Five Former Members Of In Flames Unite In The Halo Effect
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The Grayfox
#MusicTheoryBro
I'm still waiting for Trivium to drop an old school In Flames cover. Has anyone been around these parts long enough to remember when Matt was on here when he was a teenager? Not this forum specifically, but UM as a whole. He used to advertise Trivium whenever he could. It paid off.
Just for Anders' benefit, here is an article on The Halo Effect that doesn't mention In Flames at all.
Dark Tranquillity Vocalist Mikael Stanne Forms 'The Halo Effect' With Childhood Friends
Legendary Swedish melodic death metal vocalist Mikael Stanne today confirmed that he will be starting a new project, 'The Halo Effect', which will play music reminiscent of the classic Gothenburg metal scene. Stanne recruited some lesser known musicians that he grew up with to fill out the band.
Said Stanne:
"I've known these guys for a really long time. We've been friends since we were teenagers. I know they've all had aspirations to play melodic death metal, and I'm delighted to give them the chance to finally show what they can do."
Stanne himself has largely devoted his career to Dark Tranquillity. He appeared alongside vocalist Anders Fríden in Dark Tranquillity's 1993 debut 'Skydancer'. Whilst Fríden went on to mostly produce records alongside Fredrik Nordstrom and appear briefly in projects such as Passenger (2003) and If Anything Suspicious (2021), Stanne took on the role of Dark Tranquillity lead vocalist full-time and remains in that position up to the present day.
Guitarist Niclas Engelin, who Mikael says came up with the initial idea, is mostly known for being a part of melodic death metal band Gardenian in the late 90's and early 2000s, whilst also creating music for his own band, Engel, which last released an album in 2014 - 'Raven Kings'. Niclas has largely been inactive since that time, doing nothing of note until helping to create The Halo Effect.
Rhythm guitarist Jesper Stromblad had a hand in many metal bands during the 1990s. He started off playing bass in the obscure death metal band Ceremonial Oath, but left in 1993 to join HammerFall as a drummer. Despite being listed as drummer on HammerFall's 'Glory of the Brave' album from 1997, Stromblad did not take part in the recording of this album, although he did help with compositions. After disassociating from HammerFall, Jesper focused his attention on a melodic death metal band he created called Dimension Zero. The band released an EP in 1997, alongside three full albums between 2002 and 2007. Despite being well received by fans, Dimension Zero never really took off as Stromblad might have hoped.
Outside of Dimension Zero, Stromblad also had a hand in recording guitars for goth metal band Sinergy's 'Beware the Heavens' album, released in 1999. It is unknown exactly how Stromblad came to know any of the band members. He did not return for their next album, 2000's 'To Hell and Back'. Stromblad was also briefly a part of an alternative metal group called All Ends, contributing ideas between 2003 and 2008.
After a period of inactivity, Stromblad would join hardcore metal band The Resistance in 2011, having met vocalist Marco Aro playing Call of Duty. The band released two albums and two EPs before Jesper quit in 2016. He went on to form alternative metal band Cyhra with Jake E, formerly of Amaranthe. After releasing the album 'Letters to Myself' in 2017 to moderate acclaim, Jesper distanced himself from the band, not touring with them at all after 2017 but still contributing to the songwriting process for Cyhra's horrible follow up album 'No Halos in Hell' (2019). One year later, Stromblad was announced as being a part of The Halo Effect, utilising his experience from Dimension Zero to help form an original but familiar sound.
Bassist Peter Iwers is a relative unknown. The brother of legendary guitarist and bass player Anders Iwers (Ex-Ceremonial Oath, Ex-Tiamat, Ex-Dark Tranquillity), Peter was only able to make a couple of random guest bass appearances for Pain (Psalms of Extinction (2017)) and Pendulum (Immersion (2010)). He had mostly done nothing of interest until being chosen by Jesper to become bassist for Cyhra in 2016. This was his first major album recording, despite being 41 years old. After recording one album (Letters to Myself (2017)) with Cyhra he then left the band, once again doing nothing musically until The Halo Effect opted to give him a chance.
Rounding out the group is drummer Daniel Svensson. Svensson was vocalist and drummer for obscure melodic death metal band Sacrilege, who released two albums in 1996 and 1997. Despite rumours of a Sacrliege revival in 2006, Svensson essentially vanished from the music scene until 2020 when he was asked to take part in The Halo Effect.
