In Flames Have Been Waiting To Unleash New Album For Months

Band Photo: In Flames (?)

MTV.com reports: It wasn't playing in broad daylight that bothered In Flames frontman Anders Fridén during his band's stint on this summer's Ozzfest, where the Swedish metallers served as the mainstage openers. It wasn't even the fact that In Flames were restricted to 20-minute sets, or that those sets were performed in arenas teeming with metalheads sitting in plastic seats and downing hot dogs and jumbo pretzels. That Fridén could deal with. But knowing In Flames had an entire album in the hopper, waiting to be unleashed upon the world, but no label deal that would get it out there on store shelves? That bothered him.

"It's been frustrating waiting this long to get an album out," he said of the band's eighth studio LP, Come Clarity, the cover art for which has already been illustrated by renowned metal and hardcore artiste Derek Hess. "It was finished in April [of 2005]. We wrote it at the end of 2004. And now it's going to be released on February 7. The songs still feel fresh to us and to our fans — no matter when it was recorded, it's a new album to them. I think it still represents In Flames and where we are. But it was hard."

Before signing with New Jersey's Ferret Music, In Flames spent the summer wondering just what would become of Come Clarity. Now that everything's in order and the brutal Swedes have a full U.S. tour planned with Trivium, DevilDriver and Zao (set to kick off in January), Fridén's trying to relax a bit. That, too, will be hard. In Flames need to devote loads of time to pre-tour rehearsals, as they'll be introducing a number of cuts they've never performed live — including material from 1994's Lunar Strain — into their set list.

On the topic of touring, was the Ozzfest gamble worth it for In Flames? The singer's not sure. "We saw it as a big promotional machine, and we got a chance to play in front of a huge crowd that doesn't normally listen to In Flames," he admitted. "But we won't know for sure until the album is out. I mean, looking back, I'd rather have been on the second stage."

Fridén considers Come Clarity "a bit more aggressive, and a bit more uptempo," but said it still possesses all the "elements of In Flames. It's always been about this balance between aggression and melody. It's just another step in our evolution. I don't know where we're going exactly. But I know where we've come from. We just try to top ourselves each time and be happy with the result. That's all we can do. Now it's up to the public to judge us."

He said the clip for the album's first single, "Take This Life," has been shot. It'll feature performance footage of the band superimposed across billboards in Times Square, interspersed with scenes from the video's mysterious story line. Fridén wouldn't discuss the details, as director Patric Ullaeus (Lacuna Coil, Dimmu Borgir) was still working on the video's overall concept at the time of the interview.

As if In Flames isn't keeping him busy enough, Fridén's also working on the second album from his side project Passenger.

"It's in the works, but I don't have time," he said. "I would like to release [a Passenger LP] sometime [in 2006], because we've recorded 10 of the album's 12 songs already. It's been a very slow process." Fridén once again worked with guitarist Niklas Engelin, bassist Hakan Skoger, drummer Patrik Sten and keyboardist Pierre Sten on the outing, which has no definitive release date yet.

Source: MTV.com