The Jester Race is the second studio album by Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, released in February 1996. It is the first album to feature Anders Fridén as the band's vocalist, Björn Gelotte as the drummer, and Jester Head as the band's mascot.
The Jester Race was recorded at Studio Fredman by Fredrik Nordström, who also contributed keyboards for the album.
The song "Dead Eternity" was originally on their 1995 EP, Subterranean. "Dead God in Me" was also originally on Subterranean but with a different title, "The Inborn Lifeless", as well as different lyrics, a different ending, and a slightly different solo.
A remixed version of the song "Moonshield" was released on the EP Trigger. A video for the song "Artifacts of the Black Rain" was also released.
The Jester Race ranked No. 79 on Metal Rules' list of the Top 100 Heavy Metal Albums. It is considered a classic album of the melodic death metal genre, along with At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul and Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery, exhibiting the dual guitar leads, growled vocals and acoustic sections typical of the genre.
Trivium frontman Matthew K. Heafy said in an interview with Wall of Sound that The Jester Race is "the one metal album you should have heard by now."
Track listing
- Dead Eternity 05:01
- The Jester Race 04:51
- Graveland 02:46
- Moonshield 04:58
- The Jester's Dance 02:09
- December Flower 04:10
- Artifacts of the Black Rain 03:17
- Dead God in Me 04:15
- Wayfaerer 04:41
- Lord Hypnos 04:01
- Dead Eternity (demo) 05:02
- The Inborn Lifeless (demo) 03:22
Time: 48:33
Japan bonus tracks are demos of "Dead Eternity" (5:02) & "The Inborn Lifeless" (3:22).
"The Inborn Lifeless" is an early version of "Dead God in Me".
Original release licensed to Nuclear Blast Records by Wrong Again Records.
The band was under contract to WAR, but WAR never released their own edition of this album - early editions bore both labels' logos and stated "Licensed from Wrong Again Records".
Quotation in "Lord Hypnos" taken from William Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood".
The release date of the album is uncertain. Nuclear Blast cites February 20, 1996 while it may not have been distributed widely until August.
Official music video:
- Artifacts of the Black Rain
Recording information:
Recorded and mixed at Studio Fredman in November 1995.
Produced by Fredrik Nordström and In Flames
Lyrical concept and song titles collaborated by Niklas Sundin and Anders Fridén
Lyrics on "Dead Eternity" by Jocke Göthberg
Engineered by Fredrik Nordström and Patrik Hellgren
Mastered by Staffan Olofsson
Logo by Glenn Ljungström
Artwork by Andreas Marschall
Photos by Kenneth Johansson
Layout by M&A Music art
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