In Flames- Whoracle

J.

J.

Old Fart
Jul 24, 2001
26,315
1,176
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The Woodlands
In Flames- Whoracle

Released by Nuclear Blast

Reviewed by Jeff Moore (aka Dreamlord)


I was going through my CD's last night deciding which ones to sell on Ebay. I came to In Flames, and while I am usually a completist, I saw no reason to keep this atrocious disc. I have all of In Flames' albums. My absolute favorite being the Lunar Strain/Subterranean album, with The Jester Race not far behind. For some reason I like Colony a lot. I think it's because it has great songs while being heavy as hell. Clayman just has a few good moments in 'Swim' and 'Bullet Ride'. But for the life of me, I could find no reason, not one, to keep Whoracle.

I know there are fans out there who claim this to be their favorite In Flames album. After all, 'Jotun', 'Food for the Gods', and 'Episode 666' are still staples in the band's live set. Not one of those songs ever clicked with me. I actually think the best song is 'Jester Script Transfigured', but what do I know? Also, the cover of 'Everything Counts' is simply God-awful. What the hell was In Flames thinking. I thought covering 80's pop tunes was a nu-metal thing. Given, Whoracle was released before the nu-metal craze.

The CD cover is quite interesting though. I like the snake-lady, or whatever she is.

Needless to say, this is In Flames worst offering. If they would have just stuck to the formula on the debut and Jester Race, I would still be a die-hard fan. But alas, the hated words "progression" and "evolution" set in on the In Flames camp. With Whoracle, In Flames took way too many steps back from where they were. Colony was a step in the right direction to the days of yore, but Clayman put them back in the Whoracle arena. I don't think they will ever release another album of the same callible as Lunar Strain, but we will see. I fear what "Reroute to Remain" will reveal. I will be very skeptical about it.

In closing, Whoracle is definitely the best dust collector I've ever owned.


JM
 
Yikes.


I think it's not their best album, but worth keeping. I think Colony is the best effort. Like you said, Colony is melodic with great songs while still being heavy as hell. It's clear that Zombie INC is not only the best song on Colony, but also In Flames' best song ever. It's basically the type of song that has all the elements that make the band great. Melody, heaviness, amazing riffing and solo and a great chorus all rolled into one song.

While Whoracle is indeed a great album, for some reason I can't get into the second half of it. The first 5 songs on Whoracle are masterpieces to my ears. I love everything about them, but then the album kinda slacks off. I still think to this day, that Episode 666 is the most over rated In Flames song ever. I mean, compared to other songs on the album...why does it get so much praise? The main riff is average.

All that being said, songs like Jotun, Gyroscope and Food for the Gods are better than most of the songs on Colony except for Zombie INC, but they're really the only stand out tracks on Whoracle (without forgetting The Jester Script Transfigured), so I prefer Colony as a whole.
 
I agree that Episode 666 is over-rated. I never "got" this song. Jester Script Transfigured is a great song, but hardly merits keeping the entire CD.

I agree that Zombie Inc is a great song. I also like Coerced Coexistence and Resin.
 
I think I will keep Clayman, but I am definitely NOT buying the new one before I hear it.

Colony did have a lot of good songs, but it seems COlony is the most hated IF album.
 
Then I'm not getting it. Simple as that. After reading Devy_Metal's review and you telling me this, and the bland slab that was Clayman, I have now given up on IF. Oh well, at I still have Dark Tranquillity.

And now that I'm looking at the underground melodic scene like Eucharist and Ceremonial Oath, who needs IF.

BTW, thanks for the help yesterday with those releases.
 
i disagree about 75%
I think Colony is way too poppy
iI love all in flames records. But I find colony the worst. Lunar Strain being the obvious best.
1) Lunar Strain/ Subterranean
2) Jester Race
3) whoracle/Clayman TIED
4) Colony
 
WOW. I have never read this much negative comments about Whoracle ever. Every review I read at metal sites, say it is a masterpiece and I agree. I am not good at describing why I like songs or not, so I can not write good reviews. I kind of just say "its good" or "its bad." The only song I do not like is Morphing Into Primal.
 
Whoracle is my favorite In Flames album, followed by Jester Race. Colony, i like the title track, but overall i find to be a rather boring album. Besides the title track, the only song i ever really got into was Zombie Inc and the remake of Behind Space. I probably gave Clayman more listens then Colony, which is odd, because a lot of people really seem to dislike Clayman. My opinion on the In Flames albums i've heard/own are,

Jester Race - Great
Whoracle - Great
Colony - OK, boring at some points.
Clayman - OK, some good, but some bad.
Reroute To Remain - Bad, Anders' clean vocals are terrible.
 
Whoa... a very different opinion then I have on Whoracle, I think it's a fantastic album, but hey, we all see things differently.
As for the other In Flames albums, here's how I see them
Lunar Strain/Subterranean - Fantastic
The Jester Race - Fantastic
Whoracle - Fantastic
Colony - Fantastic
Clayman - Fantastic.. but a couple tracks im not huge on.. like Satellites and Astronauts
Reroute To Remain - I've not heard it yet
As you can probably see, Im a big In Flames fan, but im getting sceptic of hearing the new album, but I'll buy it anyways and judge it then!!
 
Good review, Whoracle is their worst release.

Colony was the most mature In Flames. It was so stylish, no cliches at all. I would even refer to it as COOL !

Dreamlord: if you have Clayman and Whoracle then get r2r. Its only AFTER the preliminary first 5 listens when you stop hurling and start to enjoy it, and then i doubt it would collect much dust at all. :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by markgugs
Tell you what Dream, I'll burn you a copy of the new IF in exchange for something tasty you have...
Click to expand...

I hate to but in between you and Dreamlord but I need a copy of the new In Flames since CM is being stingy with their promos.:mad:

I would really love to run a review for this in the August issue. I am proposing a cdr exchange. I have quite the exrtensive library of progressive rock and extreme metal. e-mail me or post something on my forum if you are interested.

rhavin2112
 
wtf is wrong with you idiots???

cant u seee that every fucking song on whoracle is a masterpiece in its own way, i like, no love all the songs on whoracle and when someone talks this bad of it i just...:puke:
 
In Flames have fallen into that grey area with the last few albums. you either love them or hate them. But wether you love their "progression" or hate it, you have to respect their musical abilities and sheer instrument skills. Why should a band keep releasing the same sounding album again and again? Consistency is great and I know its difficult when you really hang onto a band because you are in love with a certain album - but could you imagine being in the actual band writing and rehearsing the songs hundreds of times and playing them hundreds of times on tour constantly. When it comes around to writting new material for the next album, wouldn't you want to try and push the sound and develop new sonic territories?

Soilwork is another example. Alot of Soilwork "fans" hate the album (Natural Born Chaos) because it has melodic passages and harmonised vocals on choruses etc. Personally I think its genius!

It's entirely ones opinnion wether the current state of a band "rules" or "sucks", and often I think a change or progression is usually for the better. The exception to his rule of change is Metallica, they changed, for the worse, and now they SUCK.

I wouldn't worry, I don't think Soilwork or in Flames will follow Metallicas terribly lead example.
 
Whoracle is definitely a good album at least, the best after Jester Race and Lunar Strain (and Subterranean* of course). Everything after it went downhill, including Colony, only Coerced Coexistance is quite OK, but the rest.. yaaawwwnn! Standard and uninspired.

*Ever Dying is undoubtedly one of IF's best 3 songs ever.
 
This is a record as powerful as Reign in Blood. ;)




...nah I take it back...it's better than Reign in Blood, Kerry King never managed to pull off Necrophobic live. :)
 
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