IN FLAMES' GELOTTE Talks Supergroup Project, JESPER STRÖMBLAD And Ex-Singer's Royalty Claim (Video)

Germany's EMP Rock Invasion recently conducted an interview with guitarist Björn Gelotte of Swedish metallers IN FLAMES. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the much-rumored project featuring Gelotte, OPETH vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt and MASTODON guitarist/vocalist Bill Kelliher:

Björn: "We talked about it when we met in Australia a couple of years ago. And that would be a fantastic and fun idea, but nothing has been done. It's just, like, 'Yeah, it would be fun to do something.' You know, you say this to a lot of people. But these are guys that would be really interesting to work with, if ever this came together. So I'll definitely be up for it — when I have time."

On recent claims made by Henke Forss, who sang on IN FLAMES' 1995 EP "Subterranean", about unpaid back royalties:

Björn: "Stuff like this happens all the time. 'Cause in the past IN FLAMES wasn't really a band, it was more of a project. And if you know our history, you know that we had a couple of different singers. Mikael [Stanne] from DARK TRANQUILLITY was one of them, and Henke Forss, I don't know where he was from, but he was another singer. And Anders [Fridén] was in DARK TRANQUILLITY at the time. So it was all a big inbred circus, basically, in Gothenburg. And so, members come and go, and some people are content with what they did, and some are not. It's interesting [that Henke would come forward 20 years later with these claims]. If he did that, that's kind of… I don't know."

Former IN FLAMES guitarist Jesper Strömblad's recent claim that his alcohol addiction was only a "small" part of the reason he left the band:

Björn: "Of course that's not the only reason that he quit. Of course not. It was several things, but it was a part of it. He's still one of my best friends, and I'll support him every day, all the time. If he needs anything, I'm there. But our schedules are so different now, so we rarely see each other. We almost need to do a tour together to hang out, and that's rarely happened. So touring was a part of what was tough for him. But yeah, he's free to say whatever he wants."

On Strömblad's claim that IN FLAMES' current musical direction does not match his original "vision" for the group:

Björn: "Yeah, that could be one reason too [for his departure from the band]. But he was part of it all the way up until two records ago. So that's not the whole truth either."