Band: In Flames Album: The Jester Race (Nuclear Blast, 1996) Personal Rating: 9 Tracks: 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 - Wayfarer 10 - Dead God In Me Review:
Finally! A quality death\black metal act that a)don't think they're vampires and b)are not obsessed with paying homage to "Our Lord" Satan. Not to say that these are bad things but... A strong sence of melody (yes, melody!) pervades this entire release, not however, at the expense of brutality. The forth release from this Swedish act combines the best of the classic sounds of the NWOBHM, their Swedish folk heritage, and traditional black metal while coming up with their own fresh sound. The disc starts off with "Moonshield",a greatsong which leads into "The Jester's Dance"-which, in my humble opinion, is probably one of the best death/black instrumentals...EVER!. The brilliance continues throughout the album but reaches its high point at track 5 and maintains it the rest of the way. Genius. Pure fuckin' genius! My only gripes with this disc are the short running time (40:14) and the production. Now, its not that its bad, its just a bit thin and "tinny", and does not pack the wallop that the music deserves. This, however, does not detract from the incredible listening experience you'll get by checking this one out.
JC
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