In Flames Intend To Steal Guitar Tricks On Gigantour

When Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine started Gigantour in 2005, he said he wanted to "put together a festival that consisted of positive bands that play heavy music in a high energy environment." It's a wonder that it took him four tries to book Gothenburg, Sweden melodic death-metallers In Flames — a band known for their high-energy shows. But landing a spot on the six-week North American tour hasn't been the Swedish quintet's only big accomplishment this year.

In Flames released their ninth studio album, the aptly titled A Sense Of Purpose, earlier this month. They recorded it in what is now their own studio.

"It's a proper studio, not a rehearsal space, and it's big," says guitarist Bjorn Gelotte about the studio he co-owns with the rest of the band. "There's a lounge area, which is more important than the mixing room, because we aren't always recording."

Most importantly, the studio allowed In Flames to record A Sense Of Purpose together, which they hadn't been able to do since 2002's Reroute To Remain.

"That's how you want to do it," explains Gelotte. "We're a bit older, so we can agree a bit easier nowadays.

"Now that we've had this lineup for 10 years, we feel like we know each other. Everyone's input is really important, and this recording process had a real family feeling to it."

A Sense Of Purpose debuted at #7 on the Canadian sales chart. They're looking to maintain their momentum via Gigantour, where they're playing alongside High On Fire, Job For A Cowboy, Children Of Bodom and Megadeth.

"Megadeth has a totally different audience, so our music is reaching different age groups," says Gelotte. "There's a really nice atmosphere to this tour.

"Young people like to share music, which is different than older people, so it's a perfect match on this tour. There is also a lot of guitar-driven bands, which is always a lot of fun. I'm watching the other guitar players to see if there's anything I can steal."

Not only does the tour coincide with In Flames' latest studio effort, it shows they've been able to outlast other Gothenburg metal acts and retain worldwide popularity.

"I think there are many factors to why we've been able to stick around," Gelotte says. "First, we're the captains of this ship.

"We make all of the musical decisions. There's no music label, producer or manager that can decide what we do. In that way, we will always like what we do. We did it for us. And we enjoy doing it. This is our passion."

You can watch In Flames enjoy themselves at these Canadian Gigantour dates:

April 30 Mississauga, ON @ Arrow Hall
May 1 London, ON @ John Labatt Centre
May 10 Winnipeg, MB @ Convention Centre
May 11 Saskatoon, SK @ Prairieland Exhibition Hall
May 12 Edmonton, AB @ Shaw Conference Centre
May 14 Calgary, AB @ The Corral
May 16 Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum