In Flames just fine without Jesper

In Flames miss former guitarist Jesper Stromblad as a friend but not as a musician, according to singer Anders Friden.

Stromblad left the band in 2010, saying he needed to deal with his alcohol addiction. This year he expanded on that, insisting booze wasn’t entirely to blame and that the band’s musical direction was an issue.

Now Friden says not much has changed when it comes to writing new material since Stromblad’s departure, but he admits he does miss the guitarist’s friendship.

He tells Rock Total TV: “Musically, it’s not that different, to be honest. We have the same approach as we always had. We’re trying to write good melodies, and that’s what we’ve done since the first album.

“So, for us, it wasn’t a big departure in that sense. I mean, we miss the guy as a friend, but we just couldn’t really work together anymore. And I don’t think he wanted to be in the band anymore, to be honest.”

In Flames released their 11th album Siren Charms in September last year. Friden says it represents a natural progression for the band.

He adds: “I think with every In Flames album, we change our sound slightly. It’s not really intentional – things just happen.

“Right now Siren Charms is the way we interpret In Flames music in 2014. And I am quite sure the next album will sound different again.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.