Formerly known as the lead guitar player for Megadeth, Chris Broderick joined the Swedish metal band In Flames, sometime in 2019. During a recent interview for the Bloodstock festival YouTube channel, Broderick looked back on how he joined In Flames and what it was like to suddenly learn so much new material in a short period of time when he was called in to replace Niclas Engelin. Broderick offered (transcribed by Killer Guitar Rigs):
“Because I knew it was such a huge amount of material to cover right away, I was like, ‘It’s going to be what it’s going to be.'”
Needless to say, with a guitar player of Broderick’s caliber, the band was safe. But at the same time, this was a real challenge to learn so much when time is something you don’t have. He continued:
“I did my best to prepare as well as I could, but even by the time I got down to Texas, where the tour kicked off, all of these parts were swimming around in my head.”
“They would call out a song to play for rehearsal the day before the show, and I’d be, ‘Alright, what song was that? How’s that part go?’ So it was really crazy, but it ended up coming together pretty well. And then now that I’ve been in the process for a while, it seems so much more relaxed and chill.”
When asked to recall how he joined the Swedish group, Broderick looked back when his old band Jag Panzer was on tour with In Flames
“It was broken a long time ago, because not only was I exposed… I think it was actually… Björn [Gelotte] actually corrected me on this, because of the timeline, but I think it might have been ‘Whoracle’ that I had originally heard, but ‘Clayman’ is one of my all-time favorites, as it should be.”
“But since then, Jag Panzer toured with In Flames multiple times, like with Iced Earth, with Nevermore. I was in Nevermore when we toured with In Flames as well. And then of course, Megadeth and Gigantour.”
Knowing that he’s the new guy and that In Flames are led by guitarist Björn Gelotte and vocalist Anders Fridén, he was then asked whether he’s now bringing in new ideas for potential new songs. He replied:
“It’s funny to me because I think they would be open, but at the same time, you wanna make sure that it sounds like In Flames, like Swedish metal, so I don’t want to impinge on that at all.”
“I’ve got my ideas and my things that I like to play and write and stuff like that, and if they ever want a piece of it, then I’m more than happy to give it over.”
Although initially only hired as a touring member, Chris Broderick was announced as the permanent part of In Flames’ lineup in 2022. After this came his first-ever album with the band, 2023’s “Foregone” where all of the material was written by Björn Gelotte and Anders Fridén.
After joining In Flames in 2019 as a touring member, Broderick decided to disband his project Act of Defiance. Nonetheless, his work with Act of Defiance is still very much admired by metal fans, particularly guitar players. The same goes for his years spent in the legendary thrash metal band Megadeth with whom he recorded three albums with.
With that said, it’s only obvious that Broderick would get praise from fans, sometimes even in person. And according to what he also said in this interview for Bloodstock, it’s exactly this that makes him proud of his work and that motivates him to continue doing his thing. When asked to bring in any particular moment of his career that would be a highlight, he explained that something important happened just recently:
“You know what, in a sense, it just happened. I had this other guitarist backstage walk up to me and he’s like, ‘I just wanted to say that you’ve been such a huge influence on me since I was 16 years old, and you’ve made such an impact on my playing’, and to me, that is honestly the most humbling and enjoyable thing you can hear.”
Broderick then also explained how the interaction with the fans and witnessing how his music has impacted so many people first-hand is what does it for him:
“But that and just the interaction with the crowds really, quite honestly, to see music change people’s lives and bring them joy — seeing people crowd surfing over the top and going crazy. I love that aspect of it probably almost more than anything.”
In an interview from earlier this year, Broderick also looked back on his work in Megadeth and named the most important differences between them and his current band In Flames. He explained:
“I actually identify with Björn’s writing style quite a bit. He has a strong sense of melody but he also likes to present counter-melody, whether it’s within the rhythm line or whether you contain both an upper and lower melody within the rhythm line.”
“That’s stuff I’ve always gravitated towards. For me, it was like putting on an old pair of shoes. Whereas Megadeth was more of a rhythm- or riff-oriented structure – you have these riffs, then solos, then riffs – this was much more melodic.”
“It’s much more compositional in a way. Instead of, ‘I’ve got this guitar riff! And here’s the next guitar riff!’, it’s, ‘How am I going to build this melody into the chorus?’”
Photo: S. Bollmann (In Flames Rockharz 2023 07)
