In Flames

In Flames is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden founded in 1990. Along with Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates, they pioneered what is now known as melodic death metal.

1990–1996
In Flames was founded in 1990 as a side project of Jesper Strömblad who was at the time in a death metal band called Ceremonial Oath.[1][2] Jesper formed In Flames with the purpose of writing songs with a more melodic musical direction, something which he was not allowed to do in Ceremonial Oath.[2][3] In 1993, Jesper decided to quit Ceremonial Oath due to musical differences and began focusing more on In Flames.[2][3] That same year, Jesper (guitar, drums, keyboards) recruited Glenn Ljungström (guitar), and Johan Larsson (bass) to form the first official In Flames line-up.[3]


In Flames logo from 1994 to 1996.The trio recorded a three song demo and sent it to Wrong Again Records.[4][1] In order to increase their chances of being offered a record deal, the trio lied to the owner of the record label by telling him that they already had 13 songs done.[4] The owner of Wrong Again Records, seeing promise in the band, offered In Flames a record deal over the phone.[1]

During 1993, In Flames wrote, recorded, and self-produced their debut studio album, Lunar Strain, in Studio Fredman. Since In Flames did not have a vocalist yet, Jesper asked Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity to provide session vocals.[5] In 1994, Lunar Strain was released.

During 1994, In Flames recorded and self-produced their first EP, Subterranean, in Studio Fredman. In Flames still did not have a vocalist yet, so session vocals were provided this time by Henke Forss. In 1995, Subterranean was released. Subterranean allowed In Flames to break out of the underground scene and led them to acquire a record deal with Nuclear Blast.[1]

In 1995, In Flames finally got tired of using session musicians to record an album or to do live shows, so the trio asked Anders Fridén to join the band as the full-time vocalist and Björn Gelotte as the full-time drummer.[4][2][1] That same year, the new line-up recorded the band's second studio album, The Jester Race. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman, but unlike previous albums, it was co-produced by the studio's owner, Fredrik Nordström. In 1996, The Jester Race was released. Afterwards, In Flames toured with bands such as Samael, Grip Inc., and Kreator.[1]


1997–2001

In Flames logo from 1997 to 2001.In 1997, In Flames recorded and released their third studio album, Whoracle. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman and co-produced by Fredrik Nordström. After the album was recorded, Glenn Ljungström and Johan Larsson unexpectedly announced that they were leaving In Flames.[1] Niklas Engelin (guitar) and Peter Iwers (bass) were recruited to fill in the vacant spots during a tour with Dimmu Borgir.[6][1] After the tour both Niklas Engelin and Peter Iwers were asked to join the band permanently, and they did. With the new line-up, In Flames then proceeded with a European tour and played their first two shows in Japan.[1] However, by the end of that tour in 1998, Niklas Engelin quit In Flames.[7]

In 1998, to fill the vacant guitarist spot, the band decided to switch Björn Gelotte from his position as drummer to guitarist, and they recruited Daniel Svensson to take over as drummer.[8] That same year, the new line-up recorded the band's fourth studio album, Colony. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman and co-produced by Fredrik Nordström. In 1999, Colony was released. Afterwards, In Flames toured Europe, Japan, and played their first show in the United States during the Milwaukee Metal Fest.[9]

In 2000, In Flames recorded and released their fifth studio album, Clayman. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman and co-produced by Fredrik Nordström. Afterwards, In Flames did some tours with bands such as Dream Theater, Slipknot, and Testament.[1] In August 2001, In Flames released The Tokyo Showdown, a live album recorded during the Japanese tour in November 2000.


2002–present

In Flames logo from 2002 to present.In 2002, In Flames recorded and released their sixth studio album, Reroute to Remain. Unlike all previous albums, Reroute to Remain was not recorded in Studio Fredman or produced by Fredrik Nordström. The album was recorded in Dug-Out studio and produced by Daniel Bergstrand. That year the band toured with bands such as Slayer, Soulfly, and Mudvayne.[1]

In 2003, In Flames recorded their seventh studio album, Soundtrack to Your Escape. The majority of the album was recorded in a house that the band rented in Denmark, only the drums were recorded in Dug-Out studio. This album was once again produced by Daniel Bergstrand. In 2004, Soundtrack to Your Escape was released. Afterwards, In Flames toured with bands such as Judas Priest, Mötley Crüe, and Motörhead.[7] In Flames also played on the main stage during Ozzfest 2005.

