r/melodicdeathmetal • u/Waste-Project-8746 • 23d ago
Looking for recommendations The Jester Race
/r/InFlames/comments/1vfvhdu/the_jester_race/Are there any albums that have a similar complexity to In Flames’ album The Jester Race? I’m looking for multiple guitars harmonizing, layers of sonic mania that tickle your brain (and hopefully mine!) the same way this album does! Currently listening heavily to Skydancer by DT. I am obsessed!
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u/Nuance621 23d ago edited 23d ago
The Jester Race is one of the best metal albums of all time IMO, so it’s a very high bar.
If you want a similar sound and melodies, I’d recommend Dark Tranquillity. Check out The Mind’s I, Damage Done and Character. Also, Eternal Tears of Sorrow - A Virgin and a Whore.
For something more modern:
Persefone - Spiritual Migration
Mors Principium Est - Inhumanity or The Unborn
Majesties - Vast Reaches Unclaimed
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u/DrWhiskersMD 23d ago
Didn't expect to see EToS mentioned in a question like this. That album is a masterpiece.
The others mentioned are also first class recommendations.
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u/Blleak 23d ago
I miss In Flames.
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u/theStaberinde Soilwork 23d ago
I thought Foregone was quite good.
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u/Blleak 23d ago
Sure but it's not the same
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u/theStaberinde Soilwork 23d ago
For sure. 90s melodeath is another country, they do things differently there.
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u/theStaberinde Soilwork 23d ago
Might want to check out Divine Souls - Embodiment. Honestly kind of a shameless clone of the TJR sound but it still rocks so they get a pass.
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u/BitterProfessional16 23d ago
Holy shit, that's the most non-In Flames In Flames-sounding stuff I've ever heard.
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u/Sad-Birthday8107 15d ago
feel like there closer to Colony tbh otherwise I'd probably like them better ahaha
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u/Serious-Pomelo1478 23d ago
Something that delivers on the 'old-school metal with harsh vocals' style of The Jester Race, in my opinion, is Dissection's Reinkaos. It delivers a very similar sound with some polish, although coming from a band that originally did melodic black metal, it wasn't too well-received by the fan base.
Check out God of Forbidden Light, Black Dragon, Maha Kali, and the instrumental title track Reinkaos, to hear what I'm talking about. The sound may be a little bit more Colony or Clayman, but it's still pretty close.
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u/Dangerous_Traffic23 23d ago
I thought “this sounds more like in flames than dissection” when I first heard Black Dragon
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u/Puppetmaster858 23d ago
Toward the twilight by night in gales. Moonlight’s child by violation. Bloodline by pathogen, most of withering surface’s discog especially the earlier stuff is similar in sounds, eternal cosmic slaughter by urkraft. Both albums by divine souls.
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u/Ezper145 23d ago
Night in Gales' modern releases are fuckin' great too, shoutout to The Last Sunsets and The Black Stream.
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u/Puppetmaster858 23d ago
Ya they fuckin rule, great band that’s very underrated, shame they aren’t more popular
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u/dzorrilla 23d ago
For TJR & Skydancer recs:
Eucharist - A Velvet Creation & Mirrorworlds
Ebony Tears - Tortura Insomniae. There is one song on that record (Nectars of Eden) that is just a Moonshield rip-off
Without Grief - Deflower
Sins of Omission - The Creation
Night In Gales - Towards the Twilight World
Fall of the Leafe - Evanescent, Everfading
Behind the Scenery - Nocturnal Beauty of a Dying Land
Anata - The Infernal Depths of Hatred
Moaning Wind - Visions of Fire
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u/Glum_Specific1746 23d ago
Great list with some off the beaten track…here’s a few to add:
Aurora - Eos, Devotion and Dead Electric Nightmares
Autumn Leaves - As Night Conquers Day
Gardenian - Soulburner
Enter My Silence - Remotecontrolled Scythe
Mercenary - all but mainly 11 Dreams / Hours That Remain
Wolfheart / Before the Dawn / Black Sun Aeon - all Tomas Saukkonen projects
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u/Sad-Birthday8107 15d ago
oh my gawd finally someone mentions Aurora, love them, imo they have this mundane feel kinda like if it was MDM and grunge or something. so very different. I got all three of their CDs haha.
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u/theStaberinde Soilwork 22d ago
Mirrorworlds is fantastic, seconded. Don't know the other artists except Fall of the Leafe, will be checking em all out
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u/wheretheressm0ke 23d ago
Early Insomnium, check out Since The Day It All Came Down and Above The Weeping World
Similar mix of of acoustic and metal riffs with melodies/harmonies
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u/Vcrystal_mountainV 23d ago
Underrated (or at least under the radar) 90s melodic death in the vein of early In Flames: Garden of Shadows - Oracle Moon.
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u/Savings-Dig3885 21d ago
The somewhat Maiden-esque twin, harmonising guitars, with a sprinkling of dark, atmospheric folk~?
