text: Dawid Krosnia
In Aeternum
The Blasphemy Returns (EP)
Pulverised Records
July 15th, 2016
The Swedish In Aeternum is back with its vengeance! The Blasphemy Returns is the latest offering, short and sweet EP made of two new tracks, one rerecorded from the past and a cover song. The band celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year and maybe that’s why they wanted to give something back to the fans. I’m glad they did as the new presented sound is something you want to hear. I don’t know if you have ever heard their previous records before but In Aeternum plays blackened death metal full of anti-Christian, blasphemous and dark themes. Their debut release, Forever Blasphemy was definitely one the most important death metal albums released at the end of the twentieth century. Songs like Majesty of Fire, The Pale Black Death or the title track are a pure statement to what the Swedish extreme music is about. Interesting fact about the In Aeternum is that back in the early 90s they’ve recorded two demos under the name of Behemoth which shortly after was changed to the current band’s name. Enough about the history of In Aeternum and let’s focus on The Blasphemy Returns.
The opening track, Wolfpack is nothing else than a continuation of their previous releases but I can sense an improvement in the sound. Fantastic composition which contains all the important elements to make things more interesting. Fast black metal moments from the start with a superb melodic arrangements throughout. Perra Karlsson’s drumming is excellent as usual! The second song is the Stench of Victory and once again, In Aeternum is letting you know that they’re here to simply destroy everything that is holy. Great solos and probably my new favourite song from their career. The next up is rerecorded version of the classic, Majesty of Fire from the aforementioned debut album. With their new more brutal sound, that track sounds even better from the original version. I think that the main difference between the two versions is that on the new one we have a short intro at the start of the song and enhanced sounding quality of the track. The last song is a cover track, I Am Elite from the Swedish band called War. It was a David Larsson’s side project where he also had done his duties as the guitarist as well as the vocalist. That song comes from the first EP, Total War where members of Hypocrisy, Peter Tägtgren on drums and Mikael Hedlund on guitar and Blackmoon known from the Dark Funeral’s debut album The Secrets of the Black Arts, have recorded it at the end of the last century.
Overall, it’s an amazing release. I thought that In Aeternum was already gone and forgotten but yet they’re coming back stronger than ever. I’m very excited about the future of this band. A new full-length album would be nice! The Blasphemy Returns EP is out now on Pulverised Records.
THE GOAT TAVERN 