryce Paul and has replaced him with Liam Wilson (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

Earlier today (Thursday, June 8),IN FLAMES released the following statement via social media: "Jesterheads, Our brother Bryce Paul has decided to step away from the band. We wish him well on his future endeavors and thank him for everything he put into the band the last several years. Our friend Liam Wilson (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) will be stepping in to help us out!"

Wilson made his live debut with IN FLAMES last night (Wednesday, June 7) at the Release Athens 2023 festival in Athens, Greece. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

In a June 2017 interview with YesterdazeNews, IN FLAMES guitarist Björn Gelotte was asked how Bryce joined the band following the departure of longtime bassist Peter Iwers. Gelotte said: "Well, so, Håkan [Skoger], a really good friend of ours, came in and did the bass on the U.K. run we did, and then we did a European run after that. But family life didn't work with what we do. We're away a lot, and he wasn't ready for that, or his family took a decision that he couldn't do this. And it sucked, obviously, but that's something that we respect — family goes first, always. So when we were going over to the U.S. for the Rock On The Range and all those festivals, we needed to have somebody from the U.S., because there was no time to get a visa [for the new bassist]. We had our visas, but we needed to have somebody from the U.S. And Joe [Rickard], our drummer [at the time] — he's been with us since we recorded [the 2016 IN FLAMES album] 'Battles' — he said he has this friend in Nashville that he's played a lot with and he's awesome, and maybe he should try. He got the songs, he started rehearsing, we met him in Nashville for two days and then we started the tour. So he's here now."

Iwers quit IN FLAMES in November 2016, saying that he was leaving the band "to pursue other endeavors."

During a recent appearance on Doc Coyle's (GOD FORBID, BAD WOLVES) "The Ex Man" podcast, IN FLAMES singer Anders Fridén was asked if he and Gelotte are "tough to be in a band" with, considering all the lineup changes they've gone through over the years. Anders responded: "Yeah, maybe. That could be. Who knows? I'm very determined. know what I want. I know what to do. But I'm not always right. But I think there are different points in life. And things happen. We never fired anyone. It's just the way it is. That's a question for someone else, I guess. But I know what I want. I wanna take this band here, and then I go for that. I don't know how to answer [that question], really."

IN FLAMES' latest album, "Foregone", was released on February 10 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 Paul and drummer Tanner Wayne, the first with ex-MEGADETH guitarist Chris Broderick, and the third with Grammy-winning producer Howard Benson (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, THREE DAYS GRACE). Mike 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.