In Flames have rejected complains from followers unhappy with their change in musical direction over the years.
The Swedish outfit recently revealed how 11th album Siren Charms, launched last year, carried a heavy Van Halen influence. That followed a rebalancing of influences with the departure of guitarist Jesper Stromblad in 2010 and the return of Niclas Engelin.
Guitarist Bjorn Gelotte tells Noisecreep: “There’s no way you can please everybody. There’s no way you can listen to everybody. The only thing we know is what we like, the five of us in the band.”
Frontman Anders Friden says: “We love our fans and we’re so grateful that we can do what we do – travel the world and work with our hobby.”
But he adds: “We cannot listen to 1000 people – that would be an extremely confusing song,” he says. “We are the ones who’ll live with this album for ever, so we have to be happy with what we’ve done.”
In Flames play this year’s Download festival, headlined by Slipknot, Muse and Kiss.
