Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad (born 28 November 1972) 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 MDM band Nightrage as a session guitarist. In 2004, Strömblad (along with Björn Gelotte) was ranked No. 70 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of all time by Guitar World. Early life Strömblad began playing music at age four, with a violin he played until age 12, when he no longer considered the violin a "cool" instrument to play and began playing guitar instead. Despite being left-handed, he learned to play the guitar with his right hand. Bands Ceremonial Oath (1990–1993) 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 have 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 5–6 January 2013 at Trädgår'n in Gothenburg, Sweden, with Strömblad back in the band. HammerFall (1993–1997) Oscar Dronjak also of Ceremonial Oath, formed a new band being HammerFall inviting Strömblad as the drummer in 1993. He is falsely listed as the drummer on their album Glory to the Brave for an unknown reason when 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. Dimension Zero (1995) 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. In May 2014, Dimension Zero was confirmed for the 2015 edition of the Gothenburg Sound Festival, at Trädgårn. Sinergy (1997) In 1997, when Kimberly Goss was in Dimmu Borgir they did a joint tour with In Flames. Goss spoke