Born from thunderbolts, spawned to crush the face of God fist-first the long-standing convictions of Sandviken, Sweden-borne black/death metal trio IN AETERNUM are shocked alight as they return with a well-representative fifth full-length album two decades beyond their last. Though ‘…Of Death and Fire‘ might initially appear as just another auld storied band returning from the grave half-melted their work here is meticulous in its revival of their underrated ’90’s ’til mid-2000’s span of thrashing, melodious and blackened death metal evolution. Rather than mutate beneath their name this record finds the band conscious of past traits and merciless in their execution on this worthy addition to their infamy.

In Aeternum initially formed under the name Behemoth in 1992 via (then) guitarist/bassist Impious and vocalist Demogorgon the former being David Larsson (ex-Infernal) who’d spent a year or two in lesser known death metal band Adversary prior. Their work under that initial name is absolutely worth digging up if you are a fan of the early second wave demo era, particularly for the menacing horrors of the ‘Domini Inferi‘ (1993) tape and their interest in the Norwegian scenery via their second tape (‘The Ancient Kingdom‘, 1994). Larsson would then strike out on his own and change the name accordingly, releasing a rehearsal tape and a cassette single in 1996 after bringing in Sorcery‘s Paul Johansson on drums and later guitar for their first two LPs. The style of their debut EP (‘And Darkness Came‘, 1997) was of course very different, what I would consider a brilliant melodic black metal release which was certainly fit for Necropolis Records. I discovered the band through their fourth album back in 2005 and distinctly recall going back to check out that EP and debut LP (‘Forever Blasphemy‘, 1999) and thinking to myself “This band used to rule.” if that says anything about how I’ve regarded their work for the last two decades that’ve passed since.

If you are a fan of Centinex‘ ‘Reflections‘ and Sacramentum‘s third album and the ilk you’ll likely appreciate In Aeternum‘s discography in general, all of it is righteously blasphemic and built ’round solid riffcraft and (on most releases) classic Swedish black/death metal melodicism. While I would say the first album is distinctly the one to recommend per my own taste their evolution toward blackened death metal was admirable enough in the span of four full-length albums. You will find something equal parts Dissection and Marduk on ‘The Pestilent Plague‘ (2000) as the band produced what was essentially part two of their tirade in the space of another year, still a grotesquely above-average album by any standard and I would say the favorite from most fans I’ve known. The band’s aforementioned fifth album, ‘Dawn of a New Aeon‘ (2005), is worth taking a pass at for its amped feature of thrashing death riffs and harder-blasted modus beside a great Joe Petagno cover artwork. — I’ve taken my time wheeling through the band’s discography for the sake of it being largely above-average, brilliant to return to, and well curated in its aesthetic. Does this long-awaited new album revive those exacting high standards? More-or-less.

That isn’t to say that ‘…Of Death and Fire‘ lacks ye olde Swedish gumption, a specific fire many have lost over the years, or that they’ve lost any personage as they sound more-or-less just as they’d left off back in 2016 with their “comeback” EP, ‘The Blasphemy Returns‘, and its swaggering melodic death metal inspired sound. If anything In Aeternum seem to have taken full stock of their greater trip and found plenty of room to represent their melodic black (“Beneath the Darkened Tomb”, “The Hourglass“), thrashing death (“The Day of Wrath”, “Bow to None”) and more holistically conceived combinations (“The Vile God of Slime“) herein. While the full listen is engaging to start, dynamic in its not-so dryly formatted treatment of different stylistic extremes the back half drags as they begin to reach a bit more, eventually flailing into 90’s grooves (“Goddess of Abominations”) and an extended vikingr funeral epic via closer “To Those Who Have Rode On”. The full listen is cohesive, strongly representative and finds the band self-actualized in some general sense.

Despite these strong qualities being apparent the first impression on my part was fairly rote, a familiar and average set, as I’d initially written ‘…Of Death and Fire‘ off as a typical return in vague form. In revisiting In Aeternum‘s discography and recognizing where those hits of Morbid Angel and late 90’s Swedish black/death were revived in a believable way I’d found the old standards generally upheld with no lazy or modern bullshit in ear. The album is front-loaded with interest, a couple of songs are bland, and it might have more thrash-foisted action than some will appreciate but for my taste this’d been an entertaining reminder of the band’s legacy and their most broadly representative swath of songs to date. A moderately high recommendation.

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