In Flames Returns With Blistering 'State Of Slow Decay' Single

Can you believe In Flames' thirteenth studio album I, The Mask (featuring tracks like 'Voices') is already three years old? It's been an eventful few years since, with the Gothenburg band reissuing their Clayman record in 2020 and frontman Anders Fridén venturing into a solo side-project If Anything, Suspcious. Under the curious moniker, Fridén debuted new tracks ‘Nodes Of Yesod’ and ‘Farewell’ last year, before releasing a mammoth seventeen track record (spanning over an hour and fifteen minutes) called Lullabies for the Damned. 

Of course, there's more happening in relation to the In Flames legacy with a bunch of ex-members teaming up as The Halo Effect, to bring the world their response to where melodic death metal should be in 2022. Whilst we're salivating for the looming release, today is all about new music from In Flames. Over the weekend, the Swedes debuted brand new single 'State Of Slow Decay' at Nova Rock Festival in Austria, and today they're releasing the studio version, which will hopefully be the start of a new album cycle, having resigned with Nuclear Blast worldwide.

On the track, Fridén comments:

"We have always done our own thing without any pressure from the outside world, BUT being back with Nuclear Blast worldwide has for sure inspired us to write a host of new material that includes the past, the present, and the future. 'State of Slow Decay' includes everything that In Flames are known for. But it's more than just a song, it's a fucking statement. I couldn't be happier to release this as a taste of what's to come."

The four-minute single immediately delivers signature In Flames riffs with signature tuning from their 2010s era. Fridén has a particularly heaviness about his approach though, seemingly more so than what you might expect. Whilst the Scandinavians are known to have progressed their sound over the past few decades, their is definitely a nod to their earlier years with elements of this track with its unrelenting pace. It will be very interesting to see what else is in store for these guys for the rest of the year, more on that to come.

Words by Ricky Aarons (@rickysaul90)

Stream In Flames - 'State Of Slow Decay' here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goddrM-QozI