No greater unrest exists than that of rabid Swedish melodic death metal fans patiently waiting out the ‘dissolution due to disinterest’ and ‘on-hiatus’ stance of several bands that might’ve made a big impression in the early 2000’s, but quickly ducked out due to an overcrowded and uninterested Scandinavian scene. For roughly fifteen years Eternal Lies was one of those bands as they’d dissolved a couple of years after their 2002 debut ‘Spiritual Deception’. It was a well-hidden melodic death metal gem that featured musicians who’d been involved with Eucharist and Fatal Embrace, with music almost directly relevant in style. ‘Spiritual Deception’ combined the melodic ambition of Gates of Ishtar and some of the thoughtful resignation of ‘Shadowsoul’s Garden’ but arrived when most bands were self-consciously shifting towards Dew-Scented style death/thrash or seeking more palatable trends.

Eternal Lies formed in 1998 and quickly built great momentum and notoriety for their immaculate Gothenburg melodic death/black metal sound. With the release of ‘Spiritual Deception’ on the small Arctic Music Group label (then owned by HatePlow/Malevolent Creation members) the band were poised to cast their live rituals of ice across Europe but with vocalist Tommy Grönberg (Fatal Embrace) not in a position to tour, the project decided to cease efforts. At that point drummer Conny Pettersson had already joined fellow Varberg, Sweden death metallers Anata and would provide his distinct style to their third and fourth albums respectively before they’d enter their own long and depressing dormancy as well. The band had actually already written the majority of ‘Burning the Nest’ back in ’03-’04 so any fan still burning candles for the return of Eternal Lies will be pleased to hear a direct follow-up to ‘Spiritual Deception’ in it’s style.

The only majorly differentiating factor felt in direct comparison of ‘Burning the Nest’ with it’s 2002 predecessor is in the drumming. Pettersson was always precise but this time around his attack is satisfyingly aggressive and technical to the point where I think any crossover of fans of Anata and groups like Dawn, Sacrilege etc. will be shitting themselves upon hearing his performance on “The Reawakening” as well as the dizzying riffs of the title track. So, it isn’t just a simple recreation of 90’s style melodic death metal in the Gothenburg style, but a more aggressive beast with some sharp and chaotic riffs guided by the type melody that Eternal Lies were noticed for initially. Though I’d have been happy with something rote, ‘Burning the Nest’ is an impressive return beyond the stylistic pandering that most ‘comebacks’ feature.

Albums like A Canorous Quintet‘s ‘Silence of the World Beyond’, Sacrilege‘s ‘The Fifth Season’ and even Eucharist‘s ‘Mirrorworlds’ are all in good company with ‘Burning the Nest’ yet it was initially a struggle to lump it in with albums that I consider ‘classics in clear hindsight’; That struggle melted away as I revisited the long list of melodic death metal (and No Fashion style black/death) records that I have such nostalgia for. Eternal Lies find the right balance of Göteborg rumblings and their own touches that hold greater value than any comparably received, haphazard retro recreation of late. I became so enthralled with this album’s full-listen on repeat that I never listened to it less than two times in any particular sitting… Granted some of that is due to a long-enduring personal history with this style of death metal. Highly recommended to fans of the less flowery side of classic Swedish melodic death metal.

Wounded without sanctuary. 4.0/5.0

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