In Flames

In Flames is a Swedish alternative / melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD. As of 2008, In Flames has sold over 2 million records worldwide. 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. 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 melodic guitar style of Iron Maiden with the brutality of death metal, something which Jesper stated he had never heard any band do. In writing songs, Jesper also decided to make use of keyboards, something which was (at the time) uncommon in death metal. Ever since In Flames' debut studio album, Lunar Strain, the band has made use of keyboards, although other extreme metal bands such as Cradle of Filth had been using keyboards years before them. Despite their sometimes heavy use of keyboards in their music, they still refuse to recruit a full-time keyboardist.