In Flames's Reviews
The Jester Race (Average Rating: 9.30 out of 10)
Stunning (Rated this album with 10 out of 10)
Reviewed by
anonymousnick2001
from staying inside for good
I'll dish out the standard. I am not a fan of death metal. I'm just not. I respect it as an art form, and a few bands have actually been able to take jarring, angular, noise and make it listenable(like Fear Factory or Cryptopsy). However, for the most part, death metal=yuck. Me+death metal=no. For the longest while, up until about last summer, I'd been hearing how great death metal was and how horrible nu-metal was and that people should check out bands like In Flames. Great, I said. Sure. I listened to some samples of their music after curiosity pushed me to. I expected a wall of distorted sound coupled with blastbeats and Liquid Drano vocals to top it off. Instead, I got 30 seconds of perfection from the 3-minute masterpiece, "The Hive," courtesy of In Flames. I am now a new man, exposed to melodic death metal and liking it for its amazing mix of folk music, acoustic guitar, occasional clean vocals, quality subject matter, melodic guitar, and awesome musicianship. In Flames' Jester Race is a perfect example, the very poster for what melodic death metal is. The album kicks off with a Medieval-sounding acoustic jangle leading into "Moonshield," the opener. Other than a sweet, laid-back, solo, the song is pretty lackluster. Following it is the amazing instrumental, "The Jester's Dance," which has an addictive melody, and makes up for the previous song. Midtempo piledriver "Artifacts Of The Black Rain" comes next, and after hearing it, one will know why it is a highlight of the album. "Graveland" and "Lord Hypnos" are more average pieces, the latter being the better of the two simply for greater length and better executed guitar lines and acoustic-laden softer parts to serve as a dichotomy. "Dead Eternity" is my favorite song, for its blazing opening melody and amazing speed, hitting that of 80's thrash bands. The riff that comes in around 1:55 is worth the price of the whole album, and the solo is perfect. The title track is good for the first minute, while acoustic guitars provide a calm as a raging thrash riff builds in the background. However, the song soon becomes lackluster as well. "December Flower" is again amazing for its speed and has some more wonderful melodies. "Wayfaerer" is almost as good an instrumental as "The Jester's Dance," and has some keyboard effects, which greatly enhance the song, giving it an 80's feel. "Dead God In Me" is, sadly, also rather boring, but at least it has the speed to make up some. The bonus tracks from the Black-Ash-Ineritance EP: "Goliaths Disarm Their Davids" is awesome. Similar riffs to "The Jester Race," but the chorus guitar line is far superior. "Gyroscope" is a classic song off Whoracle, "Behind Space" is a shoddy live recording of a classic song off Lunar Strain/Subterranean. The quality is bad, and the acoustic intro is missing. "Acoustic Medley" is just that--a medley of some of the main riffs from a hodgepodge of In Flames songs, done acoustically. Special note goes out to the rhythm section, which is amazing in how tight it is. The lead guitarist, Jesper, is not the best guitarist in the world, and is nothing compared to Dave Mustaine, Chuck Schuldiner, or John Petrucci, but he writes better melodies and riffs than all of them put together, and gives each song its life and personality. The throat-man, Anders, also deserves recognition, simply because he doesn't try to emulate Cannibal Corpse, and takes on a Grover-esque growl rather than a Cookie Monster. All in all, a great album. I am now convinced that melodic death is a welcome addition to my listening tastes, and the future of metal. I can feel it. For something heavier, and more interesting, with less fluid melodies, but a better singer and more epic songwriting, listen to Opeth. Soilwork and Killswitch Engage are also good bets if you like this CD. A classic for sure.
Buy this album on Amazon at $14.99
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