Lunar Strain

Lunar Strain is the debut studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released in April 1994. The album is noted for its elements of black metal and Scandinavian folk, the latter exemplified in the inclusion of violins and acoustic guitars. Lunar Strain the only In Flames full-length 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 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. By 2010, all band members who participated in the recording of Lunar Strain had left In Flames. 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).