In Flames

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Background information
Origin	Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre(s)	Melodic death metal
Years active	1990 – present
Label(s)	Nuclear Blast Ferret Music Regain Records Candlelight Records
Associated acts	Dark Tranquillity Soilwork Dimension Zero
Website	www.inflames.com
Members
Anders Fridén Björn Gelotte Jesper Strömblad Peter Iwers Daniel Svensson
Former members
Mikael Stanne Henke Forss Anders Iwers Martin Mathisen Carl Näslund Glenn Ljungström Johann Larsson Daniel Erlandsson

In Flames is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. Through the years they have changed and evolved their style through many influences, especially in their most recent albums.

The band is perhaps best known to fans for their albums The Jester Race, Whoracle, Colony, and Clayman. However, the group came to mainstream attention with Reroute to Remain, Soundtrack to Your Escape, and their most recent studio album Come Clarity (which has sold over 110,000 copies in the United States).

Contents 1 History 2 Influence 3 Awards 4 Line-up 4.1 Current members 4.2 Former members 4.3 Session members 4.4 Guest artists and musicians 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 5.2.1 Music videos 5.3 DVDs and VHS 5.4 DVD compilations 6 Trivia 7 External links 8 Notes

[edit] History

In Flames began when three members of Ceremonial Oath–; Jesper Strömblad, Johann Larsson, and Glenn Ljungström–; quit the band in order to start a musical project of their own (interestingly, they both recorded covers of Metallica songs for the Metal Militia tribute compilation). They recorded a short demo which was sent to a few recording labels. The owner of Wrong Again Records thought the band had promise, and soon closed a recording deal with them. From this deal surfaced In Flames' first album, Lunar Strain, which relied on aggressive instrumental work, at times combined with acoustic sections. Session vocals for the album were recorded by Mikael Stanne, though soon after he would leave to sing for Dark Tranquillity (having already played guitar for them), with then Dark Tranquillity vocalist Anders Fridén replacing him. The album obtained success on the Swedish underground scene and received positive critics from the specialized press. However, In Flames soon became known to most of Europe with the release of the 1995 EP Subterranean (vocals on this release were recorded by Henke Forss, soon to be replaced by Fridén). The EP attracted the attention of the Nuclear Blast label, which offered them a contract for a European release the same year. A short tour with Kreator followed.

Due to the band's increasing success, Johann Larsson and guitarist Glenn Ljungström, who were already part of other established bands, decided to quit In Flames due to the difficulties of sharing time between different projects. Their last contribution to the band was the album Whoracle, from 1997. Peter Iwers (on the bass) and Niklas Engelin (on the guitar) were then invited to accompany In Flames in the joint tour with Dimmu Borgir that followed Whoracle's release. This line-up worked rather well, and by the end of the tour the musicians became permanent members of In Flames. Together they traveled Europe and made the band's first concert outside of Europe, in Japan. However, by the end of that tour, Engelin quit the band due to musical differences. Drummer Björn Gelotte assumed the guitars and Sacrilige's Daniel Svensson assumed the drums. This line-up recorded Colony, and a partial world tour followed.

The year 2000 saw the release of Clayman. By this time, the band had already become widely known, and played with bands of major recognition such as Dream Theater, Slipknot, and Testament. Chris Amott (who was in Arch Enemy at the time) made a guest appearance on the track "Suburban Me" on this album. Peter Iwers' first daughter was born, and he temporarily left the band. He was replaced by Dick Löwgren for a year. When he came back to the band, the live album The Tokyo Showdown was recorded. In 2002, Reroute to Remain was released. It was the first In Flames to not produced in the Studio Fredman. This album introduced the frequent use of clean vocals, which had been used before but not to a great extent, American alternative metal influences, and some more keyboards and electronics than previous albums. This led to mixed reviews, gaining new fans and causing older fans to state that In Flames had "sold out". Their seventh album, Soundtrack to Your Escape, released in 2004, took another step into this direction.

