In Flames - Whoracle (Nuclear Blast Records)
"Whoracle" to me is the best In Flames release. It is considered to be a
"Concept Album" "which describes the past, present, and a hypothetical
future of the planet Earth" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoracle). There
isn't really a track on here that I dislike though I think the production
could've been a bit better than what it came out sounding as. That is one of
the only real "beef" I had about it besides the drum efforts.
The lyrics to this release are highly esoteric and intellectual then of
course they cover Depeche Mode's "Everything Counts" which has a killer use
of the wah-pedal played by one of the guitarists. "Whoracle" is an
astounding portrayal of Melodic Death Metal played to perfection. This album
was extremely well thought out very much like the melodies in "The Jester
Race" which was their previous release in which I am dubbing as their second
best album.
As far as the vocals are concerned they are primarily high-end screams to
these awesome lyrics with some variation but not much. The rhythm and lead
guitar is impeccable well worthy of praise. I especially enjoyed all of the
leads/melodies which fit precisely into the rest of the band in synchrony
and to me virtually flawless. I can't stress that enough because the guitars
had me captivated. I'd say the least effective parts on "Whoracle" are the
drums. Though well in synchrony also there isn't anything spectacular about
the drums on this release. I think that if they had a solid drummer here it
would've been even more to my liking of "Whoracle".
Tracks that I would advocate downloading if you've never heard this release
are: "Jotun", "Gyroscope" and "Episode 666". These in my opinion are the
best tracks even though I view all of them to be phenomenal. This album
remains to be one of my favorite Melodic Death Metal releases ever. Check
out those tracks and if you're not convinced then I'd suggest you hear the
songs more than once. You can download some of these tracks here:
http://www.secret-face.com/id20.htm. Just scroll down and you'll see
"Whoracle" on my Playlist.
Rating: 9.5/10.