The Halo Effect formed in 2019 and features former In Flames members Niclas Engelin, Peter Iwers, Daniel Svensson, and Jesper Strömblad. Of course this sparked immediate conversation online about The Halo Effect being some sort of “new In Flames” and there being a rivalry between the two bands.
However, Iwers assures everyone in an interview with Belgian Jasper that everything is cool between the two bands. Iwers even points out that he and current In Flames guitarist Björn Gelotte run a restaurant called Restaurant 2112 in Gothenburg, so y’know – things aren’t exactly contentious.
“Well, we were reminded a lot. ‘Don’t forget that you all played together at one point’ or ‘you played in this band’, and it’s, like, we know, but that’s not why we started The Halo Effect. We started The Halo Effect because we wanted to play together again, and some of us have never played together, and, obviously, this constellation has never played together. I knew there would be a lot of comparisons and there would be talks about rivalry and stuff like that. And if you know me and you know people around me, you know that there’s no such thing as rivalry. I try to get along with everybody, and this is the case with In Flames as well.”
Iwers continued, noting that there will probably always be comparisons between The Halo Effect and In Flames, but that he’s just happy to be making music above all. It’s worth mentioning that The Halo Effect will release their new record March Of The Unheard this Friday. Pre-orders are available here.
“There’s no rivalry; there’s no stuff like that. Let’s just like get that out of the way. I still run a restaurant with Björn. We still talk to each other a bunch of times every week and all that stuff. But with that said, when the album was out and that the feedback was so positive, I guess without thinking about it, without having any expectations, kind of like now [as we prepare to release a new The Halo Effect album] — the music’s done; I’m happy, I’m not nervous. Of course, when the actual response comes, if it’s possible, I will always go, ‘Ah, thank god.’ But at that point, we were just happy because before Days Of The Lost was out, we actually had it ready for about two years.
“We formed the band just before the pandemic hit, and then we were able to sit in the studio and in the rehearsal spaces and all those places to write music and take our sweet time. And then when we were done and we were ready to release it, we had to wait another year and a half or so before the actual plan could be started. And this time around we had songs that were written along the way and we had to schedule the studio time in a little bit more than before and kind of go in and focus more. But there was no stress. There was nothing like that. So I’m very eager to get the music out there. I’m not nervous. There will be some comparisons, of course, to In Flames, as always, but also to the first record, as it should be. I’m just happy to get the music out. I’ve gotta say that.”
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