A DVD box set was released in September 2005 entitled Used and Abused: In Live We Trust. The band toured on the 2005 Ozzfest on the main stage and supported Motörhead on its 30th anniversary tour in Autumn 2005. The band sold over 1 million records all over the world before the release of Come Clarity. This album, released in early 2006 but recorded in March 2005, is the band's most successful album to date. Come Clarity has been widely acclaimed by fans and critics alike, particularly many of those that felt the previous two albums to be a major departure. It was on the top of the charts in Sweden and in Finland in its first week of sales. In addition, the band figured in position #58 in the US Billboard chart, with 24,000 albums sold, in the first week of sales.

After the release of Come Clarity, the band took part in the 2006 The Unholy Alliance tour in Europe with Slayer, Children of Bodom, Lamb of God, and Thine Eyes Bleed. Jesper Strömblad did not play in some of the European shows of the tour, notably the London show at the Carling Brixton Academy. This was due to personal problems and, despite circulating rumours, In Flames will not be breaking up and intend to start their US tour with Strömblad back in the lineup.

[edit] Influence

Along with Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, Sentenced, and Carcass, In Flames is widely thought of as one of the first practitioners of the melodic death metal genre. It is believed that melodic death metal in its best form is found in early songs such as "Episode 666" and "Jotun". Other melodic death metal bands such as Arch Enemy and Insomnium, as well as many metalcore bands such as Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, name In Flames as a vital influence.

[edit] Awards

In Flames were honored with the "Swedish Music Export" award at Sweden's Grammy awards, which were held on February 7, 2006 at Cirkus in Stockholm. In Flames were the first metal band ever to win this award. "Thanks to In Flames, Sweden now has a metal band in the absolute world elite," the Swedish economy minister Thomas Östros said of the award. At the 2007 Swedish Grammy awards (held January 30, 2007), In Flames received a Grammy in the category of Best Hard Rock/Metal Act.

[edit] Line-up

[edit] Current members

• Anders Fridén - Vocals (1995-present)
• Björn Gelotte - Guitars (1998-present; Drums 1995-1998)
• Peter Iwers - Bass (1997-present)
• Daniel Svensson - Drums (1998-present)
• Jesper Strömblad - Guitars (1990-present)

[edit] Former members

Vocals

• Mikael Stanne (on Lunar Strain) (1993-1994)
• Henke Forss (on Subterranean) (1995)
• Joakim 'Jocke' Göthberg (on "Dead Eternity" Demo) (1995)

Guitars

• Anders Iwers (1990-1992)
• Martin Mathisen (1993-1994)
• Carl Näslund (on Lunar Strain) (1993-1994)
• Glenn Ljungström (1990-1997)

Bass

• Johann Larsson (1990-1997)

Drums

• Daniel Erlandsson (on Subterranean) (1995)
• Anders Jivarp (1995)

[edit] Session members

• Tobias Kellgren (touring 2005, filled in for Daniel)
• Dick Lövgren (touring 2000, filled in for Peter)
• Niklas Engelin (touring 1997-1998, filled in for Glenn; 2006 Unholy Alliance Tour in Europe and December 2006 North American Tour, filled in for Jesper)
• Henrik Danhage (touring December 2006 North American Tour, filled in for Björn)

[edit] Guest artists and musicians

• Jennica Johansson (1994, Lunar Strain, vocal appearance on the song "Lunar Strain")
• Ylva Wåhlstedt (1994, Lunar Strain, all violins and viola on the whole album)
• Anders Jivarp (1994, Subterranean, drums on the songs "Subterranean" and "Biosphere")
• Oscar Dronjak (1994, Lunar Strain, vocal appearance on the song "Lunar Strain". 1994, Subterranean, vocal appearance on the song "Stand Ablaze". 1995, The Jester Race, vocal appearance on the song "Dead Eternity". )
• Fredrik Johansson (1995, The Jester Race, lead guitar on the song "December Flower")
• Ulrika Netterdahl (1997, Whoracle, vocals on "Whoracle")
• Christopher Amott (1999, Clayman, solo in the song "Suburban Me")
• Kee Marshello (1999, Colony, second solo on the song "Coerced Coexistence")
• Fiol-Olof (2002, Reroute to Remain, violin on the song "Metaphor")
• Maria Gauffin (2002, Reroute To Remain, vocal appearance on the song "Metaphor")
• Lisa Miskovsky (2006, Come Clarity, vocals on the song "Dead End")

