Guitarist Nita Strauss has made quite a name for herself over the years, having worked with eminent rock and metal artists such as Alice Cooper, Angel Vivaldi and Lzzy Hale. Naturally, she has a ton of awesome influences, too, and in a recent interview with Guitar World, she revealed that Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames are as important to her as The Beatles are to most popular music fans.
Why Nita Strauss Loves In Flames So Much
During her chat with Guitar World (posted to YouTube on March 1), Strauss went over five guitar riffs that changed her life. In addition to playing and discussing licks from Megadeth (“Trust”), Alice Cooper (“Poison”), Iron Maiden (“The Trooper”) and Ozzy Osbourne (“Crazy Train”), she chose “Bullet Ride” from In Flames’ fifth studio LP, 2000’s Clayman.
“The next riff is by a band that I consider to be my Beatles, and that is Sweden’s own In Flames,” she says before playing the part.
She adds:
In Flames is, you know, the band that I always list as my favorite band, and when I was growing up and getting into heavy music, I was always really drawn by these sort of inversions and chords that Swedish melodic death metal bands used, and this is a song called “Bullet Ride.”
Of course, she nails it, and afterward, she reflects: “So, yeah, [it’s] really, really fun to play. The dramatic shifts of those chords with that pedal tone and, just, using that root in the fifth in a different way, . . . adding the tension with those different notes is just – I just think it’s so cool.”
We can’t disagree, and you catch watch the full clip of Strauss talking about all those riffs below.
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More About In Flames and “Bullet Ride”
“Bullet Ride” actually kicks off Clayman, and it’s often considered one of the best tracks from that album (if not one of In Flames’ best tracks period, so Strauss is certainly not alone in her love for it). Per setlist.fm, it’s their 15th most played song in concert, with nearly 500 performances since they debuted it at Rockwave Festival in July of 2000.
As for Clayman itself, it undoubtedly arrived with high expectations considering that it followed In Flames’ “holy trilogy” of 1996’s The Jester Race, 1997’s Whoracle and 1999’s Colony. Clayman is almost always viewed as one of In Flames’ best albums, though, and it’s also significant for being their final record (until 2023’s superb Foregone) to mostly retain their beloved melodeath sound (albeit with a stronger emphasis on welcoming singing, and the debut of synths).
Afterward – starting with 2002’s Reroute to Remain – they leaned into alternative metal (which understandably upset a lot of fans).
Nita Strauss – “Five Guitar Riffs That Changed My Life” With Guitar World
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Gallery Credit: Joe DiVita