Whoracle


Whoracle is the third studio album by Swedish metal band In Flames, released in October 1997. The title of the album is a portmanteau of the English words "whore" and "oracle".
Apart from "Everything Counts", which is a cover of a Depeche Mode song, all songs were composed and arranged by In Flames. The lyrics were translated by Dark Tranquillity guitarist Niklas Sundin, after Anders Fridén had written them in Swedish.
Whoracle is the final album to feature Johan Larsson & Glenn Ljungström. It is also the last In Flames release with Björn Gelotte playing drums, as he permanently switched to lead guitar in future releases. Fredrik Nordström noted that it was not easy to record at times, since the band members usually preferred drinking beer and playing Tekken 3.
The album's booklet mistakenly depicts the lyrics for "Morphing into Primal" instead of the lyrics for "Episode 666".

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 Depeche Mode 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 Niklas Sundin and Anders Fridén.

Personnel

;In Flames
;Other personnel