Björn Gelotte (born 27 August 1975) is a Swedish musician and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist for heavy metal band

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. During t ...

. He originally joined the band as the drummer in 1995, and continued in this position during ''

The Jester Race ''The Jester Race'' is the second studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released in February 1996. It is the first album to feature Anders Fridén as the band's vocalist, Björn Gelotte as the drummer, and Jester Head as the ban ...

'' (1996) and ''

Whoracle ''Whoracle'' is the third studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released on 18 November 1997. The title of the album is a portmanteau of the English words "whore" and " oracle". Apart from "Everything Counts", which is a cover o ...

'' (1997). He switched to his current position on lead guitar after

Glenn Ljungström Glenn Ljungström (born 7 September 1974) is a Swedish co-guitarist from Nödinge-Nol, for a band called The Resistance, since 2011. He was also an ex-guitarist and composer in a few other Swedish bands. He was most notably in heavy metal band ...

left the band and played solely guitars since '' Colony '' (1999), sharing lead/rhythm guitar work with former In Flames guitarist

Jesper Strömblad Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad (born 28 November 1972) is a Swedish musician who is the guitarist of the bands The Halo Effect, Dimension Zero and Cyhra, and formerly of In Flames and The Resistance. He is best known as the founder and former ...

. In March 2004, Gelotte (along with Jesper Strömblad) was both ranked No. 70 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of all time by

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

Other projects

Before joining In Flames, Gelotte was a member of Flesh of Sights. He is currently involved in a side project called All Ends, which he and his former In Flames bandmate

write the songs for. Björn's sister is one of the singers for All Ends. Neither of them plan to play in the side project live due to In Flames' demanding schedule. He also played guitar on the track "Self Versus Self" by UK/Australian drum and bass act

Pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...

, along with his bandmates

Anders Fridén Pär Anders Fridén (born 25 March 1973) is a Swedish vocalist, best known as the lead singer of heavy metal band In Flames. He was also the vocalist of Dark Tranquillity and Passenger, a side project. Career Early career Fridén was original ...

and

Peter Iwers Peter Iwers (born on 15 May 1975) is a Swedish musician and the current bass player of The Halo Effect. He was a member of Swedish heavy metal band In Flames from their 1999 album ''Colony'', up until their 2016 album ''Battles'', originally ...

. Gelotte did several guest appearances, contributing a

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...

on the track "Letters From Neverend", from the album ''Schlacht'' by the band

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

, and performing lead guitar for the song "Force of Hand", from the album ''Atoma'' by the band Dark Tranquillity.

Equipment

Gelotte uses a Gibson Les Paul Custom and a custom shop Les Paul, both with EMG 81 (bridge) and EMG 85 (neck) active pickups. The custom shop Les Paul has a few changes to the stock model, such as inlay blocks similar to the Les Paul Supreme. He uses a POD XT and other Line 6 equipment, Dunlop custom strings, and Dunlop .88 MM Tortex picks. On In Flames' albums up to Whoracle, both Björn and co-guitarist

exclusively tuned their guitars to C standard. From Colony to Reroute to Remain, In Flames started using Drop A# tuning, on some of the tracks, and on all albums since Soundtrack to Your Escape, In Flames have been using drop A# tuning exclusively. An exception to this, however, is seen on

Reroute to Remain ''Reroute to Remain'' (subtitled: ''Fourteen Songs of Conscious Insanity'', and on reissue: ''Fourteen Songs of Conscious Madness'') is the sixth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released in September 2002. The album saw a m ...

, where Björn and Jesper tune their guitars to drop G on the track "Transparent". In 2015, Epiphone announced the release of a limited edition Björn Gelotte signature Les Paul Custom. It has a mahogany body and neck, ebony fretboard with pearl block inlays, ebony gloss finish, and gold hardware. This model has a thicker "custom '59" neck profile and includes such premium features as Grover tuning machines, gold covered EMG 81 and 85 active pickups, and comes with a hardshell case with custom screen printing. The headstock inlay is a stylized version of the In Flames "jester head" logo. Guitars: *

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

Les Paul Custom The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. History The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body with a ...

Epiphone Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over his f ...

Signature Les Paul Custom *

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

Eclipse Amps * Marshall JVM 410H * Peavey 5150 * EVH 5150 III *

Mesa Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a ...

Dual Rectifier FX * Line 6 Pod XT misc * Dunlop strings Custom wound .12, .16, .22, .38, .52, .68 gauge strings (Gelotte's strings have a coating over them because he is allergic to nickel) * Dunlop .88 MM Tortex picks * Dunlop Ultex Sharp Picks

References

External links

In Flames' official website

Ferret Music' In Flames pages

Nuclear Blast' In Flames pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelotte, Bjorn 1975 births 21st-century drummers 21st-century guitarists In Flames members Lead guitarists Living people Pendulum (drum and bass band) members People from Gothenburg Swedish heavy metal drummers Swedish heavy metal guitarists Swedish multi-instrumentalists