In Flames are a melodic death metal band formed in Gothenberg, Sweden in 1990. They are considered to be pioneers of the Gothenberg sound, along with fellow death metallurgists Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates.
Jesper Strömblad, guitarist with death metal band Ceremonial Oath, wanted the opportunity to play melodic death metal and so he set up In Flames. Stromblad left Cermonial Oath in 1993 to concentrate on In Flames, hiring guitarist Glenn Ljungström and bassist Johan Larsson. The band released their debut album in 1994, Lunar Strain with fellow death metalist Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity providing vocals.
Having brought in Anders Fridén for vocals and Björn Gelotte on drums they released their second album. The Jester Race was released in 1995 to good critical reviews which described the album as a prime example of the Gothenberg style of metal. More line-up changes were made over the course of further album releases, including Whoracle and Clayman. In Flames made a shift towards mainstream metal for their 2002 release Reroute to Remain. The move earned the band new fans, at the same time alienating existing fans, however it earned the band a spot on the Ozzfest tour in the US.
The band carried on the mainstream drift with the follow up Soundtrack to Your Escape 2004 it proved a success with critics and earned the band a Swedish Grammi for Best Hard Rock/Metal Album. The next album Come Clarity blended the mainstream sound with the heavier sound of earlier works and for the first time featured a female vocalist , in the form of Lisa Miskovsky a Swedish singer-songwriter. The album debuted at No.1 in Sweden, made the top 100 in the Billboard 200, has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide and won the Swedish Grammi for Best Hard Rock Album.
