I feel like every time I turn around, someone is complaining about whatever the last thing In Flames had done. So with the band's massive change in sound (again) on their mos recent record Siren Charms comes that same complaint once more. Surprise, surprise! Vocalist for the group Anders Fridén had some really interesting things to say about fans constantly complaining about their changes in sound and how the band intends to progress in a recent interview with Alt Press. Fridén was asked whether or not the band would ever write a melodic death metal song again in the vein of their earlier works like Jester Race or Colony, to which he replied with what boils down to as a "nope."
“I don’t think I can. There are too many of them, so I cannot please everyone. It’s just impossible. But it’s interesting what you said, because every time we release a new album, our 'worst album we’ve ever done”'gets moved up one album. With Whoracle, people complained because it wasn’t Jester Race. When we released Colony, people complained because it wasn’t Whoracle.”
Welcome to metal, Fridén. Unless it's hands down the greatest album anyone has ever heard in their entire lives, you're going to get earfuls of complaints. Hell, even if it's amazing it might take people years upon years to make that distinction!
“I wanna challenge our listeners a little bit. They shouldn’t know exactly what they’re gonna get. They’re definitely gonna get In Flames in some sort of way, but I don’t wanna do Whoracle or Jester Race part 2. We’re not a big planning type of band. It’s metal, it’s rock ’n’ roll; let’s do whatever.
When I got into the metal scene and first heard of punk rock and metal, for me it was like, 'Whoa! There are no rules! You can do whatever you want.' Then, when I started playing in bands, all of these rules were told to me. What? Can I not do what I want? I have to be this person to be part of this scene. I cannot look this way? To me, you can do whatever you want. I can promise you one thing: We will never do a country album.”
Argue all you want about the ups and downs of the band's career, he's 100-percent right. isn't art all about enjoying what you do and creating what you want to see or hear? The problem with In Flames' music isn't that it's "bad" or anything like that, it's just that listeners go in with certain expectations that won't be met and then become very disappointed. As in nobody's listening to the music for what it is, but instead what they want it to be.
[via The PRP]
