Founded back in 1990, In Flames has become the most innovative band in melodic death metal in the last 10 years. Their trademark sound has been copied many times, but none of these bands have come close to surpassing the original. In 1990, Jesper Strömblad decided to leave Ceremonial Oath (which also contained Anders Fridén and Tiamat's Anders Iwers) because he wanted to take his music in a different direction. He teamed up with Johan Larsson and Glenn Ljungström to form In Flames. They recorded a demo and shipped it off to Wrong Again Records, hoping to land a record deal. After a night of drinking, the band got the courage to call the owner of Wrong Again. He enjoyed the music so much that he immediately gave them a deal over the phone. When asked if they had more songs than just the three they sent him, they lied and said they had 14. In reality, they had none. They sat down the next day and wrote the album Lunar Strain, which was released in 1994 and became an underground success. The band quickly followed up Lunar Strain with a MCD called Subterranean, which became a 'breakout' album of sorts in terms of gaining more notoriety and securing a licensing deal with Nuclear Blast for the next record – where they've been there ever since. After a while, Jesper, Glenn and Johan got tired of constantly asking friends to fill in on recordings and live performances. They asked Anders and Björn Gelotte to join the band on vocals and drums respectively. For the first time In Flames was a real band with a real line-up. The new line-up recorded The Jester Race, which became a huge success worldwide. The band got fantastic attention from all over Europe and Japan, where they are licensed to Toy's Factory. In Flames toured all over Europe for The Jester Race and even made it to Japan for the first time to play two shows. The Japanese audience welcomed the Swedes with warm arms, and they had an amazing experience. After the release of Whoracle in 1997, In Flames once again faced line-up changes, as Glenn and Johan left the band. This turned out to be a big turning point, as they decided to switch Björn from drums to guitar (being as he was originally a guitar player) and recruit Daniel Svensson (ex-Sacrilege) on drums and Peter Iwers on bass. The new arrangement worked out wonderfully, and they recorded Colony, their biggest success at that point, which entered the German charts at #69. Besides this success, the CD also charted entries in Japan and Sweden. Colony established In Flames as a world-renowned band, as they toured Europe, Japan and, for the first time, North America. The tour proved to be an amazing experience for In Flames who finally received the attention they worked so hard to obtain, especially in Japan were they were treaded like superstars. Other countries showed appreciation as well; they played to packed concert halls almost everywhere. After the world tour they started writing new material, and for the first time in the history of the band, there was no line-up changes. They once again entered Studio Fredman in Göteborg, Sweden to record. Album number five, Clayman, included all the expected In Flames trademarks, and quickly became their most successful album. Chart entries nearly everywhere in the world (#43 Germany, #17 Sweden, #22 Finland and a few more) and a very successful headliner tour (80% of the shows were sold out) marked the most successful year in the history of In Flames. Again they had the chance to tour Japan. The fans over there totally freaked out, and the band was again treaded like superstars. Because Japanese fans get notoriously crazy, In Flames decided to record one of the shows to serve as the first In Flames live album. The Tokyo Showdown perfectly captures the power of the band and the enthusiasm of the audience. You can almost feel how hot it was in the venue and see the sweat running down the faces of fans and band members alike. The album has a 'best of' feel because they played all their classics and fans favorites. Songs like 'Bullet Ride,' 'Jotun,' 'Moonshield,' 'Only for the Weak,' 'Ordinary Story' and 'Episode 666' (just to name a few) have the potential to become real heavy metal classics.if they aren't already! Enjoy and feel the live power of one of the best live bands in the world!!!