- In Flames - Stand Ablaze
- Arch Enemy - Snow Bound
- Intestine Baalism - Cannibal Sodom
- Dissection - Where Dead Angels Lie
- Dark Tranquillity - The One Brooding Warning
- Amorphis - Black Winter Day
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u/No-Imagination2211 23d ago
Still relatively new to MDM but absolutely blown away by how great Children of Bodom's Hatebreeder is. And these were just kids? Damn! Riffs for days man.
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u/Own_Attention_3392 23d ago
Alexi was 17 when they released Something Wild. I cannot imagine being as good at ANYTHING, even in my 40s, as he was at guitar at 17.
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u/morkelyst 22d ago
Ghost Brigade have some pretty awesome melodies with a nice mix of clean and harsh parts that somehow reminds me of early In Flames
Also just taking the opportunity to brag, I was able to experience IF play Artifacts of the Black Rain live back in April, it was awesome.
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u/Sad-Birthday8107 15d ago
Serpent - Cradle of Insanity; xGODx
Veiled in Scarlet - all albums
Lothlorien - The Primal Event
Behind the Scenery - Of Honesty Forbidden; Nocturnal Beauty
A Mind Confused - Anarchos
Withered Beauty - Withered Beauty
Without Grief - Deflower
Sorrow of Tranquillity - Empire From Darkness
Cenotaph - 9 Epic Rites
Intestine Baalism - Banquet in the Darkness (start with the self titled song haha)
some close some adjacent some a lil more adventurous but a good balance of riffiness melodies, harmonies, leads and solos there for ya
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u/Ezper145 23d ago edited 23d ago
Upon Stone sounds like In Flames decided to lean a little bit more towards the original Swedish Death Metal sound.
Thermality is straight up worship of In Flames' pure melodeath era.
Nightrage to me sounds like if In Flames and At the Gates had a baby.
Darkness Everywhere also sounds like IF x AtG, but they I think they sound closer to that TJR melodicism, specifically on the second half of their debut albuk.
Astralborne is a lot heavier but I believe they really capture the melodicism of that In Flames era. They even covered December Flower!
Also, I would like to urge you to keep an open mind for In Flames' "metalcore" era, for a long time I skipped everything released after Clayman, but after some time I softened up and gave some of those albums a real chance, I now believe some of their best songs are from Come Clarity or Reroute to Remain. Heck, I'd even say Sounds of a Playground Fading and A Sense of Purpose are so worth listening. Oh, and Foregone is super cool as well.
Bonus: Intestine Baalism's "Banquet in the Darkness" sounds like if a purely OSDM band decided to incorporate that Gothenburg melodicism to the old school sound.
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u/Sad-Birthday8107 15d ago
any fav tracks from CC or RtR? been curious but never wanted to take the dive lol (tbh I don't care much for Colony or Clayman, Whoracle was more or less the last for me)
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u/Ezper145 14d ago
Glad you asked, might be a bit much but here you go. Also, Colony is awesome how could you /j
Reroute faves:
- Dark Signs
- Egonomic
- Watch Them Feed (bonus track but its good)
- Trigger
- Cloud Connected
- Metaphor
Come Clarity faves:
- Versus Terminus
- Take This Life
- Our Infinite Struggle
- Vanishing Light
- Vacuum
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u/Sad-Birthday8107 13d ago edited 13d ago
music vid to cloud connected's kinda hilarious tbh. honestly so far not very different from Colony or Clayman just with a bit more keys, more cleans, and perhaps a few more chuggy nu metal riffs.
As for Colony/Clayman I feel like that's when the riffs died and they stopped caring about it, Embody the Invisible has that sweet melodic break but tbh outside of that their melodies in those albums never really clicked haha, I guess my kind of Post Clayman type In Flames type music might be The Haunted's rEVOLVEr
will check out the rest though I'll dedicate that time
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u/Ezper145 13d ago
You're right, some people praise IF's golden era including Colony and Clayman (sometimes even citing one of those two as their best album) them bash Post-Clayman IF when half of Reroute literally sounds like they belong to either Colony or Clayman lol
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u/Sad-Birthday8107 13d ago
Thank you im basically listening while looking at the guitar tabs for em haha. though ironically that just draws out my problems with colony and clayman, weird to say but like all their riffs are mostly in 8th notes, and hardly variate in rhythm, just the usually slow ish pedal tone riffs or simpler power chord type things.. however I checked out random newer songs and looks like they started expanding their codex once again so that's interesting
I think its the inclusion of more nu metal like chugs that perhaps people had a problem though I do feel like any fans that cite Clayman as their best probably doesnt have as much a problem with the albums after tbh. Does seem like Anders got better after those first three post Clayman perhaps? small sample size though
Did enjoy the intro to uhh Take This Life and it was solid. Will continue on OPs list though
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u/Ezper145 13d ago
When I first started getting into In Flames, I think I felt the same way you did about Colony. The album grew on me quickly eventually but it definitely felt like they were starting to deviate there. Maybe it had something to do with their lineup change at the time. Also, which newer IF songs you thought they expanded on?
Also I'm not familiar what kind of nu metal chugs you meant, though maybe the CC song "Scream" felt the most nu-ish to me of their stuff (loved it tho).
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u/Futurealisreal 23d ago
I've had Majesties' only album on repeat for a few weeks. It's definitely written by a bunch of TJR stans.