In Flames Cancel All Summer 2014 Tour Dates, Anders Friden Gets a Haircut

Trouble’s afoot in the In Flames camp. But relax, it’s probably nothing too serious.

Yesterday morning In Flames teased on their Facebook page that they’d be making an announcement later in the day. Most IF fans thought it’d have something to do with a new album since the band’s been teasing that for some time too, but it ended up being the following bomb: “Announcement: – In Flames has decided to postpone all shows planned for summer 2014. New tour dates will be presented shortly. #IF2014.” A few hours later they followed with a simple link to their official website… which has absolutely nothing on it but the band’s logo and the above hashtag.

That’s obviously a let-down; the band had previously been scheduled to appear at a handful of European festivals including Download and Rock im Park. But based on the the fact that they’re actively driving traffic to an overhauled (if minimalistic) website, my wager is that they’re just taking the time needed to finish up their new album instead of disrupting the process with show dates. Gotta take care of business at home first, ya know?

Then this morning In Flames posted a new photo of the band along with the hashtag #SC. The lone image on their website is titled sc.png, so clearly the initials “SC” are significant, probably hinting at the new album’s title, which would lend credence to my “finishing up the album” theory. Other than Anders’ spiffy new haircut, there aren’t any new members in the photo so “member troubles” can be crossed off the list of possible reasons to cancel shows.

So, new In Flames album some time this summer would be my guess. I’ve got all the love in the world for In Flames, but the last two albums haven’t done much for me so I’m not too optimistic. I’m open to being surprised, though; they came back from the abyss once already with Come Clarity, so who’s to say they can’t do it again?