In 2005, In Flames recorded and self-produced their eighth studio album, Come Clarity, in Dug-Out studio. That same year, In Flames released Used and Abused: In Live We Trust, a box set consisting of material filmed and recorded throughout various live performances during 2004. Also in 2005, In Flames decided to sign with an additional record label so future releases could have better distribution in North America.[10] In 2006, Come Clarity was released in North America through Ferret Music and elsewhere through Nuclear Blast. That same year, In Flames toured with Sepultura, toured on The Unholy Alliance tour, and played on the main stage at Download Festival.[7]

Currently, In Flames are recording their ninth studio album in their own studio, IF Studios, located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Alongside the recording sessions, the band is releasing studio diaries documenting the recording process.[11][12]


Melodic death metal
Main article: Melodic death metal

Background
In Flames, along with Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates, pioneered what is now known as melodic death metal. The founding members of all three bands all lived in Gothenburg, Sweden and they were all friends who shared the same musical interests.[5][2] Eventually, that group of friends branched off into three bands with the same musical direction, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At the Gates.

Jesper Strömblad formed In Flames to write music that combined the guitar style of Iron Maiden with the brutality of death metal, something which Jesper stated he had never heard any band do.[13][3] In writing songs, Jesper also decided to make use of keyboards, something which is uncommon in death metal. Ever since In Flames' debut studio album, Lunar Strain, the band has made use of keyboards, but has refused to this day to recruit a full-time keyboardist.[14][15]


Musical style
In Flames' musical style is characterized by the constant use of harmonized lead guitar melodies. In early albums such as The Jester Race, In Flames would many times employ two harmonized lead guitars playing over a rhythm guitar. However, since the band only has two guitar players, they find it hard to reproduce those songs during live performances and ever since Reroute to Remain they have focused on writing songs with the intention of playing them live.[16][17][18]

In Flames' vocal style is characterized by the use of growled vocals complemented at times by clean vocals. In more recent albums such as Come Clarity, the band makes more prominent use of clean vocals, especially during choruses. In Flames' lyrics have also varied during their career. In early albums such as The Jester Race and Whoracle, In Flames' lyrics focused on astrology, mankind, and other global themes.[2][19] In later albums such as Soundtrack to Your Escape and Come Clarity, In Flames' lyrics focus more on personal issues, thoughts, and other introspective themes.[19][15][2]


Influence
In Flames, being one of the pioneers of a new music genre, have influenced many bands and most notably they were a direct influence on the new wave of metalcore. Many metalcore bands such as Darkest Hour,[20] As I Lay Dying,[21] and Still Remains[22] name In Flames as one of their biggest influences. In Flames is also a direct influence on many of the melodic death metal bands that have followed. Melodic death metal bands such as Insomnium,[23] Omnium Gatherum,[24] and Blood Stain Child[25] name In Flames as one of their biggest influences as well.


Miscellany

Awards
In Flames has been awarded three Grammis awards (the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards) to date.[26] In 2005, In Flames won their first Grammis award in the category of Best Hard Rock/Metal Album for Soundtrack to Your Escape.[11] In 2006, In Flames won the Swedish Export Award, their second Grammis award.[11] In Flames was the first metal band to ever win that award and the Swedish economy minister at the time, Thomas Östros, was quoted as saying "Thanks to In Flames, Sweden now have a metal band in the absolute world elite."[7] In 2007, In Flames once again won the category of Best Hard Rock/Metal Album for Come Clarity.[26][11][7]


The Jester Head as it appears on In Flames' live album The Tokyo Showdown.
Jester Head
When In Flames was recording their second studio album, The Jester Race, Anders Fridén and a guy named Nicholas came up with an idea to create a symbol/mascot for In Flames.[27] The result was the Jester Head. This symbol made its first appearance in the cover artwork of The Jester Race and ever since, the Jester Head has been featured in various forms somewhere on the artwork of every studio album that In Flames has released.[28] The Jester Head is also featured in many of In Flames' merchandise and has been featured in banners as part of In Flames' live set