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Class 6(66)

In Flames: The jester race

06/06/14  ||  cadenz

Introduction

The Gothenburg sound. Swedish melodeath. This album defines and epitomizes both of these well-known terms in a way that no other record, sans perhaps “Slaughter of the Soul”, can. The melodic death metal ground was fertile, with seeds having been laid by At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity and In Flames themselves with debut “Lunar Strain”, and with “The Jester Race” they hit the jackpot. Less intense than “SotS” and more harmonic than DT’s “The Gallery”, In Flames’ sophomore effort is probably the most accessible and melodic album I still can bear to call a death metal record, and even that feels like a stretch. Amped up Iron Maiden-metal with twin guitars and growl vocals would be a more suitable description, but since this is what melodeath sounds like, let’s adopt the moniker for this review.

Songwriting

9. Great hooks in every song. And I mean every. Fucken. Song. The melodies are all over the place, dragging you into the world of toe-tapping and off-key humming faster than you can say “ABBA!” There are fast songs, mid-tempo songs and calmer songs, so even though everything is sugar-coated by guitar harmonies in layer upon layer, there’s variation to be had. Effective breaks and tempo changes help to elevate the energy level when things get too repetitive, and the insertion of acoustic and clean guitars, so common to the genre, add a notch to the dynamic spectrum.

Production

9. A fine testament of the Studio Fredman sound – everything is crisp and clear, with a reasonable punch and just a little hint of sharpness to the edges to avoid fluffy mushiness. Considering the probably ridiculous amount of guitar tracks used, it’s incredible how well-balanced everything sounds, and that all details are easily discernible.

Guitars

9. The real selling point of this album is of course the guitar work. Heavy and thrash metal-inspired riffs alternate with the sweetest and most innocent of melodies, that could as easily be inserted into a folk melody, a pop song or on “Powerslave”. The aforementioned harmonies are almost omnipresent, further thickening the six-stringed wall, as well as honeying/lubing the listener’s ear with bittersweet overtones that clash and caress each other like two lovers on the Reeperbahn. Why does all this overtly sweet stuff work so well in a metal context? The hooks, man, the hooks… The melodies are so catchy that even a lobotomy won’t save you from them haunting your dreams. Rotting away in your grave, you’ll still tap your toe to Dead Eternity, scaring the bajeezus out of the cemetery caretaker. Also, beautiful solo on December Flower by guest Fredrik Johansson (ex-Dimension Zero).

Vocals

7. Fridéns first recording with In Flames only shows one side of his vocal skill set, which has widened considerably during the last two decades. On “The Jester Race” we get to hear his growl game, which is quite nice, but limited. Fridén’s growls are raspy and mid-to-high-pitched and he delivers the lyrics with poise and rhythmic pregnancy, but as they are quite one-dimensional they tend to get a bit monotone over the course of a whole album.

Bass

5. Not much to say here, the bass supports the guitars and nothing more. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing spectacular either.

Drums

7. Well-played, well-arranged, well-sounding…and safe. Very safe. There are cool double kicks, faster two-beats and even blast beats in one song, as well as some nice tom rolls, but all in all there’s not much that is special about the drumming on this record. It’s all tight and fitting and nice etc, but nothing out of the ordinary. At the same time, had Dave Lombardo played on “The Jester Race”, would it have been as good? I’m thinking no, as his playing would probably have taken too much attention away from the selling point of the album, which is…? The penis. Yes. Good dog. Here, have a boner.

Lyrics

8. Half-mysterious and metaphor-heavy, the album’s concept deals with the futile human race driving itself into extinction through ignorance, negligence and stupidity. Penned by Fridén and Niklas Sundin (Dark Tranquillity), the lyrics have a magniloquent and bombastic, yet poetic aura, which was very “in” by the time:

Gaia impaled on their horns and lances
to fumes from her body give case
as the throng of blind mind savour the scent,
dream-dead from prosaic and hate

Cover art

7. Some kind of mega-Transformer-tank-car (destroyer of the Earth) sporting a jester’s face (the stupid humans) and an hourglass (the end is near) driving through a desolate wasteland. Quite metal, and pretty cool.

Logo

4. The logo could as easily be the logo of a Karate club or sushi restaurant.

Booklet

7. Lyrics and photos and other essential stuff that no one will ever write home to Mom about, but will definitely need for a deeper understanding of the record. Standard.

Overall and ending rant

In Flames’ finest moment, in my opinion, was definitely the “Subterranean” EP that preceded this album, but this is surely their best full-length effort. It further cemented the Gothenburg sound as the prevalent genre in the mid-90’s and lifted In Flames into the upper echelon of metal. If you’re ever in need of all-you-can-eat riffs and melodies, this is the album to spin.

8,5

  • Information
  • Released: 1996
  • Label: Nuclear Blast
  • Website: www.inflames.com
  • Band
  • Anders Fridén: vocals
  • Glenn Ljungström: guitars
  • Jesper Strömblad: guitars, keyboards
  • Johan Larsson: bass
  • Björn Gelotte: drums, guitars
  • Tracklist
  • 01. Moonshield
  • 02. The Jester’s Dance
  • 03. Artifacts of the Black Rain
  • 04. Graveland
  • 05. Lord Hypnos
  • 06. Dead Eternity
  • 07. The Jester Race
  • 08. December Flower
  • 09. Wayfaerer
  • 10. Dead God In Me

Class 6(66) -reviews

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