Review Summary: In Flames destroy their hypothetical world within Whoracle, but their impact on the world beyond its margin is a little more enlivening
Imagine that you are a member of In Flames in 1997. You have just released an album that many consider a masterpiece in The Jester Race, and you are now recognized as one of the major players in melodic death metal. There is no need to change your sound much because all your fans and critics are crying out for more, so all that is required is to re-evaluate the vocals and to slow things down a bit. Come up with a few classic songs, an apocalyptic theme and the usual incredible melodies, and there you have it: album #3...
Whoracle
Whoracle has many highlights, but two songs in particular deserve special mention.
Gyroscope has all the best ingredients of vintage In Flames, opening with beautiful acoustics before launching into uplifting riffwork. It's a little economical as a whole, yet thoroughly satisfying - and anyone sceptical over its conservative songwriting will find themselves contended by "Jester Script Transfigured". This is perhaps In Flames' most ambitious track from their classic period, once again fleshing out an engaging blend of acoustic and electric tones, this time in aid of a composite structure that eventually produces a wonderfully euphoric climax. An all-timer, to be sure.
The album's bold concept is fleshed out in broad strokes; augurs of destruction, pseudoscience, predetermination and imminent apocalypses abound. However craft behind this is a little more engaging than your common or garden Death and Ruin metal-isms. This owes a lot to the cryptic lyrics, which were written in Swedish by frontman Anders Friden but translated by Niklas Sundin of Dark Tranquillity. They're odd yet poetic, just about discernible enough under Friden's delivery to lend the album extra clout.
Clout is an appropriate word for
Whoracle; just like the band's endlessly harmonised riffs, it's overblown but highly satisfying, ambitious without biting off more than it can chew, crass enough to seem a little silly yet craftful enough to be taken seriously. In many ways, this marks In Flames' high watermark; the songwriting is more varied than on
The Jester Race or
Clayman and the quality threshold perhaps a tad higher than that on
Colony. As early peaks go, you can do worse.
