Ex-In Flames + Amaranthe Members Resurface in CyHra, Debut Album in the Works
Whenever a key member of a band leaves, it takes a hard toll on fans. The departure of Jesper Strömblad from In Flames in 2010 was one such case, as was Amaranthe co-singer Jake E. announcing his split with the group last year. Fortunately for fans, both have resurfaced in the new group CyHra.
Joining the guitarist and singer will be bassist Peter Iwers, who exited In Flames in late 2016 as well as drummer Alexander Landenberg of Luca Turilli's Rhapsody. With new music already underway, CyHra intend to release their debut album through Spinefarm / Universal and follow it up with a supporting tour.
Speaking to BraveWords, Jake E. provided some background information as to how the project came together, "I formed CyHra with a guitar hero of mine, Jesper Strömblad of In Flames," continuing, "Me and Jesper have been friends for many years. We're from the same city and I used to do pyrotechnics for In Flames way back in the day, so we became friends when we were on tour."
Adding further detail, the singer went on, "At the end of 2015, beginning of 2016 we met at a bar and I told Jesper I was thinking about doing a solo album. He told me that he had also wanted to do a solo album and asked if I would sing on it. I suggested he play guitar on my solo album, and that's when Jesper had the idea that we should do something together."
Recruiting Landenberg in the process, Jake E. said they had four songs worked out and decided to make this project a full time band. Without warning, Iwers offered his talents to CyHra and left In Flames shortly after.
Regarding what fans can expect CyHra to sound like, the singer commented, "You can hear that CyHra is metal but over the eight years that I was with Amaranthe, I became really inspired by bands like Bring Me The Horizon, 30 Seconds To Mars, Sixx:A.M. and bands like that. There are heavy guitars, heavy drums, heavy bass, but you also have a bit more of this melancholic feeling in some of the CyHra songs. That's why I said the music sounds a bit more modern. As you get older you evolve as a songwriter and CyHra is the result of that."
What remains uncertain is if the band will perform In Flames or Amaranthe material live. Jake E. maintained he had never thought about the possibility, but added, "It would be really cool. I wonder how it would sound with me on an In Flames song.... maybe something like Bon Jovi singing Slayer (laughs)."
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