In Flames was founded in 1990 as a side project of Jesper Strömblad who was at the time in a death metal band called Ceremonial Oath.
Jesper formed In Flames with the purpose of writing songs with a more melodic and progressive musical direction, something which he was not allowed to do in Ceremonial Oath.

In 1993, Jesper decided to quit Ceremonial Oath due to musical differences and began focusing more on In Flames.
That same year, Jesper (guitar, drums, keyboards) recruited Glenn Ljungström (guitar), and Johan Larsson (bass) to form the first official In Flames line-up.

The trio recorded a three song demo and sent it to Wrong Again Records In order to increase their chances of being offered a record deal, the trio lied to the owner of the record label by telling him that they already had 13 songs done.
The owner of Wrong Again Records, seeing promise in the band, offered In Flames a record deal over the phone

During 1993, In Flames wrote, recorded, and self-produced their debut studio album, Lunar Strain, in Studio Fredman. Since In Flames did not have a vocalist yet, Jesper asked Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity to provide session vocals.
In 1994, Lunar Strain was released.

During 1994, In Flames recorded and self-produced their first EP, Subterranean, in Studio Fredman. In Flames still did not have a vocalist yet, so session vocals were provided this time by Henke Forss. In 1995, Subterranean was released. Subterranean allowed In Flames to break out of the underground scene and led them to acquire a record deal with Nuclear Blast.

In 1995, In Flames finally got tired of using session musicians to record an album or to do live shows, so the trio asked Anders Fridén to join the band as the full-time vocalist and Björn Gelotte as the full-time drummer.

That same year, the new line-up recorded the band's second studio album, The Jester Race. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman, but unlike previous albums, it was co-produced by the studio's owner, Fredrik Nordström. In 1996, The Jester Race was released. Afterwards, In Flames toured with bands such as Samael, Grip Inc., and Kreator.

In 1997, In Flames recorded and released their third studio album, Whoracle. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman and co-produced by Fredrik Nordström. After the album was recorded, Glenn Ljungström and Johan Larsson unexpectedly announced that they were leaving In Flames.
Niklas Engelin (guitar) and Peter Iwers (bass) were recruited to fill in the vacant spots during a tour with Dimmu Borgir.

After the tour both Niklas Engelin and Peter Iwers were asked to join the band permanently, and they did. With the new line-up, In Flames then proceeded with a European tour and played their first two shows in Japan.
However, by the end of that tour in 1998, Niklas Engelin quit In Flames.

In 1998, to fill the vacant guitarist spot, the band decided to switch Björn Gelotte from his position as drummer to guitarist, and they recruited Daniel Svensson to take over as drummer.

That same year, the new line-up recorded the band's fourth studio album, Colony. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman and co-produced by Fredrik Nordström. In 1999, Colony was released. Afterwards, In Flames toured Europe, Japan, and played their first show in the United States during the Milwaukee Metal Fest.

In 2000, In Flames recorded and released their fifth studio album, Clayman. This album was recorded once again in Studio Fredman and co-produced by Fredrik Nordström. Afterwards, In Flames did some tours with bands such as Dream Theater, Slipknot, and Testament.

In August 2001, In Flames released The Tokyo Showdown, a live album recorded during the Japanese tour in November 2000.

In 2002, In Flames recorded and released their sixth studio album, Reroute to Remain. Unlike all previous albums, Reroute to Remain was not recorded in Studio Fredman or produced by Fredrik Nordström. The album was recorded in Dug-Out studio and produced by Daniel Bergstrand. That year the band toured with bands such as Slayer, Soulfly, and Mudvayne.

In 2003, In Flames recorded their seventh studio album, Soundtrack to Your Escape. The majority of the album was recorded in a house that the band rented in Denmark; only the drums were recorded in Dug-Out studio. This album was once again produced by Daniel Bergstrand. In 2004, Soundtrack to Your Escape was released. Afterwards, In Flames toured with bands such as Judas Priest, Motley Crew, and Motörhead. In Flames also played on the main stage during Ozzfest 2005.

In 2005, In Flames recorded and self-produced their eighth studio album, Come Clarity, in Dug-Out studio. That same year, In Flames released Used and Abused: In Live We Trust, a box set consisting of material filmed and recorded throughout various live performances during 2004. Also in 2005, In Flames decided to sign with an additional record label so future releases could have better distribution in North America.

In 2006, Come Clarity was released in North America through Ferret Music and elsewhere through Nuclear Blast. That same year, In Flames toured with Sepultura, toured on The Unholy Alliance tour, and played on the main stage at Download Festival.

Currently, In Flames are doing the pre-production of their ninth studio album in their own studio, IF Studio, located in Gothenburg, Sweden, and will release the album in late 2007.