The Fifth Season

Listening to Sacrilege I start to wonder why In Flames doesn't give more leg room to Daniel, he's obviously very talented.

Vocal and drumming duties on The Fifth Season are handled by current In Flames drummer Daniel Svensson, and believe me when I say, his work here is much more impressive than his work with In Flames. I never was very impressed with his drum work with In Flames, but here it's very well done and original. He also sings. His style is very black influenced as opposed to Death, consisting of high screams and shreiks.

Musically, it's more or less melodic death, but melodic death done right! As a huge fan of the genre, even I must admit for every excellent band like Sacrilege, there's 5-10 watered down bands that have no feel or emotion.
The melodies here contrast, some sounding uplifting and flying (Sweet Moment of Triumpth, Nine Eyes of Twilight, Moaning Idiot Heart) while others are dark, much like At the Gates early work (Feed the Cold, Seduction Nocturne, The Winter Enticed).

And no great melodic death record should be without great and emotional instrumental passages, which this album has. The title track "Fifth Season" is a folky interlude that sounds as cold as it feels. Sorg and the intro to Seduction Nocturne feel the same and are equally as impressive.

Production wise, this album couldn't be better. It's clean and heavy without sounding modern, and has none of the electronic studio tricks In Flames are known for.

I recommend this album, no instrumental wanking, never gets boring, great vocals and production, and harsh, anguish filled vocals.