L-R:Jesper Strömblad, Daniel Svensson, Mikael Stanne, Peter Iwers, Niclas Engelin
The Halo Effect
is a five-piece Melodic Death Metal supergroup based in Gothenburg, Sweden, composed entirely of former members of In Flames.Amidst the worldwide touring stoppage caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, several veterans of the legendary Gothenburg melodeath scene came up with the idea to create a group that would be a Genre Throwback to the 1990s "Gothenburg sound", which had been pioneered by In Flames before their eventual Genre Shift to Alternative Metal. Fronted by longtime Dark Tranquillity vocalist Mikael Stanne, they signed a record deal with Nuclear Blast in 2021 and released their debut album Days of the Lost on 12 August 2022.
Members:
Genres:Related Acts:
- Ceremonial Oath (Strömblad)
- Cyrha (Iwers, Strömblad)
- Dark Tranquillity (Stanne)
- Diabolique (Svensson)
- Dromriket (Engelin)
- Engel (Engelin)
- HammerFall (Stanne, Strömblad)
- In Flames (everyone)
- Passenger (Engelin)
- Sacrilege GBG (Svensson)
- Sinergy (Strömblad)
- Niclas Engelin — lead guitar (2021-present)
- Peter Iwers — bass (2021-present)
- Mikael Stanne — lead vocals (2021-present)
- Jesper Strömblad — rhythm guitar (2021-present)
- Daniel Svensson — drums (2022-present)
- Patrik Jensen — rhythm guitar (touring, 2022-present)
Discography
- Days of the Lost (2021)
The Halo Effect provides examples of the following tropes:
- After the End: The video for "Shadowminds" includes a number of shots of a burning, war-ravaged city with no one around, and a boy standing in a wheat field wearing a gas mask.
- Color Wash: The video for "In Broken Trust" is a playthrough of the song on the roof of a skyscraper at night, with a green lens filter.
- Genre Throwback: The band members very deliberately set out to recreate the classic 1990s Gothenburg melodeath sound, albeit with up-to-date recording and engineering.
- Harsh Vocals: Stanne sings almost exclusively in harshes, though his diction is clear enough that the lyrics are very easy to understand.
- Soprano and Gravel: Or baritone and gravel in this case. The verses of "In Broken Trust" and "A Truth Worth Lying For" are sung in Harsh Vocals, but the chorus is done in cleans.
- Supergroup: As the list of related bands should indicate, the members are all veterans of the Gothenburg metal scene. The one band they all have in common is In Flames.
