IN BATTLE are a Swedish black and death metal band who also take elements of thrash metal as well into the music they play and record. All four members hail from Sundsvall, Västernorrland in Northern Sweden and have been active during the 1990's and 2000's with a slight change in the lineup in the later years. However they came to release their debut self-titled album "IN BATTLE" in the year of 1997 which then was followed up by their second album "THE RAGE OF THE NORTHMEN" in 1998. Their self-titled album "IN BATTLE" was an introduction to what this band can achieve and the album was reissued this year with two additional tracks which are both live versions of the songs "Ar Av Koid" and "Helhorde".

"Ruler Of The Northern Sphere" takes on a journey of pure death metal exploring the combination of what death metal, black metal and hints of thrash metal can do. The energy and passion of these Swedish musicians is a force to be reckoned with, the mix of low end guitar, with mid range drumming high end but sharp vocals that gives a bite to the mix. "Enchant Me" is very similar to what we heard before except the contrast of what the drums can do when it comes to sudden time changes and the transition of moderately steady rhythms to fast, rapid and thrashing drums. "Ar Av Koid" also follows a similar rhythm as far as the drums are concerned, the tempo is crucial for the guitar and bass to keep up with. The pulsating guitar riffs together with overdrive effects that are not as present but still there in the mix as the drums become more dynamic.

"Doom Of The Unbeloved", the intro is more settled with guitar before thrashing drums makes itself known before the tempo is taken up a notch with the yelling and screeching vocals that we know so well now. "Odhinn" goes back to similar sounds we heard before with drums especially adding that influence of black/thrash metal. It should be noted that the Swedish identity of this band is clearly evident in some of the song titles. Yet the others do give this idea or theme of war, conflict and what has been referred to before as Norse mythology. "A Sign Of Northern Triumph And Glory" is also following the same patterns of what we heard before with drums, the death metal sound lives on through this song and "The Nocturnal Moon", however this track expresses the same contrast we heard before. The vocals this time is reduced within the mix to give the other instruments room to become more prominent.

The following tracks, those being "I Odfred Vi Drar fram", "De Hangdas Furste" and "Lokes Att" share similar musical characteristics with epic vocals, pulsating guitar solos and slamming drums. I feel that the songwriting process for this album was somewhat monotonous where the singer seems to keep up the screams and cries of angst and perhaps despair. "Helhorde" kicks off with the echo of drums, merging with the bass and electric guitar providing most of the low to mid range frequencies.

"In Battle" being the same name of this band, continues on but at this point as well, we can also hear what sounds like a touch of delay or room echo within the mix. This is the last track of this album before the live versions ("Ar Av Koid" and "Helhorde"), is very precise as always, the drums being the narrative of how bass and electric guitar contribute to overall tonal quality. This is perhaps overwhelming but the balance is certainly not quite what we expected, but just right. I have to say that this album is good but I feel that maybe this band can offer more than what I heard as the vocals became monotonous but the other instruments filled in the space within the mix for vocals to stand out.