''Whoracle'' is the third studio album by Swedish heavy metal band

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. During the ...

, released on 18 November 1997. The title of the album is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordswhore Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

" and "

oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word ''o ...

". Apart from "

Everything Counts "Everything Counts" is a 1983 song by the English electronic band Depeche Mode from the album ''Construction Time Again''. A live version of the song was released in 1989 to support the band's live album ''101''. Background and themes The sing ...

", which is a cover of a

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

song, all songs were composed and arranged by

. The lyrics were translated by ''

Dark Tranquillity Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates. Dark Tranquillity is regarded a ...

'' guitarist

Niklas Sundin Niklas Sundin (born 13 August 1974 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a musician of the band Mitochondrial Sun, but was best known as the founding lead guitarist of band Dark Tranquillity (1989–2020). He was also one of the guitarists in the band Laethora ...

, after

Anders Fridén Pär Anders Fridén (born 25 March 1973) is a Swedish vocalist, best known as the lead singer of heavy metal band In Flames. He was also the vocalist of Dark Tranquillity and Passenger, a side project. Career Early career Fridén was original ...

had written them in Swedish. ''Whoracle'' is the final album to feature Johan Larsson and

Glenn Ljungström Glenn Ljungström (born 7 September 1974) is a Swedish co-guitarist from Nödinge-Nol, for a band called The Resistance, since 2011. He was also an ex-guitarist and composer in a few other Swedish bands. He was most notably in heavy metal ban ...

. It is also the last ''In Flames'' release with

Björn Gelotte Björn Gelotte (born 27 August 1975) is a Swedish musician and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist for heavy metal band In Flames. He originally joined the band as the drummer in 1995, and continued in this position during '' The Jest ...

playing drums, as he permanently switched to lead guitar in future releases.

Fredrik Nordström Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish musician and record producer, best known as the guitarist of heavy metal band Dream Evil. Nordström is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden ...

noted that it was not easy to record at times, since the band members usually preferred drinking beer and playing ''

Tekken 3 is a fighting game, the third entry in the ''Tekken'' series. It was released to the arcades in 1997, before being ported for the PlayStation in 1998. The arcade version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of ''Tekke ...

''.''At the Gates – Flames of the End'' DVD Fredrik Nordstörm interview In 2020, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1997 by ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form a ...

'' magazine.

Concept

Whoracle is a concept album which describes the past, present, and a hypothetical future of the planet Earth. "Jotun" is a foreshadowing of the main concepts where a society is crushed and broken after an apocalyptic event. "Episode 666" seems to be the narration of this apocalyptic event which is, perversely, televised. The songs leading up to this tell a story of the rise and fall of a global society. "The Hive" and "Jester Script Transfigured" describe this technologically advanced society and a utopian world which is demolished by human nature in the next two songs. The inclusion of the

cover, "Everything Counts", is a poignant way to imply that the people who built then destroyed their society realized their folly after it was too late.

Track listing

All lyrics written by

and

Personnel

;In Flames *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music ( arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, additional

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

Jesper Strömblad Clas Håkan Jesper Strömblad (born 28 November 1972) is a Swedish musician who is the guitarist of the bands The Halo Effect, Dimension Zero and Cyhra, and formerly of In Flames and The Resistance. He is best known as the founder and former ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar) ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

s, additional percussion * Johan Larsson –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

– drums, percussion, additional lead guitar ;Other personnel *Ulrika Netterdahl – female vocals on song "Whoracle" *The ''Whoracle'' concept conjured and verbalized by

and Anders Fridén *Lyrics written by Niklas Sundin following original synopsis by Anders Fridén *All music composed and arranged by In Flames except "Everything Counts" by Martin Lee Gore of

*Recorded and produced by

with assistance from In Flames *Engineered by Anders Fridén and Fredrik Nordström *Mixed by Fredrik Nordström and Anders Fridén *Mastered by Goran Finnberg and Fredrik Nordstrom at the Mastering Room Gbg *Cover artwork by Andreas Marschall *Photos by

Kenneth Johansson John Per Kenneth Johansson (2 May 1956 – 31 July 2021) was a Swedish Centre Party politician who was the governor of Värmland County between 2012 and 2018. He was a member of the Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sve ...

*All songs published by Prophecies Publishing Hamburg except "Everything Counts" *"Everything Counts" published by Grabbing Hands Music Ltd, sub-published by EMI Music Germany

References

{{Authority control In Flames albums Nuclear Blast albums 1997 albums Concept albums Albums recorded at Studio Fredman Albums produced by Fredrik Nordström