Gardenian was formed in Sweden in 1996 by Thim Blom (drums) and Jim Kjell (guitar, vocals). Håkan Skoger (Bass) and Niclas Engelin (guitar) soon joined the band and a rehearsal tape was recorded. Listenable Records picked them up and they then entered a studio and recorded their debut album, "Two Feet Stand", which was released the following year. As Niclas joined In Flames as session guitarist things didn't seem to go well in the band and they almost split up, however, they managed to get together and started working on their next album.

Before they entered a studio Håkan Skoger had left the band and Nuclear Blast had also become their new label. "Soulburner" was eventually recorded and featured guest vocalists Eric Hawk and Sabrina Kihlstrand and Tomas Fredriksson (keyboard). The album was released in 1999 and shortly after Kris Albertsson (bass) joined the band and they launched their first European tour. In 2000 they entered Abyss Studio and with help from Peter Tägtgren they recorded their third album, "Sindustries", released same year.

They eventually left their label and in 2001 Jim Kjell left the band. In 2003 Apollo Papathanasio (vocals) and Robert Hakemo (bass) joined the band (Kris Albertsson became live session guitarist).