Gothenburg metal legends In Flames have made their new album ‘Siren Charms’ available for streaming.
Though we were less than impressed with their previous single, ‘Through Oblivion‘, perhaps we can expect something a little better from their new album. Apparently not. An interview with Bjorn Gelotte below describes how the band have changed direction yet again:
“We changed the scenery from how we normally do records. We’ve done quite a few in Gothenburg. We’ve done a few experiments. We went to Uppsala once. We did one record in Denmark. We rented a huge house, built two studios in there, and just winged it. It turned out great. It was an awesome experience. This time around, Anders fell in love with the Hansa studios in Germany. It’s a classic studio in Berlin. So many classic albums have come from there, and so many artists have been there. He felt that maybe he could get inspired from that or something might rub off in the studio. I was like, ‘Fuck it. For me, it doesn’t really matter. I can record anywhere.’ He was absolutely certain it was important for us to do that. I went down there and fell in love with it too. Anders explained the history of the place. David Bowie, U2 and DEPECHE MODE have all recorded there. All of these huge records have come from there. I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to change anything. Listening back to it now, it did. Something came in there. There’s a certain melancholic vibe to the album that I’m not sure would’ve happened anywhere else.”
“It was a genius move from Anders. He talked us into it. Basically, we weren’t really hard to convince when we saw the studio and heard the history of it. It was an interesting thing to do. It changed things a little bit. We came down there with the same goal to make the eleventh record… We wanted to make something special out of it, and we really did… I think it’s a sense of melancholy. It’s not something depressing or sad in a bad way. It strikes a certain note — at least in my heart. There’s a vibe in it. I could never recreate it just by using the same formula. It’s something that just happens. It’s a mix of a lot of things. The ideas Anders is talking about in the lyrics all the way until the final mix and the way we put on extra guitars and the effects are all a little sadder in a sort of uplifting and refreshing way. There are so many things that work together in giving it that vibe.”
Oh how we long for the days of classic In Flames…the band has taken another dive into the realms of hipsterhood. Always worth satisfying your curiousity and fueling conversation though, so listen to the new album below and see what you think.
