Jesper Strömblad

Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad (born 28 November 1972) is a Swedish musician who is the guitarist for the bands Dimension Zero and The Resistance. He is best known as founder and former guitarist/drummer/keyboardist of the Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames, guitarist of the band Sinergy, bassist of Ceremonial Oath and drummer of HammerFall.

In March 2004, Jesper (along with Björn Gelotte) were both ranked #70 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of all time by Guitar World.^[2]

Background and Early Life

Strömblad began playing music at age 4, with a violin he played until age 12,^[3] when he no longer considered the violin a 'cool' instrument to play and began playing guitar instead.^[3]

Striker/Desecrator/Ceremonial Oath

In 1990, Strömblad became the new bass player of the band once known as "Striker" (although he was not in the band under that name), then "Desecrator" and finally Ceremonial Oath where he quit by 1993 after not being able to at least some control in the band. The band disbanded in 1996, but in 2012, it was announced the band reunited for an appearance at the inaugural edition of The Gothenburg Sound festival, that took place January 5-6, 2013 at Trädgår’n in Gothenburg, Sweden, with Strömblad back in the band.

Discorgraphy

• Promo 1991 (1991)
• The Book of Truth (1993)

In Flames

Durning his last year in Ceremonial Oath (which was 1993) he wanted to write music and combine melodies inspired by Iron Maiden, with the brutality of death metal; something which Jesper stated he had never heard any band do. Now free to control a band, he formed his first one, In Flames, which was considered a side project. The first demo he made with the band was shipped off to the owner of Wrong Again Records, who liked it so much that the owner spoke to the members of In Flames and with the pressure of being signed, the band lied stating they had 13 songs done; intrigued, the band got the deal over the phone. He started in the band as the drummer, but switched to guitar by the next year.

On 3 February 2009, the band's website inflames.com announced that Jesper would not be participating in the Australia/South America/Japan tour in order to get treatment for his alcohol abuse problems. Niklas Engelin was announced as his replacement for the tour. On 12 February 2010, the same problem that he had in 2009, he announced that he was leaving In Flames permanently for personal problems and health issues.

Jesper's comment on the situation was:

I have decided it is best for me to leave In Flames and to quit the band permanently.

The last 17 years have been a blast, and I am proud to have been part of this great journey, with the most talented and amazing people anyone can wish to have the privilege to work with.

I’m also the luckiest guy in the world, to have the BEST fans in the world, who have been supporting me during my difficult times. It means the world to me, and I’m determined to fight and defeat my demons once and for all.... and by the help from you guys, I’m on my way.

I’m far from done with music, metal, or whatever my direction is taking me, so be sure to hear from me in the future.

… May the Force be with you!^[4][5]

—Jesper Strömblad

Discography

• Demo '93 (Demo, 1993)
• Lunar Strain (Full-length, 1994)
• Subterranean (EP, 1994)
• Artifacts of the Black Rain (1996)
• The Jester Race (Full-length, 1996)
• Live & Plugged (Split DVD/video, 1997)
• Black Ash Inheritance (EP , 1997)
• Whoracle (Full-length, 1997)
• Colony (Full-length, 1999)
• Ordinary Story (Music video, 1999)
• Bullet Ride (Compilation, 2000)
• Clayman (Full-length, 2000)
• The Tokyo Showdown - Live in Japan 2000 (Live album, 2001)
• Reroute to Remain (Full-length, 2002)
• Cloud Connected (Single, 2002)
• Trigger (EP, 2003)
• The Quiet Place (Single, 2004)
• Soundtrack to Your Escape (Full-length, 2004)
• Used & Abused - In LIVE We Trust (DVD, 2005)
• Come Clarity (Full-length 2006)
• Come Clarity (EP, 2006)
• The Mirror's Truth (EP, 2008)
• A Sense of Purpose (Full-length, 2008)
• Delight and Angers (Single, 2009)

HammerFall

Oscar Dronjak also of Ceremonial Oath, formed a new band being HammerFall inviting Strömblad as drummer in 1993. He is falsely listed as the drummer on their album Glory to the Brave for unknown reason(s), for the real drummer on the album was Patrik Räfling; the album was released in 1997 when Strömblad left, although he still helped the band write songs later on.

