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In a dystopian and twilight future, an inert spectator of the decay of a human race that is now outdated, the heirs to the Throne of Earth belong to the advanced race of Jester. Submission and conquest are the imperatives of an evolutionary idea that leaves no space for the obsolete Earth civilization.
A hardly desirable fate that In Flames foresaw and developed in their second work "The Jester Race" back in 1995, which includes other excellent releases like "Sloughter Of The Soul" by At The Gates and "The Gallery" by Dark Tranquillity.
In short...Göteborg caput (metal) mundi.
Total immersion from the opener "Moonshield" where the hoarse and deep scream of Anders Fridén rules over a folk-inspired, fluid, and hyper-melodic riff. From the very beginning, we realize we are dealing with a band in dazzling form, capable of caressing us and suddenly lashing out with a Melodic Death Metal of devastating impact.
"And how I covet the dances and the flames,
in the depth of the sunset, peach-colored,
to taste its dew.
The wind blows from me and its fire
to steal the colors.
I am the Moonshield."
The dynamic instrumental "The Jester's Dance" introduces us to "Artifacts Of The Black Rain" where guitars weave notes onto a compact and tireless rhythmic setup.
Brief and epic, "Graveland" proudly exhibits a soul that is both Death and groovy. A great piece for headbanging!
"Lord Hypnos" presents a linear structure up to its midway, when unexpectedly a semi-acoustic interlude pushes us towards a chromatic and engaging finale, while the tomb-like bass and the double pedal of "Dead Eternity" support perhaps the least successful song of the set.
Just a very slight dip in quality, but if this is the price to pay for the nine exact minutes of the tandem "The Jester Race"-"December Flower", well...bring it on!
In the title track we encounter the most captivating refrain of the album that literally explodes after a high-adrenaline verse; everything is in its right place, including the beautiful final solo.
"The harvest of corpses for a dead man
is a banquet composed of bread left to rot
and a murky poisonous wine."
Speaking of solos: minute 1:27 of "December Flower". Fredrick Johansson, special guest courtesy of fellow countrymen Dark Tranquillity, offers us something transcendental, unique, astonishing, and from his fingers pours a clear cascade in the form of ascending and descending scales. 40 seconds to replay infinitely. Absolute highlight!
"And the flowering field is adorned with pure white and gray shades
is adorned.
White as the dawning of snowflakes.
The heroic emblem of life."
Echoes of Iron Maiden peep out in the vaguely progressive "Wayfaerer", an instrumental track that precedes the tenth and final track "Dead God In Me."
Double pedal and a more vehement interpretation of an album that will delight a substantial crowd of listeners.
No contraindications. Excellent. Anytime you want.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Moonshield (05:03)
Tired of dull ages, I walk the same ground,
collecting the tragedies still
Hollow ambitions in a hollow mind
carried my cross to the hill
And how I lust for the dance and the fire
taste of the nectarine sunset to drink
spill me the wind and the fire
to steal of the colors-I'm the moonshield
Shattered hope became my guide
and grief and pain my friends
a brother pact in blood-ink penned
declared my silent end
Naked and dying under worlds of silent stone
reaching for the moonshield that once upon us shone
And how I lust for the dance and the fire
taste of the nectarine sunset to drink
spill me the wind and the fire
to steal of the colors-I'm the moonshield
04 Graveland (02:48)
Mankind - proud conqueror and king
swings its flag of primal glory to the winds
Titans of the power-myth that failed
Neanderthal hunger for the flesh of war so frail
So weak, so hollow-minded
the primat flock responds
the jester race submits
For each day of war is a failure for man,
enslaved in her mordial genes
Illusions bleed from their fetid cores,
bent to their rotten extremes
We, the plague of Terra Firma,
nature's grand and last mistake
plant the poisoned seed of cancer,
set the severed fruits awake
Burning like frozen relics
in god's archaic graveland
Burn the visionaire
Kill the ideaologies
Mankind must die
The doves and the angels return to their graves
with flames on their pestilent wings
while mushroom-clouds haunt their virginwhite skies
to rape their utopian dreams
For each day of war is a failure for man,
enslaved in her mordial genes
Illusions bleed from their fetid cores,
bent to their rotten extremes
Living the last days of evolution's end
from the nest of humanity, the graveland vultures rend
05 Lord Hypnos (04:03)
I lie in your soother arms, lord Hypnos
your garmet alive with your song
I lie in your soother arms, lord Hypnos
Steep the spiral to your far abode,
in the wake of slumber, on visions I rode
and fell like history through the chasm of ages
into the charged, forbidden zones
How I have searched
through a million worlds and faces
yet unaware, I have not found
my own true face, traceless and profound
So, find me in these grandiose halls
where long ago summers eternally fall
and tune the strings of truthful longing
to the frozen music of gods
Hypnagonia's lucid horizons
play with the yearning I've quelled
as I strike towrads the Pantheon
and what therein is held
08 December Flower (04:11)
Towards the rich archaic heavens
Towards the lack diorama
You are the artist and the texture
That plays with mantle of the earth
When the bleakest of powders
Lie rooted to the starched stones
And the roots that feed the peaking trees
embrace the sleeping stones
Archaic pearls of sleep and death
The voice of December losing its breath
As the floweryard of white and grey is haunted, is haunted
White as the down of flaking snow
The heroic emblems of life
Green is the colour of my death
As in winter-guise I swoop towards the ground
Green is the landscape of my sorrowfilled passing
Archaic pearls of sleep and death
The voice of December losing its breath
As the floweryard of white and grey is haunted, is haunted
White as the down of flaking snow
The heroic emblems of life
We Are In Flames
Towards the dead archaic heavens
We Are The Mantle and The Texture
The alters, the mantle of the earth
Archaic pearls of sleep and death
The voice of December losing its breath
As the floweryard of white and grey is haunted, is haunted
White as the down of flaking snow
The heroic emblems of life
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Other reviews
By wwwhatemoornet
Finally, we can listen to the real vocal abilities of Fridén, literally blossomed like a little country flower after the questionable performance on Dark Tranquillity’s Skydancer.
An album and a band that use easily assimilated melody as their best weapon, not exaggerating in doses but balancing it wisely to give everything a longevity that distances any In Flames CD from the ephemeral.
By Wallego
The epicness is present in every part!
I would classify this The Jester Race among the absolute masterpieces of Death Metal.
