In Flames

In Flames is a metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was formed in 1990 by Jesper Strömblad, with the intention to write music that sounded as melodic as Iron Maiden but also uses death metal elements. This helped shape the melodic-death metal genre as well as the entire “Gothenburg-metal” scene, along with bands like At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity.

During 1993, In Flames wrote, recorded, and self-produced their debut studio album, Lunar Strain. Since In Flames did not have a vocalist yet, Strömblad asked Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity) to provide vocals. In Flames would eventually need another vocalist for the recording of the EP Subterranean, so this time Henke Forss would do the job.It wasn’t until 1995 that current vocalist, Anders Fridén (ex-Dark Tranquillity) joined the band to provide consistent vocals. However, due to his poor English at the time, he needed assistance from Niklas Sundin to translate his lyrics from Swedish to English.

Björn Gelotte (guitar) joined as a drummer in 1995 and provided lead guitar as well as drums for both The Jester Race and Whoracle. However, after Whoracle was recorded, both Johan Larsson (bass) and Glenn Ljungström (guitar) left the band. To fill in the vacant positions, the band recruited Peter Iwers and Niclas Engelin for bass and guitar respectively. They later agreed to join the band as permanent members.

By the end of the 1998 tour, Engelin left the band, resulting in Gelotte switching to guitar and Daniel Svensson being recruited to be the band’s permanent drummer. They maintained the same line-up for around 11 years (from Colony – A Sense of Purpose) until the 2009 Australia/South America/Japan tour when Strömblad was unable to participate due to his alcohol abuse. Engelin rejoined the band to fill in for Strömblad, although they had to cancel their UK/Ireland tour due to the birth of Iwers' child in addition to Strömblad’s rehabilitation.

In 2010, Strömblad quit In Flames permanently and was replaced by Engelin, who would now take a permanent position in the band as rhythm guitarist. The departure of Strömblad means that there are no longer any original members left in the band.

Fridén, Gelotte and Iwers collaborated with drum and bass band, Pendulum in early 2010, for the song “Self vs Self” on their album, Immersion.

The band recorded and released 2 more albums (Sounds of a Playground Fading and Siren Charms) before drummer Daniel Svensson left the band in 2015 to focus on family life. Joe Rickard was recruited to fill in for his role as drummer.

Since releasing Battles in 2016, and an EP in 2017, Iwers (bass) departed from the band, to focus more on his family. Rickard (drums) also left the band and replaced by Tanner Wayne in July 2018.

I, The Mask, the band’s newest album, was announced in December 2018 and released on March 1, 2019. 4 singles were released from the album prior to its release: “I Am Above”, “(This Is Our) House”, the title-track, “I, The Mask” and “Burn”

Discography:Lunar Strain (1994)Subterranean (1995)The Jester Race (1996)Black-Ash Inheritance EP (1997)Whoracle (1997)Colony (1999)Clayman (2000)Reroute to Remain (2002)Trigger EP (2003)Soundtrack to Your Escape (2004)Come Clarity (2006)The Mirror’s Truth EP (2008)A Sense of Purpose (2008)Sounds of a Playground Fading (2011)Siren Charms (2014)Battles (2016)Down, Wicked & No Good EP (2017)I, The Mask (2019)

Members:Anders Fridén: Vocals (1995–present)Björn Gelotte: Guitar (1999–present), Drums (1995–1999)Niclas Engelin: Guitar (1997-1998; 2011–present)Bryce Paul: Bass (2017–present)Tanner Wayne: Drums (2018-present)

Joe Rickard: Drums (2016-2018)Peter Iwers: Bass (1997–2016)Daniel Svensson: Drums (1998–2015)Jesper Strömblad: Rhythm Guitar, Keyboard (1990-2010)Johan Larsson: Bass, Backing Vocals (1993-1997)Glenn Ljungström: Rhythm Guitar (1993–1997)