Bjorn: It's a very dynamic album, its very diverse.  The core is still In Flames, but we tried to take whatever we did on the previous albums and take the next step, take a different direction.  It's an album that I think reflects the last years touring we did, we toured with some really good bands and we learned a lot of things.

Ron: You'll be touring in support of this album soon, what's the basic schedule?

Bjorn: The first tour starts in August in the US, it's gonna be as far as I know with Earth Crisis and Skinlab.

Ron: How do you feel about touring with Earth Crisis, pretty different styles there...

Bjorn: It is, but I don't think that's a bad thing.  The people that like our kind of music will come anyway, and we can reach some other people as well, maybe turn them over to our kind of music instead.  I think it's interesting and it could be a good package.

Ron: What's it like when you're on tour, going from in other countries where you're playing big venues, and then in the US where it's kind of on a smaller scale with the scene now?

Bjorn: Actually it's not that big of a difference, we don't play Arena's or anything, maybe up to 1000, 1500 people, but I actually like it when it's a bit more small, because you get closer to the audience, it's easier to get that intense feeling that you wanna have when you play live.  Like, festivals, I really don't like playing festivals in europe, because then you have a fence, you know, 4 meters away from the stage and behind that, there's the people, and it's too far away, I think it's cool to be up front with all the people.

Ron: I think it's better for the fans too.

Bjorn: Yeah, they can actually, you know, see you [laughs] so you know, I like that.

Ron: Do you guys have a good time on tour, any good road stories?

Bjorn: Oh we have a bunch of stories, [laughing ]I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you... But we're like family, the band.  This lineup that we have now-

Ron: Yeah, you've had this same lineup for two albums now, what effect do you think this had had on the new album?

Bjorn: A lot of things have been affected, first off the writing process was way different this time.  Usually it's just me and Jesper writing the music, and telling the other guys what to play more or less, but this didn't happen this time, as I said we're so close, we're like family, and best friends, and in order to be able to work like a family and in the future as well, we tried to do it differently and tried to make everybody a part of the writing process.  We still wrote all the riffs and melodies, but we put it together as a group, as a team instead, and I think that is very much reflected on the album.

Ron: When you guys write the songs, I know some bands will write a bunch of songs and then pick and choose what's going to be on the album, do you do that or do you just focus on specific songs?

Bjorn: We never did that.  This time, it took about a month to write 11 songs, and instead of making 30 songs and picking 12, we concentrate on those 11 songs that we have created, and just work with dynamics and arrangements, we work a whole lot with arrangements of the songs, just to make it feel totally write.  I think that's the right way to do it, otherwise you can lose some really good stuff, if you never record a song, and also, it's hard to be satisfied with 30 songs, so it's better to concentrate on these 11 or 12 that you have.

Ron: On the album, who's doing the solos?

Bjorn: I play all the solos, more or less.  Me and Jesper share it but I play mainly the solos and he plays the melodies.

Ron: About the title track, Clayman, what's the song about, and why did you decide to pick it for the title track?

Bjorn: First off for one it's something short, something that is easy to remember, but also I think it kind of symbolizes the whole concept of the album-it's not a concept album, but, it has a red line through all the songs.  I think it's about, a clay man is someone who is shaped, or, everybody really, because you are shaped from the moment you are born.  People start telling you what you can do and what you cannot do, and all these laws in society, and unspoken laws and stuff like that.  You get shaped all the time, without knowing it, and how hard it is to find your identity in all of this.

Ron: Could you explain the cover art on the album?

Bjorn: The middle, there's the Clayman, he is shaped, in clay or stone if you will, he is very much shaped, and that's the main part.  Also the fact that we have flames on it, that's a cool thing I think, we never had that before, and I mean, we're a heavy metal band so why didn't we have flames before?

Ron: and, you know, In Flames.

Bjorn: Yeah, you know.  Also, in the background we have the Jester, which is sort of a symbol we use.

Ron: You're really the pioneers of this style of melodic death metal, what's being called the 'Gothenburg Sound' and there are a lot of great bands that are breaking off with this style and taking it, how does it feel to have this kind of impact on this area of music?

Bjorn: Of course you're very honored, when people say "they sound like In Flames" or stuff like that, you get very proud when you hear that.  The only thing that really worries me about is that, you have to find your own identity, you have to put your own brand on your music, even though it's okay to get influenced by stuff, but you have to have your own sound.  As long as people remember that I think it's great.

Ron: Clayman is getting traded around in mp3 form on the internet already, are you guys bummed out about that or do you think it could help word of mouth?

Bjorn:  I think that the internet is a good medium for musicians and bands to put their music out, I wouldn't have it any other way.  But as with all good things, there's a bad thing about it, and the fact that the promo CD had been out for two days, I think, and then the CD was already all over the internet.  That's a bad thing, but I can live with that.

Ron: Somebody is flashing me a question here, Kaz wants to know what you think of the new Iron Maiden album.

Bjorn: I think it's great, I think the fact that Bruce is back is great, cause now they sound like In Flames-Er, [laughs] like Iron Maiden again, like In Flames, that would have been something...

Ron: Do you guys know what will be on the Japanese release in terms of bonus tracks yet?

Bjorn: probably, we recorded 12 songs in the studio, the 12th one is a cover of a Swedish band-

Ron: Is that the song on the "Power From the North" disc?

Bjorn: No, it's a different one, actually it's a Swedish hardcore band, but they're cool guys so we decided to do a cover of one of their songs.  They're called No Fun at All and the song is Strong and Smart - hold on, they keep telling me I have to leave, I have to go to the airport, I'm going back to Sweden today.

Ron: Well, thanks very much for talking to us, and good luck with the tour and we'll hope to see you in Rochester, thanks again!

Bjorn: Thank you!