This rather new Norwegian black metal band got a lot of attention last year, when this mini album was released. The music on the album is the band’s demo, which has been re-mixed and re-mastered, nothing special there. The attention was due to the session members that the bands founder and sole member Nattsjel used on the recording. Among others are Nocturno Culto, Hellhammer, Zet and so on mentioned. I guess such members do sell records, but do people listen to the music too?

After a few listens to “On Frostbitten Path Beneath” is it clear that Nattsjel has found a lot of inspiration in Immortal’s work. Both composition wise and the way he makes riffs and plays his guitar. There is nothing wrong with that at all, and especially not now when Immortal has disbanded. Besides that, Vidsyn does offer more than being a pure Immortal clone.

The compositions are wicked and contain a lot of great cold melodies. The riffs are somewhat crooked in the way they are presented, especially here does it remind me of the colder and epic Immortal work. The riffs are exciting and invoke a great icing atmosphere. The vocals are raspy and raw, cold and awe-invoking, almost grimly majestic. Besides the really interesting guitar work, does Hellhammer’s drum work stand out. Precisely executed and with a nice deal of technique and speed.

Production wise is the album pretty good too. The sound is a bit raw and edgy, but the dark atmosphere which haunts the recording and fits the music really good. The guitarsound is cold and kind of majestic and a big part of the Immortal reference, together with the vocals at times. The drum sound is okay too, though the cymbals are very in front of the sound picture.

Again a good black metal release that doesn’t offer much progression, but its delivered very well and musically it is very good. The compositions are pretty catchy and melodic in the right way. Awe and majestic atmospheres are invoked all the way through. This is somewhat better than the average black metal release and shows a band that has worked on their songs for a while, without offering a lot out of the ordinary. It will be interesting to follow this band in the future.

[This review was first published on the now defunct scandinavianmetal.info webzine]