IN FLAMES guitarist Björn Gelotte spoke to Australia's Metal Mal about the

band's latest addition, drummer Tanner Wayne. Best known for his work
with UNDERMINDED, SCARY KIDS SCARING
KIDS and CHIODOS, Tanner joined IN FLAMES following the departure
of Joe Rickard, who played on the group's 2016 album "Battles".

Asked how it was replacing a drummer in the middle of recording a new studio
LP, the just-released "I, The Mask", Björn said: "We didn't really do that in the
middle. Joe said, before the recording, before we were coming over to the [studio
in the] U.S., he said he can't play drums anymore, basically — his back is all
messed up. I don't know if it's from an old injury or what it is, but he was
constantly on pain medication. It's simply not good. And we were devastated,
obviously, and figured, 'Okay, let's just go there. And we'll figure something out
when we get there.' Everybody's a musician in L.A., right? But Joe really
insisted. He said, 'I wanna do this. I want this to be what I do. I don't want
anybody else to do it.' So we did all the music, recorded everything to
programmed drums first. And then Joe just stepped in a couple of days and then
did all the drums for all the songs but one on the record. And then we were done
— we thought the album was done — but then we had some more time way later
and recorded two more, and then Tanner did the drums on those. So it was never
like in the process that it happened — it was way later. Since we weren't in any
hurry to release the record — we wanted to release it together with some proper
touring and just to be able to play the stuff like… When we did the record, 'I,
The Mask', we were still on the 'Battles' touring cycle, so we were in no hurry
whatsoever. So when we found this extra time, we just recorded them. Tanner is
an amazing drummer and just went in and kicked butt. And it turned out great. So
one of the songs [with Tanner] is actually on the record."

Tanner made his live debut with IN FLAMES in July 2018 in Brno, Czech
Republic.

"I, The Mask" was released on March 1 via Nuclear Blast (worldwide,
excluding North America) and Eleven Seven Music (North America). The disc
reunites IN FLAMES with Grammy-nominated producer Howard
Benson (MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, MOTÖRHEAD) who also
produced "Battles". Additionally, the album was mixed by Grammy Award
winner Chris Lord-Alge (CHEAP TRICK, LINKIN PARK) and mastered
by Grammy-winning mastering engeneer Ted
Jensen(PANTERA, EAGLES, GUNS N' ROSES).