Engelin, who was involved for the first time in witnessing the creation process of In Flames, says his own point of view.
- When I heard the first Demos, they were so heavy and crude that I was just in trouble, hah hah. But it’s just part of the whole process, then comes mixing and recording and everyone has something to say. However, the end result is really great, he decides and lets Gelotten continue:
- Yep, the end result is more polished. So the studio picks up to visit. I remember how we laughed at first because some of the songs were really, really death metal! But that was before the vocal parts came along.
Gelotte says bluntly that the softness of the melodies and the soloist’s more open tendency towards classical rock was not an easy piece to chew at first.
- I didn't understand some songs at all, because they still had a completely different feel during the demo phase. But then you just listen to it, suck the whole thing and try to understand until suddenly the pieces snap into place and realize that the song is actually much better this way.
Gelotte praises the soloist and denies In Flames lost his direction at any point. On the contrary, “experimenting with things,” as Gelotte calls it, and combining metal influences with Fridén’s own musical ambitions are, in his view, exactly what “makes us In Flames”.
- It gives the music its own color, its own dimension, and this is a very interesting mix, even a collision.
but I agree it sounds fine when you consider how rushed it was. Some songs are a bit nerfed by the production (Behind Space especially) but stuff like Starforsaken and Upon an Oaken Throne still sound killer. 
