Review by Ben for In Flames - The Jester Race (1996)

An enjoyable melodic death metal album, despite what others might tell you.

There are very few bands in metal that can cause as much controversy and differing viewpoints than In Flames. For every individual out there, that considers albums such as The Jester Race to be the holy grail of metal, there is another that sticks needles in Anders Fridén dolls nightly in an attempt to end the agony. The reasons for this war are many, but the main one that comes to mind is that In Flames are popular. So popular in fact, that the band has sold well over 2 million albums, which is far more than anyone even remotely associated with death metal is apparently allowed to sell before they get labels such as “sell out” and “mainstream crap”. I made a pact with myself a long time ago that I would judge every album on its merits rather than its popularity and while that may not bode well for this Swedish outfits later recordings, there’s no doubt in my mind that The Jester Race is both relevant and pretty damn good.

The Jester Race was the first In Flames album to contain vocalist Anders Fridén and drummer Björn Gelotte, yet while those two members certainly made an impact on the result, the band had well and truly found their sound on 1995’s Subterranean EP. I thought the band showed great improvement over their sketchy debut full length on that EP and had cut some of the experimentation that hadn’t quite worked on their previous effort. The same catchy melodic riffs can be heard throughout every track here, along with easy on the ear leads and nice injections of acoustics at regular intervals. It’s all harmless stuff which is what riles up so many death metal fans so much, but it’s also highly entertaining and well…fun! The band can still crank things up with some heavy riff / intense drumming sections on tracks like Dead Eternity, but you always know that the aggression is short lived, with another uplifting melody just around the corner. It’s the type of album I can listen to when I’m just not particularly in the mood for Cryptopsy or Nile like intensity, yet still wish for something undeniably metal.

While it must be apparent that I find a lot to enjoy on The Jester Race, I’m still not convinced that it deserves to be placed among the top tier of metal albums. The blatant Iron Maiden worshipping instrumental Wayfaerer does push things too far with some very weak riffs not to mention truly awful synthesizer leads that have me reaching for the skip button faster than you can say “why the f#$% would you do that”! I also think the title track drops the ball a bit and cringe every time Anders hollers “here we go” like an English football fan repeatedly. Speaking of Anders, I don’t mind his vocal style at all, but it must be said that he would get a lot better with experience. There’s no denying though that tracks like Moonshield, Dead Eternity and December Flower are some of the best the band ever produced, and good examples of the Gothenburg sound. I still prefer Slaughter of the Soul and numerous Dark Tranquillity albums far more than anything In Flames have produced, but credit where credit’s due. The Jester Race is hugely influential and for the most part, an enjoyable melodic death metal album.