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Stoking that Fire
In Flames reignite the death metal fire with Foregone, an album that marks ex-Megadeth master Chris Broderick’s recording debut with the band
By Jon Wiederhorn
In Flames’ Chris Broderick [left] and Björn Gelotte in action in December 2022
Photos by Neil Lim Sang
WHEN THEY SURFACED from the darkened streets of Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1990, In Flames were among the pioneers of Swedish melodic death metal, combining the speed of fellow countrymen Dismember and Entombed with the guitar harmonies of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, injecting the genre with a newfound virtuosity that inspired scores of other acts, including American metalcore bands like Killswitch Engage and Unearth.
By the early 2000s, however, In Flames weren’t blazing quite as brightly. They slowed down their songs, curbed their aggression, incorporated more melody and drew from elements of alternative rock and industrial, causing many of their early fans to jump ship. In Flames didn’t care. They enjoyed playing death metal for about 10 years, then became more inspired by other, more experimental types of metal. That’s exactly what they delved into between 2002 and 2019 — and in the process, they attracted a larger fanbase.
“We’ve always been lucky enough to do whatever the fuck we wanted,” says guitarist and main songwriter Björn Gelotte. “We don’t ever go into an album with anything in mind, but we decided early on that we never want to repeat ourselves, and we’ve had the opportunity to make so many records, so we’ve always tried to make the process interesting and challenging.”
The follow-up to 2019’s I, the Mask marks yet another departure — at least it’s a departure from the commercial metal they’ve written over the past 17-plus years; Foregone,the band’s 14 thfull-length studio album, is fast and frenzied — pretty comparable to the melodic death metal In Flames released in the late Nineties. Foregone isn’t exactly a return to form, since there are still clean vocals and the songs are more structured than those on the band’s first five records. At the same time, fans who have missed the savagery and velocity of 1997’s Whoracle and 2000’s Clayman should be thrilled with the rapid tempos, buzzsaw riffs and fleet-fingered leads of Foregone.