If you had told me three weeks ago that we were going to get a new In Flames record I would have asked you “Who cares?” But after listening to Foregone for a few weeks, they’ve got my attention.
The Jester Race
Opeth – Sorceress Review
“It’s funny to think about how long it has been since the golden age of Swedish metal. In the mid-to-late ’90s and early aughts, Swedish bands were atop the world. Now venerable legends were young, hungry and novel. 1995 saw the release of Slaughter of the Soul, The Gallery and Orchid, while the following year graced us with Morningrise and The Jester Race. And when I got into Opeth in 1998 I was swimming in a veritable ocean of amazing Swedish records. Despite my love of the band, I would have laughed if someone had suggested that Opeth—the guys who couldn’t write a song shorter than 10 minutes—would be the most successful of the bunch in 20 years. Maybe it’s obvious in retrospect. Opeth was the band with the broadest opportunities for evolution. They have shown that consistently in their long career. Record after record they evolve; sometimes for the better and sometimes not. But they have always been forward thinking and—given their recent moves into merch and their own imprint—clever.” But is the new album good?
Yer Metal Is Olde! In Flames – The Jester Race
“So the comment I made on Grymm’s piece on losing your metal virginity may have been intentionally provocative. I resented the proposition that everyone distinctly remembers their first exposure to heavy metal as I do not: I’ve always been exposed to it so can’t recall a precise occasion. While this is true, and as I later conceded, the story is quite different with regard to extreme metal. The first death metal that I heard and loved which was itself derived from metal was The Jester Race by In Flames.” I remember now, I remember everything….
