THE HALO EFFECT to record new EP this winter
20-09-2022
THE HALO EFFECT, the new project featuring five former members of the Swedish metal band IN FLAMES — Jesper Strömblad (guitar), Daniel Svensson (drums), Peter Iwers (bass), iclas Engelin (guitar) and Mikael Stanne (vocals) — is planning to enter the studio before the end of the year to record a new EP. The upcoming effort will be the follow-up to THE HALO EFFECT‘s debut album, “Days Of The Lost”, which recently entered the official chart in Sweden at position No. 1. This was believed to be the first time a debut LP from a metal act had ever topped the chart in Sweden in its first week of release. “Days Of The Lost” also landed at No. 6 in Germany.
Speaking to Overdrive.ie ‘s Oran O’Beirne after THE HALO EFFECT‘s September 13 performance in Dublin as the support act for AMON AMARTH and MACHINE HEAD, Peter stated about THE HALO EFFECT‘s plans for the coming months: “We’re gonna try and go back into the studio and finish up the next record. Maybe not a full-length, but like an EP or something ” Mikael added: “I’m gonna be on tour (this) winter with DARK TRANQUILLITY. But then at the end of the year, we’re gonna record some new stuff and hopefully have something ready before next summer so that we can play longer sets, basically… Because it’s been weird playing the entire album at some of the festival shows we’ve done. Also, we did it before the album came out, which nobody does. So, yeah, that was kind of strange.”
“Days Of The Lost” came out on August 12 via Nuclear Blast.
Asked in a recent interview with Tomar Uma if THE HALO EFFECT is a “band” or just a “project”, Mikael said: “It is definitely a new band. It started out as a project or an idea, but because of the time we had, I think we made it into a proper band and we wanna treat it as such because we want to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to make this as good as it possibly can be. We wanna do some tours; we wanna do cool festivals. And we’re already starting to plan for more recordings and the next album and that kind of stuff. So everybody’s just excited. And because it felt good and we were on a roll… You really can’t hold Niclas and Jesper back once they get started. So they’ve already started writing new stuff. Let’s keep up. It’s gonna be a lot of work (laughs) the next couple of years, that’s for sure.”
Watch the visualiser for Needless End’ below.
Frontman Mikael Stanne tells about the track: “The Needless End deals with the crippling inability to deal with abstract problems. Issues that just seem too huge or incomprehensible falls by the wayside in order to deal with more immediate but less important issues. We end up somewhere not because we want to but because we were unable to understand what we needed to do. There is an intensity to this song and a uplifting melody that I think suits this idea. Among all the anger and resentment it’s also hopeful and has an infectious groove and drive.”
Watch the previously released ‘Shadowminds’ and “Feel What I Believe” below.
Strömblad quit the band In Flames in February 2010 in order to continue receiving treatment for his alcohol addiction.
Five years ago, Jesper slammed his former bandmates, calling the group a “sinking ship” and saying IN FLAMES singer Anders Fridén has “never been a songwriter.”
Svensson, who joined IN FLAMES in 1998, announced in 2015 that he was leaving the group to focus on his family life.
A member of IN FLAMES since 1997, Iwers issued a statement in November 2016 saying that he was exiting the band “to pursue other endeavors.”
Engelin has been sitting out IN FLAMES‘ tour dates for the past two and a half years but has never officially confirmed his departure from the band. Engelin‘s replacement for IN FLAMES‘ live shows for most of 2019 and early 2020 has been former MEGADETH and current ACT OF DEFIANCE guitarist Chris Broderick.
When Engelin was asked in an August 2020 interview with the “MetalBreak” podcast what his “future” with IN FLAMES was, he responded, “I choose to pass on that question,” before quickly adding, “I’m still in the band.”
As of last year, Engelin was not listed as a member of IN FLAMES on the band’s Facebook page (Broderick was), and he is not featured in any of IN FLAMES‘ current promotional photos from the group’s record label, Nuclear Blast.
IN FLAMES recruited American drummer Tanner Wayne, best known for his work with UNDERMINDED, SCARY KIDS SCARING KIDS and CHIODOS, to sit behind the kit for the band for its 2018, 2019 and 2020 live appearances. Wayne stepped into IN FLAMES following the departure of Joe Rickard, who played on the band’s “I, The Mask” and “Battles” albums.
Shortly after leaving IN FLAMES, Iwers joined CYHRA, the band featuring vocalist Jake E (ex-AMARANTHE) and Strömblad. He announced his departure from that band in May 2018.
The band have also announced their first ever tour, accompanying Swedish death metal berserkers AMON AMARTH and US thrashers MACHINE HEAD on 31 dates throughout Europe and the UK.
The band comments: “We could not be more excited to partner with Cobra Agency for our first tour of Europe together with metal giants AMON AMARTH and MACHINE HEAD. Working together with people who are passionate about the road, the crews, the bands and the fans means a lot to us and doing this together is something we very much look forward to. See you in Sept/Oct!“
European Tour 2022
AMON AMARTH, MACHINE HEAD /w THE HALO EFFECT (remaining dates)
20.09. EST Tallinn – Saku Arena
21.09. FIN Helsinki – Ice Hall
23.09. N Oslo – Spektrum
24.09. S Stockholm – Hovet
26.09. DK Copenhagen – Forum Black Box
27.09. DE Hamburg – Barclays Arena
28.09. DE Frankfurt – Festhalle
30.09. DE Oberhausen – König Pilsener Arena
01.10. DE Berlin – Velodrom
02.10. NL Amsterdam – Afas Live
04.10. IT Milano – Lorenzini District
06.10. ES Barcelona – Sant Jordi
07.10. ES Madrid – Vistalegre
08.10. ES La Coruna – Coliseum
09.10. P Lisbon – Campo Pequeno
12.10. FR Paris – Zenith
14.10. DE Munich – Olympiahalle
15.10. DE Leipzig – Arena
16.10. CZ Prague – Tipsport Arena
18.10. HU Budapest – Barba Negra
20.10. LUX Esch zur Alzette – Rockhal
21.10. BE Brussels – Forest National
22.10. DE Stuttgart – Schleyerhalle
THE HALO EFFECT is:
Niclas Engelin | guitar
Jesper Strömblad | guitar
Mikael Stanne | vocals
Peter Iwers | bass
Daniel Svensson | drums
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