Discography

Writing Credits

• Glory to the Brave (1997) - (1-3, 7-9)
• Legacy of Kings (1998) - (1-6, 9, 10)
• Renegade (2000) - (2-4, 6, 8)
• No Sacrifice, No Victory (2009) - (10)

Agent Orange/Dimension Zero

In 1995, Strömblad formed his second side project which he started with former In Flames guitarist Glenn Ljungström, first being known as Agent Orange then Dimension Zero, which he is the guitarist (formerly bassist) of the band, but the band has been on hiatus since 2008.

Sinergy

In 1997, when Kimberly Goss was in Dimmu Borgir doing a joint tour with In Flames, Goss spoke to Strömblad about forming a female fronted band, but due to time constraints, they were unable to achieve at the time. When Goss quit Dimmu Borgir and moved to Sweden, their band formed.

Discorgraphy

• Beware the Heavens (1999)

All Ends

In 2003, Strömblad and his then In Flames bandmate Björn Gelotte formed another side project he started called All Ends, for which they both wrote the music for.He recorded a demo and he nor Gelotte planned to be full-time members due to In Flames' demanding schedule, but they continue to aid in writing songs for the band to play, thus having both members no longer in the band.

The Resistance

After playing Call of Duty online with Marco Aro from The Haunted, Strömblad discussed to Aro about forming a new band in which Aro joined; that band is The Resistance, alongside fellow former In Flames guitarist Glenn Ljungström, Alex Losbäck Holstad of Despite, and Chris Barkensjö of Carnal Forge, forming in 2011.

Discography

• Rise from Treason (2013, EP)
• Scars (2013)

Side projects

Strömblad was working on another side project together with Roland Johansson, former singer of the Swedish metal band Sonic Syndicate although as of January 2011 there has been no sign of any official release from the two.^[6]

In 2012, the Swedish movie Isdraken, directed by Martin Högdahl and for which Strömblad composed the original music was released in theatres.^[7]

Guest appearances

• 1997 - Withering Surface - "Scarlet Silhouettes": Guitar Solo at "Scarlet Silhouettes"
• 1997 - Misanthrope - "Visionnaire": Guitar solo at "Hypochondrium Forces"
• 1998 - Exhumation - "Dance Across the Past": Guitar Solo at "Images of Our Extinction"
• 1999 - Grievance - "The Phantom Novels"
• 2007 - Annihilator - "Metal": Guitar Solo at "Haunted"
• 2013 - Angelica - "Thrive": Guitar Solo at "I Am Strong"
• 2013 - Nightrage - Live

Equipment

Strömblad currently uses Cort Guitars guitars.^[8] Before the release of Reroute to Remain, Jesper was an endorser of ESP using his signature variant of the EX series until he switched to Gibson guitars with his bandmate Björn Gelotte. He switched to Gibson for the release of Reroute To Remain, but returned to ESP for the recording of Soundtrack To Your Escape. Strömblad returned to Gibson after the release of Come Clarity. Jesper used the Gibson Flying V and Explorer Voodoo models, as well as some Gibson Gothic Explorer II's. Since his departure from In Flames and his subsequent formation of The Resistance Strömblad has been playing the Cort Z-Custom 2.^[9]

Jesper is known for using the Peavey 5150/6505 amp.^[5] Strömblad also uses a Line 6 rack-mounted POD just like Gelotte.^[5]

Personal life

He is known to be an avid World of Warcraft player, even wearing a "WoW" t-shirt on stage at times. He also plays a guitar imprinted with the logo for the Horde faction from World of Warcraft as can be seen in this picture: Jesper Strömblad's WoW guitar

References

External links

• In Flames - official website
• Dimension Zero - official website
• All Ends - official website