"I appreciate that Peter and Daniel have very limited experience," Stanne acknowledged. "But Jesper and Niclas have both vouched for them. They have apparently jammed together for years, and there is a lot of trust there, so I'm willing to give it a shot."
Whilst most of the metal scene has been enthusiastic over The Halo Effect's output thus far, with their released singles gaining a lot of praise, not everybody is thrilled to see the formation of this band.
For reasons unknown, Anders Fríden (best known as vocalist for Dark Tranquillity in 1993) made his feelings clear in a recent interview. He blasted that he "didn't pay any attention" to The Halo Effect and "didn't care" what the band were doing. He went on to laugh them off as "one band of many" and started to become noticeably agitated before the interviewer assured him that everything was fine and quickly changed topic. There is speculation that Fríden wanted to be included as part of the band, but his lack of experience counted against him, and the band felt there was no room for a second vocalist with no singing capability.
The Halo Effect's debut album, 'Days of the Lost', is out on August 12th.
Dark Tranquillity Vocalist Mikael Stanne Forms 'The Halo Effect' With Childhood Friends
Legendary Swedish melodic death metal vocalist Mikael Stanne today confirmed that he will be starting a new project, 'The Halo Effect', which will play music reminiscent of the classic Gothenburg metal scene. Stanne recruited some lesser known musicians that he grew up with to fill out the band.
Said Stanne:
"I've known these guys for a really long time. We've been friends since we were teenagers. I know they've all had aspirations to play melodic death metal, and I'm delighted to give them the chance to finally show what they can do."
Stanne himself has largely devoted his career to Dark Tranquillity. He appeared alongside vocalist Anders Fríden in Dark Tranquillity's 1993 debut 'Skydancer'. Whilst Fríden went on to mostly produce records alongside Fredrik Nordstrom and appear briefly in projects such as Passenger (2003) and If Anything Suspicious (2021), Stanne took on the role of Dark Tranquillity lead vocalist full-time and remains in that position up to the present day.
Guitarist Niclas Engelin, who Mikael says came up with the initial idea, is mostly known for being a part of melodic death metal band Gardenian in the late 90's and early 2000s, whilst also creating music for his own band, Engel, which last released an album in 2014 - 'Raven Kings'. Niclas has largely been inactive since that time, doing nothing of note until helping to create The Halo Effect.
Rhythm guitarist Jesper Stromblad had a hand in many metal bands during the 1990s. He started off playing bass in the obscure death metal band Ceremonial Oath, but left in 1993 to join HammerFall as a drummer. Despite being listed as drummer on HammerFall's 'Glory of the Brave' album from 1997, Stromblad did not take part in the recording of this album, although he did help with compositions. After disassociating from HammerFall, Jesper focused his attention on a melodic death metal band he created called Dimension Zero. The band released an EP in 1997, alongside three full albums between 2002 and 2007. Despite being well received by fans, Dimension Zero never really took off as Stromblad might have hoped.
Outside of Dimension Zero, Stromblad also had a hand in recording guitars for goth metal band Sinergy's 'Beware the Heavens' album, released in 1999. It is unknown exactly how Stromblad came to know any of the band members. He did not return for their next album, 2000's 'To Hell and Back'. Stromblad was also briefly a part of an alternative metal group called All Ends, contributing ideas between 2003 and 2008.
After a period of inactivity, Stromblad would join hardcore metal band The Resistance in 2011, having met vocalist Marco Aro playing Call of Duty. The band released two albums and two EPs before Jesper quit in 2016. He went on to form alternative metal band Cyhra with Jake E, formerly of Amaranthe. After releasing the album 'Letters to Myself' in 2017 to moderate acclaim, Jesper distanced himself from the band, not touring with them at all after 2017 but still contributing to the songwriting process for Cyhra's horrible follow up album 'No Halos in Hell' (2019). One year later, Stromblad was announced as being a part of The Halo Effect, utilising his experience from Dimension Zero to help form an original but familiar sound.
Bassist Peter Iwers is a relative unknown. The brother of legendary guitarist and bass player Anders Iwers (Ex-Ceremonial Oath, Ex-Tiamat, Ex-Dark Tranquillity), Peter was only able to make a couple of random guest bass appearances for Pain (Psalms of Extinction (2017)) and Pendulum (Immersion (2010)). He had mostly done nothing of interest until being chosen by Jesper to become bassist for Cyhra in 2016. This was his first major album recording, despite being 41 years old. After recording one album (Letters to Myself (2017)) with Cyhra he then left the band, once again doing nothing musically until The Halo Effect opted to give him a chance.
