New album Foregone out February 2023

[eochaid]

Everything seems to be fine with Anders' ex-bandmates .

I said this before and I'm saying this again. It's off that, despite playing in the same festival, despite Peter and Daniel announcing that they were going to see IF live, there was no interaction with the band.

 

[DE4life]

I seriously don't understand this Engelin thing at all. Why can neither he nor In Flames say that he's done with the group? is it a contractual thing? It's so weird how the question is never answered properly.

 

[eochaid]

Could it be that they never told him? Then, he might be trying to avoid all of the drama while, obviously, being upset.

 

[galvanized]

I seriously don't understand this Engelin thing at all. Why can neither he nor In Flames say that he's done with the group? is it a contractual thing? It's so weird how the question is never answered properly.

Same with Cyrha and Jesper.

I admire the self-discipline of Swedish bands to keep all this drama hush hush. If it was an American band each member would be writing 10,000 word essays posted to Instagram and Twitter just a day after someone got their feelings hurt.

 

[DE4life]

I feel like for Niclas and In Flames it just keeps the drama going though - it's not like anyone has to write a hit piece assigning blame to one party or another. Just say whether Niclas is still a member or not. All signs point to him being out, so what's the big reluctance to just say it outright? Or, if it's a hiatus whilst Niclas does other things, why not just say that? I don't get it.

 

[eochaid]

Maybe is that how Swedish people behave? It's cultural. When there's a divorce, instead of saying it, both parts of the couple spend the rest of their lives trying to avoid each other.

What if "I won't talk about that" is the Swedish translation for "we have broken"?

 

[DE4life]

I dunno .... Jesper, Peter and Daniel all made statements when they left. They didn't spend literally years refusing to confirm whether they were out or not.

 

[eochaid]

Maybe they're only half Swedish.

 

[The Grayfox]

I'm starting to think there's some twist here where Niclas is a mysterious benefactor. He secretly owns all of the rights to In Flames music, the name, all of it. And some day when In Flames calls it quits, he will just appear and say "It was me, Anders! It was me all along!" And then he will erase Siren Charms and Battles from existence and remix and remaster ASOP. And he will reveal some super talented Swedish kid who nobody knows about, who has been training in the mountains, to replace all of the vocals on the modern In Flames albums. It'll be the greatest heel move in the history of MDM.

Seriously, why won't they just say that he isn't in the band anymore? Clearly he isn't. Something happened there.

 

[eochaid]

We shouldn't discard stupidity being involved.

 

[DE4life]

I'm starting to think there's some twist here where Niclas is a mysterious benefactor. He secretly owns all of the rights to In Flames music, the name, all of it. And some day when In Flames calls it quits, he will just appear and say "It was me, Anders! It was me all along!" And then he will erase Siren Charms and Battles from existence and remix and remaster ASOP. And he will reveal some super talented Swedish kid who nobody knows about, who has been training in the mountains, to replace all of the vocals on the modern In Flames albums. It'll be the greatest heel move in the history of MDM.

Seriously, why won't they just say that he isn't in the band anymore? Clearly he isn't. Something happened there.

Sounds more like a babyface move to me but yeah, something about this situation between Niclas and IF is just weird. As I said, even if they had agreed that he'd have an indefinite hiatus from the band, why not just say that? What's up with all of the ambiguity? It just makes no sense. They're all dancing around the subject like there's something beneath the surface that nobody dares talk about.

 

[ThePhobiac]

I still think it's most likely that they're saving the announcement for when they announce their upcoming album. I don't think it needs to be coordinated that way, personally, but it's what makes the most sense imo. Unless he's like Rumpelstiltskin in that he can't answer the question or else he'll cease to exist.

Unless he has no intention of leaving In Flames and wants to return when he can tour with them, and Chris being brought on as a full member in his absence because they kinda need a second guitarist in the meantime is making the whole thing an awkward subject.

 

[DE4life]

It's not awkward if they just come out and say what's going on though. Surely the way they are going about it is making things much more awkward than if they just came out with whatever the truth of the matter is?

 

[DE4life]

Hmmm, looks like the guy who did the interview deleted his initial response to me I can't see it in the comments anymore.

 

[ThePhobiac]

I mean I definitely agree; they're handling it in a really bizarre way if it's for what I suspect are pretty mundane reasons.

 

[galvanized]

Probably they are worried that if Niclas leaves they will lose fans.

 

[ThePhobiac]

I think Jesper leaving was the maximum-impact member departure, so while it'd be disappointing I don't think it would be make-or-break for the fans if Niclas left.

 

[galvanized]

I'm starting to think there's some twist here where Niclas is a mysterious benefactor. He secretly owns all of the rights to In Flames music, the name, all of it.

I could see that. Niclas seems to be one of the more financially/mentally/physically stable members. Has held down a steady painting business, doesn’t seem to be an alcoholic like all the other members, productive with other bands, etc. I could actually see Niclas bank rolling the band during a hard time. Like he gave them money for a 25-50% share of all royalties or something when the rest of the members were binging or suffering from mental health problems.

 

[eochaid]

I really think that you people are overthinking things here .

Usually, the simplest answer is the right answer. Sometimes, there's no answer.

 

[DE4life]

We know that THE won't be a full-time band, as Jesper/Peter/Daniel are unlikely to want to go back to constant touring and Mikael still has DT and there's no suggestion he's planning to quit that.

I wonder if Niclas originally thought he could balance the IF/THE duties, but Anders and/or Bjorn disagree and that's where the impasse is. Maybe they're all waiting to see how THE thing pans out for Niclas before deciding whether he's coming back or not, and the reason they aren't outright coming out and saying so is because none of them want to acknowledge any tension between the two bands.