In Flames – Niclas Engelin

In Flames is a band that has never been afraid to step outside the boundaries of ‘acceptable’ music by societal standards. Having fronted the early melodic death metal scene alongside bands like Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates in the ‘90s, In Flames quickly became an icon of Swedish metal. And this is a title they’ve maintained throughout their 24 year career, going on to become one of the most recognisable and successful metal bands not only in the subgenre of melodic death metal, but in the metal community as a whole. But as the passage of time brings new experiences and challenges to the fore, so too do styles develop, change, and grow. And In Flames have been no less affected by this. Whilst there are those who have turned away from the band in recent years due to the changes, there are others who have embraced their new style, and the band, just as they wholeheartedly supported a radical shift in music in those early days, just as strongly support the changes they’ve made in their sound today. So with all that being said, it was with great pleasure that I recently had the opportunity to speak with the kind and insightful Niclas Engelin, guitarist for In Flames, on behalf of Metal Obsession.

After exchanging pleasantries, Niclas spoke a little about ‘Siren Charms’. “Besides that it’s just awesome and flawless?” he joked. “I think that it’s a very mature album. It’s diverse, very big, and epic. And I think that if you’ve had this album for quite a while, you don’t get tired of it because you have new stuff to listen [and discover].”

“We’re still adjusting the melodies in there, and the melancholy. I think we’ve done this kind of music before, but not to the fullest of the whole album. [‘Siren Charms’] is very dark and melancholy, and very epic. The choruses are huge! We’ve done songs before that were low key. Not very straight-forward. And I think we’ve done that this time, [also]. It’s still In Flames, of course.”

In Flames are regarded as being one of the pioneers of melodic death metal and I asked Niclas if the branching out of their sound over the years was intentional and whether the progression occurred naturally. “I think it’s a natural progression within the band and within the music we love to perform and play,” Niclas noted. “I think it’s important to make the decision to be on the move. To strive for something. Yes, of course, we could do another ‘Whoracle’ or ‘The Jester Race’, but that wouldn’t be very interesting for us as musicians. We always do stuff by the heart and we always do it to the fullest, and we’re very honest in what we do all the time. We’ve really put our heads together and done a really good album and we’re really proud of it. And we want to show the world where we are right now, right here. So for us it’s very important to be on the move and exploring things all the time. And I think that’s interesting, as well!” I couldn’t agree more.

Marking another change was where ‘Siren Charms’ was recorded. Where usually In Flames have recorded in their hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, this time the band decided to record in an area they all adored and felt possessed a richness of vibe to it: Berlin, Germany, at the celebrated Hansa Ton Studios with Roberto Laghi and vocal producer, Daniel Bergstrand. “It was a huge experience! For me, personally, it was more being in Berlin. We got to be there for six weeks to do the recording and that was just amazing because the whole of Berlin has such a great history. The recording took place only about a hundred metres from where the wall stood. You can actually feel the ‘vibe’ from the old wall, and there’s just such darkness! But the place itself is beautiful and the vibe is perfect. It’s a cultural city and you just see tons of things if you want to. I think that it shows in that we couldn’t do this album elsewhere.”

‘Siren Charms’ out now via Sony Music

When asked about his experiences recording to such a tight deadline, Niclas was humble in his response. “I’m used to working with tight deadlines because of my other projects. So I really like working! [laughs] But we were prepared. The music was written [and] mostly all of the lyrics were written before we entered the studio. I think that was healthy for the band and for the recording to actually have a deadline, because otherwise we maybe wouldn’t have our release in September.”

As we are all now aware of, In Flames will be touring Australia this November alongside Trivium, but funnily enough, as I’d interviewed Niclas before this news first went public, his response to the announcement of an Australian tour sometime soon was both cunningly delivered and deferential. “I really, really hope so because I love your country!” Niclas began. “We’ve always been there during the summer time and it’s been a pure pleasure to play your country, so I would love to go back.” And to the question of dates at the time, he answered, “Hmm, maybe so, my friend!” [laughs]

And with that closed a wonderful interview with a great fellow.

Thanks to Soundwave Touring, In Flames are touring Australia this November alongside Trivium. Tickets go on sale Thursday September 18 at 9:00am local time via Ticketmaster, Ticketek, and Oztix.

WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER – BRISBANE, THE TIVOLI – 18+

www.ticketmaster.com

FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER – SYDNEY, UNSW ROUNDHOUSE– Licensed All Ages

www.ticketek.com.au

SUNDAY 23 NOVEMBER – MELBOURNE, 170 RUSSELL – 18+

www.oztix.com.au | www.170russell.com

TUESDAY 25 NOVEMBER – ADELAIDE, HQ – 18+

www.oztix.com.au

Trivium-In Flames Australia Tour 2014 via Soundwave Touring

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