Rounding out the group is drummer Daniel Svensson. Svensson was vocalist and drummer for obscure melodic death metal band Sacrilege, who released two albums in 1996 and 1997. Despite rumours of a Sacrliege revival in 2006, Svensson essentially vanished from the music scene until 2020 when he was asked to take part in The Halo Effect.
"I appreciate that Peter and Daniel have very limited experience," Stanne acknowledged. "But Jesper and Niclas have both vouched for them. They have apparently jammed together for years, and there is a lot of trust there, so I'm willing to give it a shot."
Whilst most of the metal scene has been enthusiastic over The Halo Effect's output thus far, with their released singles gaining a lot of praise, not everybody is thrilled to see the formation of this band.
For reasons unknown, Anders Fríden (best known as vocalist for Dark Tranquillity in 1993) made his feelings clear in a recent interview. He blasted that he "didn't pay any attention" to The Halo Effect and "didn't care" what the band were doing. He went on to laugh them off as "one band of many" and started to become noticeably agitated before the interviewer assured him that everything was fine and quickly changed topic. There is speculation that Fríden wanted to be included as part of the band, but his lack of experience counted against him, and the band felt there was no room for a second vocalist with no singing capability.
The Halo Effect's debut album, 'Days of the Lost', is out on August 12th.
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Pallbearer
Passive Member
THE guys will be fully aware of Jesper's issues, as I imagine Jake was when they formed Cyhra. In the same way Jake had a backup plan and Cyhra didn't miss a beat (touring wise at least) I'm sure THE will be similar. I think we all have to accept Jesper will never be a fully reliable member of a band. If he can contribute to songwriting and appear on stage every so often then that's probably the best anyone can hope for. I'm sure THE guys are realistic about Jesper's issues and much like Cyhra will give him the space he needs when he isn't able to contribute due to his ongoing problems.
One thing that will hopefully help is that THE won't be a constant grind. Mikael has DT to focus on as well, and during these periods THE won't be touring. I think it'll rotate between Mikael's DT duties and THE stuff, which should suit Jesper, Peter and Daniel as I don't think any of them want a full on touring schedule.
Kind of shitty that Blabbermouth included Hakemo's comments on Jesper's departure from The Resistance without adding that he later came out and said he regretted saying those things, that he was just angry at the time and wished Jesper nothing but the best in getting better.
One thing that will hopefully help is that THE won't be a constant grind. Mikael has DT to focus on as well, and during these periods THE won't be touring. I think it'll rotate between Mikael's DT duties and THE stuff, which should suit Jesper, Peter and Daniel as I don't think any of them want a full on touring schedule.
Kind of shitty that Blabbermouth included Hakemo's comments on Jesper's departure from The Resistance without adding that he later came out and said he regretted saying those things, that he was just angry at the time and wished Jesper nothing but the best in getting better.
The Grayfox
#MusicTheoryBro
https://blabbermouth.net/news/ex-in-flames-guitarist-jesper-stromblad-the-halo-effect-is-my-priority
Very interesting. New material being written and recorded soon, claims to still be in Cyhra, says there will always be a backup guitar player to play tours (who?) when he can’t.
and then the day before THE posted a letter talking about Jesper’s addiction
https://blabbermouth.net/news/ex-in...nd-for-all-to-deal-with-his-alcohol-addiction
Backups to consider;
Anders Bjorler (ATG until 2017)
Peter Wichers (Soilwork until 2010)
Glenn Ljungström
Alf Svennson (early ATG until 93)
Chris Amott (Arch Enemy until 2011, recently joined Dark Tranquility but would share same schedule as Mikael so it seems doable)
Bjorn Gelotte (why the hell not?)
Anders Bjorler (ATG until 2017)
Peter Wichers (Soilwork until 2010)
Glenn Ljungström
Alf Svennson (early ATG until 93)
Chris Amott (Arch Enemy until 2011, recently joined Dark Tranquility but would share same schedule as Mikael so it seems doable)
Bjorn Gelotte (why the hell not?)
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ThePhobiac
be at ease
Carl Naslund (IF past present future behind space boobs and beers 4/20 praise it)
Already writing for a second album is very exciting. I was worried this may end up a one-off.
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