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Album Cover	Date of Release	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak	US sales[citation needed]
	August, 1994	Lunar Strain	Wrong Again Records	-	8,000 +
	June 15, 1994[1]	Subterranean (MCD)	Wrong Again Records	-	6,000 +
	February 20, 1996	The Jester Race	Nuclear Blast	-	34,000 +
	October 28, 1997	Black-Ash Inheritance (MCD)	Nuclear Blast	-	-
	November 18, 1997	Whoracle	Nuclear Blast	-	36,000 +
	June 14, 1999	Colony	Nuclear Blast	-	56,000 +
	July 25, 2000	Clayman	Nuclear Blast	-	58,000 +
	September 4, 2001	The Tokyo Showdown (Live)	Nuclear Blast	-	19,000 +
	September 3, 2002	Reroute to Remain	Nuclear Blast	Top Independent Albums: #13	91,000 +
	June 17, 2003	Trigger (EP)	Nuclear Blast	-	24,000 +
	April 6, 2004	Soundtrack to Your Escape	Nuclear Blast	Billboard Top 200: #145 Top Independent Albums: #7 Heatseekers: #2	100,000 +
	February 7, 2006	Come Clarity	Nuclear Blast (EU including UK) Ferret Records (US)	Billboard Top 200: #58 Top Independent Albums: #2	117,000 +

[edit] Singles

• Cloud Connected (2002)
• The Quiet Place (2004) #2 Sweden

[edit] Music videos

• "Artifacts of the Black Rain" (1995)
• "Food For The Gods" (1997)
• "Jotun" (1997)
• "Ordinary Story" (1999)
• "Only For the Weak" (2000)
• "Pinball Map" (2000)
• "Cloud Connected" (2002)
• "Trigger" (2002)
• "The Quiet Place" (2004)
• "Touch of Red" (2004)
• "My Sweet Shadow" (2004)
• "Borders and Shading" (2004)
• "Take This Life" (2006)
• "Come Clarity" (2006) #52 Sweden

[edit] DVDs and VHS

• Darkseed, In Flames, Evereve - Live & Plugged (VHS 1997)
• Soundtrack To Your Escape Bonus DVD (1 DVD, 2004)
• Used and Abused: In Live We Trust (2 DVD (+ 2 CD) set, 2005)
• Come Clarity Bonus DVD (1 DVD, 2006)

[edit] DVD compilations

• Metal Warriors Wacken 1999 (2001)
• DEATH ...is just the beginning vol. VI (2001)
• Beauty In Darkness vol.5 (2002)
• DEATH ...is just the beginning vol. 7 (2002)
• Monsters Of Metal Vol.1 (2003)
• Rock Hard Live Mania 2003 (2003)
• Monsters Of Metal Vol.2 (2004)
• Monsters Of Metal Vol.3 (2004)

[edit] Trivia

• The video for "Trigger" is the reverse of Soilwork's video for "Rejection Role". Both of which are filmed in the same location, and includes the performing band being heckled by the other. The two bands at one point in both videos confront each other for a fight on a set of steps. While the fight itself is not shown, the winner of the fight is assumed to be the performing band in each video. This is shown by one member of the other band having a black eye afterwards; in both videos the "beat up" member is one of the guitar players.

• The video for "Cloud Connected" contains elements from the TV series and movie Stargate.

[edit] External links

• In Flames - official website
• Nuclear Blast - official website
• Ferret Music - official website
• In Flames Live Videos & Music Videos on UVTV

[edit] Notes

In Flames
Anders Fridén | Jesper Strömblad | Björn Gelotte | Peter Iwers | Daniel Svensson
Mikael Stanne | Henke Forss | Joakim Göthberg | Glenn Ljungström | Niklas Engelin | Anders Iwers | Martin Mathisen | Carl Näslund | Johann Larsson | Anders Jivarp | Daniel Erlandsson
Discography
Studio albums: Lunar Strain | The Jester Race | Whoracle | Colony | Clayman | Reroute to Remain | Soundtrack to Your Escape | Come Clarity
MCDs and EPs: Subterranean | Black-Ash Inheritance | Trigger
Live albums and DVDs: The Tokyo Showdown | Used and Abused: In Live We Trust
Singles: Cloud Connected | The Quiet Place