Melodic death metal is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal. The genre features the heaviness of death metal but with highly melodic or harmonized guitar riffs and solos, and often features high-pitched shrieked vocals alongside the low-pitched growls commonly featured in traditional death metal. Pioneered by the English heavy metal band Carcass with their 1993 album Heartwork, melodic death metal developed further in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The Swedish death metal scene did much to popularise the style, soon centering in the "Gothenburg metal" scene. At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul, Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery, and In Flames' The Jester Race, all released in the mid-1990s, were highly influential albums in melodic death metal, with At the Gates and In Flames being the two most common influences on North American 2000s heavy metal bands. Many American heavy metal bands emulated At the Gates' sound, resulting in the usage of the phrase "At the Gates worship".
Dan-Erland Swanö, also known as Dan "The Man" Swanö, is a Swedish musician and record producer who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale, lately vocalist, keyboardist and drummer for the band Witherscape, as well as the owner of Unisound. He achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990 out of the Swedish death metal scene. Their lineup has changed several times, with vocalist Anders Fridén and guitarist Björn Gelotte being the only consistent members since 1995. Since the departure of Strömblad in 2010, no original members remain with the band. In Flames helped pioneer melodic death metal along with fellow Swedish bands At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity. The band has sold over two million records worldwide.
Pär Anders Fridén is a Swedish vocalist, best known as the lead singer of the melodic death metal band In Flames. He was also the vocalist of Dark Tranquillity and side project Passenger.
Bengt Mikael Stanne is a Swedish musician, best known as the vocalist, primary lyricist and a former guitarist for the melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity. Since the departure of original drummer Anders Jivarp in 2021, Stanne is the only remaining original member of the band. Stanne is also the vocalist for bands Grand Cadaver, the Halo Effect and Cemetery Skyline, which formed in 2020, 2021 and 2023, respectively. He was also an ex-vocalist for HammerFall and In Flames.
Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad 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 guitarist/drummer/keyboardist of the pioneering melodic death metal band In Flames, guitarist of the band Sinergy, bassist of Ceremonial Oath and drummer of HammerFall. In 2013, he joined Nightrage as a session guitarist.
Daniel Svensson is a Swedish drummer. He is currently a member of the Swedish supergroup The Halo Effect (2021–) and formerly a drummer of the metal bands In Flames, Sacrilege GBG and Diabolique.
Anders Björler is a Swedish musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist in the metal bands The Haunted and At the Gates, alongside his bass-playing twin brother Jonas Björler.
Jonas Fredrik Björler is a Swedish musician and the bass player of the melodic death metal bands At the Gates and The Haunted. He was formerly in the bands Demolition, Infestation and Terror.
Anders Iwers is a Swedish heavy metal musician and bassist of the bands Tiamat and Avatarium. He is the older brother of former In Flames bassist Peter Iwers, a band which he was lead guitarist of in their early years.
Carl Johan Grimmark is a Swedish guitarist. He has appeared with several influential Christian metal bands including Narnia, Saviour Machine, and Rob Rock. He joined the band Beautiful Sin in 2006. He has also played with Jerusalem on several occasions including Sweden rock in 2015. He's been a special guest guitarist on fellow Narnia bandmate Christian Liljegren's side projects Divinefire and Audiovision. He recorded his debut solo album titled Grimmark, where he also handles the lead vocals. Grimmark's style of playing, especially on Narnia's earlier work, is often compared to the neo-classical metal stylings of Yngwie Malmsteen, or under a more broad genre, neo-classicism.
Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot is a Swedish death metal drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive metal band Opeth (2005-2021). Since 2004, he is the drummer for Bloodbath. Known for his intricate playing style, his drumming has been highly praised by Opeth members and fans, with Mikael Åkerfeldt calling him "a joy to play with." Axenrot has also been jokingly referred to as The Lord of the Rings character Legolas by band members and fans.
Karl Fredrik Henrik Åkesson is a Swedish heavy metal guitarist. He is a current member of Opeth and is also active in Krux, Monsters of Metal, and Talisman.
Björn Gelotte is a Swedish guitarist and songwriter, best known as the guitarist for melodic death metal band In Flames. He originally joined the band as the drummer in 1995, and continued in this position during The Jester Race (1996) and Whoracle (1997). He switched to his current position on guitar after Glenn Ljungström left the band and has played solely guitars since Colony (1999), sharing lead/rhythm guitar duties with former In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad.
Patrik Jensen is a Swedish guitarist and co-founder of the bands, The Haunted (1996–present), and Witchery (1997–present), and also the former guitarist of the bands Orchriste (1987-1990), Seance (1990-1995) Satanic Slaughter (1994-1996) and Brujeria (1997).
Melodic metalcore is a fusion genre, incorporating elements of melodic death metal and metalcore; it has a heavy emphasis on melodic instrumentation, distorted guitar tones, palm muting, double bass drumming, blast beats, metalcore-stylized breakdowns, and vocals that range from aggressive screaming and death growls to clean singing. The genre has seen commercial success for employing a more accessible sound at times compared to other forms of extreme music. Many notable melodic metalcore bands have been influenced by At the Gates and In Flames.
Niclas Engelin is a Swedish heavy metal guitarist for Engel, Drömriket, We Sell the Dead, and The Halo Effect. He previously was the lead guitarist for Gardenian and Passenger and the co-guitarist for In Flames and has been in and out of In Flames on six occasions.
Claudio Andres Oyarzo Muñoz is a Swedish metal musician and youtuber. He currently lives in Gothenburg and played guitar with the melodic rock act Minora from Gothenburg and the bass with the Gothenburg-Stockholm metal band The Resistance. He played as a session member for a few months before he was asked to join the band, which happened during the video recording of the first single from the album Scars, called "Clearing the Slate".
Cyhra is a Swedish heavy metal supergroup formed in 2017. It is made up of vocalist Joacim "Jake E" Keelyn (ex-Amaranthe), rhythm guitarist Jesper Strömblad, German drummer Alex Landenburg, Finnish lead guitarist Euge Valovirta (ex-Shining) and third guitarist Marcus Sunesson (Engel). CyHra plays a modern melodic metal style.
The Halo Effect is a Swedish melodic death metal supergroup formed by former members of In Flames. They are signed to the Nuclear Blast label.
