In Flames

In Flames is a Swedish metal band founded in Gothenburg in 1990. Their lineup consists of Anders Fridén (vocals), Niclas Engelin (guitar), Björn Gelotte (guitar) and Joe Rickard (drums). Following Peter Iwers’ departure, bassist Bryce Paul joined the band’s live performances. With 13 studio albums released and a career approaching its third decade, the band is one of the greatest Melodic Death Metal elements.

When the ban formed, there wasn’t an official name, and they changed its lineup a few times until, in August 1993, they recorded its first songs. Three (“In Flames”, “Upon an Oaken Throne”, and “Clad in Shadows”) were recorded at Studio Fredman and were part of a promotional album called Promo’93. Soon after, Swedish label Wrong Again Records signed them in 1993.

Thus, in December 1993, In Flames returned to Studio Fredman to record their first album. The result was the album Lunar Strain, released in August 1994. The band’s line-up was Jesper Stromblad (guitars and drums), Johan Larsson (bass), Carl Naslund (guitar), Mikael Stanne (vocals) and Glenn Ljungstrom (guitar). The album has ten tracks (among them are those recorded for the Promo’93 album).

In December 1994, the band recorded four more tracks, later released in September 1995, on a mini album called “Subterranean”. In addition to them, the album contains another unreleased track (recorded later), totalling five songs. That same year, a special Japanese version of “Lunar Strain” was released, containing some of the tracks from “Subterranean” as bonus tracks.

At the end of 1995, In Flames entered the studio to record their second album. The band already had vocalist Anders Fridén (ex-Dark Tranquility and Ceremonial Oath), who had replaced Mikael Stanne (who went from rhythm guitarist to vocalist in Dark Tranquility) and Bjorn Gellote on drums and guitar. With this, in 1996, the album The Jester Race was released. After the album’s release, the band toured alongside names such as Samael, Kreator and Grip Inc.

In October 1997, In Flames released an EP called “Black-Ash Inheritance”, with a format different from the traditional round records. It had three studio tracks and one recorded live. Still in 1997, the band returned to the studio to record a new album, released in November 1997: “Whoracle”, chosen in 2020 by Metal Hammer magazine as one of the 20 best metal albums of 1997.

Shortly after recording “Whoracle”, Johan Larsson and Glenn Ljungstrom left the band. Taking their place are Peter Iwers and Niklas Engelin. With the new line-up, the group goes on a tour to promote the new album alongside Dimmu Borgir (only in Europe) and then goes to Japan. But Niklas doesn’t stay long, as he can’t divide his time between In Flames and his original band, Gardenia. Bjorn Gellote, who played guitar and drums since “Jester Race”, now takes over only guitar, and Daniel Svensson (ex-Sacrilege) is invited to play drums.

With this new lineup, the band released a new work in 1999 called “Colony”, chosen in 2020 by Metal Hammer magazine as one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999. And it was to promote this new release that the band made their first visit to the United States. One of their shows was opened by the Death Metal band Killswitch Engage when they were not famous.

The successor to “Colony” began to be prepared by the band at the end of the tour to promote this last album, which was released in mid-2000: “Clayman”. At the end of the album tour, they decided to release a live album, “Tokyo Showdown”.

After two years, the band entered the studio to record their sixth album, “Reroute to Remain”, this time with Daniel Bergstrand as producer. Another tour began, passing through North America, Japan, Wacken Open Air in 2003 and several other festivals. The band also recorded an EP titled Trigger.

In 2004, after almost two years of touring to promote “Reroute to Remain”, the band entered the studio again to record Soundtrack to “Your Escape”, with Daniel Bergstrand producing. At the end of the tour for this album, the band began working on new material and entered the studio a few months later to record its successor, “Come Clarity”. In 2005, a DVD titled “Used and Abused…In Live We Trust” was released.

“Come Clarity” was only released in 2006 due to release problems with the publisher. In 2008, the album “A Sense of Purpose was released”, and they later released the EP titled “The Mirror’s Truth”.

In 2010, co-founder and guitarist Jesper Strömblad left the band to dedicate himself to treatment for alcoholism, and he said it is “permanent”. The band fully supported his decision and said the doors would always be open to a future return. Niclas Engelin (Ex-Gardenian), who had already played with the band several times, was the chosen replacement for Jesper’s place.

In June 2011, the band’s tenth album, called “Sounds of a Playground Fading”, was released, with Engelin integrated into it. In 2013, the band’s 11th album was announced after touring Europe and North America for a while, In Flames focused on Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany, for recording.

The new album is called “Siren Charms” and was released in September 2014.
Swedish drummer Daniel Svensson, on November 8, 2015, announced his friendly departure from In Flames to focus on their family life

In Flames has announced that Joe Rickard is their new drummer. The band’s latest album, “Battles”, was released on November 11, 2016. In December, the band reached 60th position on the Billboard 200 with the song that gave the album its title, “Battles”, remaining there for a week.

After releasing the album “Battles”, Peter Iwers announced his departure from the band. No new members have been announced, but bassist Bryce Paul has been participating in the band’s live performances.

In 2019, the band released its 13th studio album, “I, The Mask”, chosen by the Loudwire portal as one of the 50 best metal albums in 2019. On June 8, 2023, it was announced by the band that they would be parting ways with bassist Bryce Paul and that Liam Wilson (ex-The Dillinger Escape Plan) would replace him.

Studio Albums
Lunar Strain (1994)
The Jester Race (1996)
Whoracle (1997)
Colony (1999)
Clayman (2000)
Reroute to Remain (2002)
Soundtrack to Your Escape (2004)
Come Clarity (2006)
A Sense of Purpose (2008)
Sounds of a Playground Fading (2011)
Siren Charms (2014)
Battles (2016)
I, the Mask (2019)
Foregone (2023)

EPs
Subterranean (1994)
Black-Ash Inheritance (1997)
Trigger (2003)
Come Clarity – EP (2006)
The Mirror’s Truth (2008)

Singles
“Pinball Map” (2000)
“Cloud Connected” (2002)
“The Quiet Place” (2004)
“Take This Life/Leeches” (2006)
“Deliver Us” (2011)