UMUR "Whoracle" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act In Flames. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in October 1997. "Whoracle" features the exact same lineup, who recorded the predecessor "The Jester Race (1996)", which considering the lineup shuffles on the early days of the band, is no small feat.

Stylistically "Whoracle" pretty much continues down the same melodic death metal path as the band also played on "The Jester Race (1996)" (still with the occasional ethnic Scandinavian folk melody thrown in). There hasn´t been a radical development of sound but the songwriting is generally a bit more focused or mature if you will. In Flames are a skilled and tight playing unit, so the musicianship is on a high level. Ultra melodic guitar leads and harmony themes, strong acoustic guitar parts, a powerful and organic playing rhythm section, occasional use of keyboards for atmosphere, and Anders Fridén´s high pitched screaming growling and occasional use of clean vocals.

The material on the 11 track, 42:31 minutes long album is consistent in style but still relatively varied which is mostly due to the band including two instrumentals and a cover of "Everything Counts" by Depeche Mode. The latter is a bit of a surprising choice for a cover, but it works great. The rest of the tracks are all high quality melodic death metal. "Whoracle" also features a professional sounding production, which suits the music well, so upon conclusion In Flames have produced a high quality release and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.