After leaving Ceremonial Oath to form In Flames, founding member and guitarist Jesper Strömblad saw this project as a way of expressing his songwriting creativity rather than being stuck in the background. With the added influences of Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, along with his own touch of aggressive metal that overwhelmed his home country of Sweden, Wrong Again Records took notice and released In Flames' 1993 debut, Lunar Strain. In the tradition of many other Swedish metal acts, In Flames also had a revolving lineup that changed year after year -- not that this was going to stop them from releasing their next album, Subterranean (1994), before signing to Nuclear Blast Records in 1996.

During 1993, In Flames wrote, recorded, and self-produced their debut studio album, Lunar Strain, in Studio Fredman. Since In Flames did not have a vocalist yet, Jesper asked Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity to provide session vocals.

In 1994, Lunar Strain was released.

During 1994, In Flames recorded and self-produced their first EP, Subterranean, in Studio Fredman. In Flames still did not have a vocalist yet, so session vocals were provided this time by Henke Forss. In 1995, Subterranean was released. Subterranean allowed In Flames to break out of the underground scene and led them to acquire a record deal with Nuclear Blast.

In 1995, In Flames finally got tired of using session musicians to record an album or to do live shows, so the trio asked Anders Fridén to join the band as the full-time vocalist and Björn Gelotte as the full-time drummer.
That same year, the new line-up recorded the band's second studio album, The Jester Race. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman, but unlike previous albums, it was co-produced by the studio's owner, Fredrik Nordström. In 1996, The Jester Race was released. Afterwards, In Flames toured with bands such as Samael, Grip Inc., and Kreator.

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Official In Flames Band Merchandise