''Lunar Strain'' is the debut studio album by Swedish 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. Durin ...

, released in April 1994. The album is known for its " folky elements", with the inclusion of

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regula ...

s and

acoustic guitars An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

. It is the only In Flames album to not feature Anders Fridén as the vocalist and Björn Gelotte as either drummer or lead guitarist. Guitarist Jesper Strömblad plays the drums, while the vocals are sung by Dark Tranquillity vocalist Mikael Stanne, a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

for In Flames at the time. Stanne had sung with the band previously on "Demo '93". Coincidentally, Fridén was the original vocalist for Dark Tranquillity and he effectively traded places with Stanne in 1995. As of 2010, no members who played on this album are still with the band. The songs "Behind Space" and "Clad in Shadows" were re-recorded in the album ''Colony'' (1999), featuring In Flames' future lineup; both songs were renamed with the suffix '99 at the end of the title. "Clad in Shadows '99" was also released on the reissue of the album '' Whoracle'' (1997).

Reissues

In 1999, the album was re-released under the title ''Lunar Strain – Subterranean'', including all tracks from the band's future release, ''

Subterranean Subterranean(s) or The Subterranean(s) may refer to: * Subterranea (geography), underground structures, both natural and man-made Literature * ''Subterranean'' (novel), a 1998 novel by James Rollins * '' Subterranean Magazine'', an American f ...

''. On the 2003 ''Regain Records'' re-release, the songs order differs slightly, with "Clad in Shadows" being the second track, shifting the rest down by one. However, the discrepancy is not apparent in the album's track listing. Track 10, on the original release "Clad in Shadows", became Track 2 (this was not shown on the album's track list), and each track after track 2 ended up being credited as the track before (i.e. "Clad in Shadows" is credited as "Lunar Strain", and so on). The album was re-released and remastered with bonus tracks in 2004 via Regain Records and in 2005 via

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in England and founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black meta ...

, featuring the same artwork but a more modern logo, as seen on '' Reroute to Remain'' and '' Come Clarity''. The bonus tracks are actually three songs re-recorded from the band's 1993 demo, which contained "alternative mixed versions of the album recordings."

Track listing

Personnel

In Flames * Mikael Stanne – lead vocals * Glenn Ljungström – lead guitar *Carl Näslund – rhythm guitar * Johann Larsson – bass guitar * Jesper Strömblad – drums, keyboards, additional guitars Guest musicians *Ylva Wåhlstedt –

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the violi ...

*Jennica Johansson – vocal appearance * Oscar Dronjak – vocal appearance * Anders Iwers – lead guitar (tracks 8–9 and 1993 demo bonus tracks) Technical personnel * Fredrik Nordström, H. Bjurkvist, J. Karlsson –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

*In Flames, Fredrik Nordström – mixing *StageTech – production * Kenneth Johansson – cover art and photos *Henrik Lindahl – additional photos *Local Hero Music – layout

Release history

References

External links

''Lunar Strain'' at Inflames.com
(archived) {{Authority control In Flames albums 1994 debut albums Regain Records albums