Track Listing

1. Moonshield
2. Jester's Dance
3. Artifacts Of The Black Rain
4. Graveland
5. Lord Hypnos
6. Dead Eternity
7. Jester Race
8. December Flower
9. Wayfaerer
10. Dead God In Me
11. Goliaths Disarm Thier Davids
12. Gyroscope
13. Acoustic Medley
14. Behind Space

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41378 in Music
• Released on: 2002-01-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

Customer Reviews

A Classic!
I'm always cautious when approaching hyped albums, albums which are labelled the best a band has ever put out and especially albums labelled as 'genre-classics'. Such albums tend fall flat on their faces in dissapointment or, as is more often the case, fall victim to their own hype in that, while not being bad, they cannot live up to their reputation. The Jester Race, however, lives up to it's reputation as In Flames best and a genre classic.

The beauty of the Jester Race comes from its simplicty;a heads down, riff heavy metal album of the finest calibar, which has, to my ears, an almost working-class work ethic in that it delivers solid, top notch metal tunes without being overly flashy or needlessly technical. Take, for example, the legendary opener 'Moonshield'. It begins with a beautiful yet straightforward acoustic section, building up to a nice into the hypnotic groove of its verse, a great bridge, and another clean break before ending. Nothing fancy, the band arn't trying to show off or impress anyone but themselves. And it shows, as the band blasts along like a freight train, sturdy, strong, and not about to move outa the way for anyone. All throughout the album, the Jester Race is characterised by this wonderful approach of thrash riffs, simple yet interesting chord progressions, stratospherically uplifting major-scale leads (sounds like someone was a Joe Satriani fan...) and some brilliant solos. The rhythm section, especially the drumming, is likewise nothing spectacular but solid, reliable and planting a firm base for the guitars and vocals. the song writing has something to be said for it as well, combining thrash, death and power metal with sublte touches of folk here and there. Other stand out songs would be the killer 'Atrifacts of the Black Rain, with some of the best leads on the album or 'Dead Eternity' with its neo classical intro and gloriously bouncy verse ("THIS PART I CONTROL") or the closing 'Dead God in Me', the most technical, dark and brutal track of the album.

This 'simple yet effective' approach is mirrored in the production, which is fairly gritty but not so rough it makes them sound crap. The guitars have a great dirty crunch to them, the bass is surprisingly audiable, the drums tight and Ander's vocals, although sounding a bit all over the place at times, have a wonderful gargled rasp to them that puts a smile on my face any time of the day.

Also, i get the feeling that In Flames were taking a few risks here. For example, they start of with a mid-paced track (while most metal bands open with a fast number) and follow up with a chilled instrumental. The same with the other instrumental 'Wayfaerer' which sees In Flames realising their guitar hero dreams to their maximum extent. Not very deathy. but then again In Flames never were.

This is simply a solid album of great songs, great riffs, great songwriting and some of the most excellent leads on the planet. Nothing more, nothing less. You may find heavier, faster and more complex albums then this, but i doubt you will find many with such a wonderful sense of melody or such an unashamedly workman-like charm.

Essential

Brilliant
This is one of my favourite albums and, in my opinion, the best In Flames release. I enjoy the new stuff as well but this is in a whole different league. Melodic death metal, delving into acoustic and folk directions, creates such beauty and power... It's absolutely outstanding and I'd recommend it to any metal fan, or anyone who knows great music when they hear it!

In Flames Jester Race/Black Ash Inheritance
In my eyes, this is probably the best In Flames album out. If you enjoyed Clayman, Whoracle or the new album (Come Clarity), then you will enjoy this. Although it is somewhat different to they're most recent offerings, Jester Race is a brilliantly produced album and more importantly beautifully performed by Swedish Melodic Death Metal's finest. A MUST buy for any metal fan.