Sweden has provided massive contributions to the death metal genre in the last decade, and one of the champions of that movement has been the band In Flames. Guitarist Jesper Strömblad created the group in 1990 after leaving his previous band, Ceremonial Oath. He added Johan Larsson and Glenn Ljungström to make the new band a trio and they started working on a demo. Their talent was apparent and led to a record deal soon after. They then released their debut album, Lunar Strain. The album was a success in the death metal underground, and In Flames decided to add vocalist Andrew Fridén and drummer Björn Gelotte to work on a new album. They also singed to Nuclear Blast Records.Jester Race was released in 1995 and widened In Flames' appeal to an even larger audience. The release of Whoracle in 1997 also signaled the departure of both Larsson and Ljungström. They added bassist Peter Iwers to the lineup and also used Niklas Engelin of Gardenian and Engel as a fill-in guitarist. The change was followed by a European tour. More changes were in store after their return from the tour as Gelotte became the group's guitarist, and they added Daniel Svensson as the new drummer.They released Colony in 2000 followed by a live album in 2001. They made the jump to becoming a success in the United States with the release of Reroute to Remain in 2002, which reached number 13 on the Top Independent Albums chart in the United States. They found similar success with the release of Soundtrack to Your Escape in 2004. They continued their rise and their latest release, 2008's Sense of Purpose, was there most successful to date. It climbed to number one on the Top Independent Albums chart and number 28 on the Billboard 200.