‘Deriving from the cold forests of Sweden……’ states the press release, and that was enough for me to stop reading and put my hand up for the review, relishing the thought of some grim Scandinavian black metal. I should have perhaps read on a little as I was completely wrong!
The album opens with ‘Witness the Illusion’ whose chugging riffs soon build into a monolithic slab of melodic death metal, laying the foundation for the rest of the album. The melody comes to the fore on ‘This End’ and I found myself making comparisons with early In Flames and Children of Bodom, which is of course a good thing! The melodeath theme continues as the album progresses with opulent melodies combining with rampaging harsh vocals to great effect.
However, this does not tell the whole picture and there are other, more subtle, influences here. The opening to ‘Indifference’ for example is pure Dissection, and once this struck me, it also occurred to me that in places the vocals have a subtle Jon Nödtveidt element to them giving an extra dimension. Some of the riffing brings to mind more traditional metal, the guitar work on ‘Beyond the Night’ being reminiscent of Iron Maiden for example, while I could hear elements of latter-day Carcass in places such as ‘This End”.
Despite these comparisons, ‘Prisma Aeternus’ is undeniably, rampant melodic death metal with a healthy nod towards the classic “Gothenburg sound”. However, rather than being a nostalgic trip it has a contemporary feel and is completely relevant to today’s extreme music scene.
The melodic death metal scene is in good health at the moment with bands such as Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy, Amon Amarth and In Flames (amongst others) pulling in big crowds on the road at the moment, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Norrsköld join the list in the near future.
(8/10 Andy Pountney)
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