ONLY FOR THE WEAK BY IN FLAMES

“I HAVE SO many memories of this song,” In Flames frontman Anders Fridén smiles when asked about his band’s signature anthem, Only For The Weak. “The first one that comes to mind is when we played it at a festival in Gothenburg [Metaltown 2010]. It was being held next to a bridge between the city and the nearest island. We played the song and then the earthquake alarms on the bridge started ringing! They had to move the festival the next year because of that.”

Anders’ voice is bright with perverse pride as he nears the 20th anniversary of a track so powerful that it nearly destroyed millions of pounds’ worth of 1930s architecture. “That’s what you call a heavy song!” he quips happily, showing none of the apathy that some rockers develop towards numbers they’ve been playing night in, night out for decades.

“I mean… it’s awesome!” holds such a reputation as a career standout, the singer’s merriment is replaced with careful thought. “You can’t really answer that,” he replies. “We never write a song so that people can go, ‘Bingo!’ - we try to write an album from beginning to end. Every song has to fit in within the album. It has to have a certain dynamic, a certain feel, in order to fit in with the one that comes next.”