You definitely can’t accuse Illdisposed of doing the same thing twice. The kings of Danish extreme metal have yet again made a move that will be the centre of some debate. The band has made a u-turn and skipped the modern electronic approach that has been the trademark of the Danes two previous efforts 1-800 Vindication and Burn Me Wicked. I was very eager to hear The Prestige as it sees Illdisposed return to a more conventional brand of death metal.

It takes a few spins to get accustomed the fact that the electronic effects are gone. But it soon turns out that it’s no big loss. There’s plenty of substance in the music even without the aforementioned. Another thing that has been left out is the clean vocals. Again this constitutes no problem as subwoofer Bo Summer is as versatile as always. Like on Burn Me Wicked, Batten has written all the music and the result is convincing, as expected. The songs are diverse and mostly have what it takes to remain interesting, but a few places it seems that the music is losing some its momentum, but the band is largely able to save it. There’s really something for every taste on The Prestige, whether it be the fast, the slow, the groovy or the heavy. Tracks like "The Tension", "Weak is Your God" and "Like Cancer", as well as "A Song of Myself" and "A Child Is Missing" immediately prove worthwhile. On the production side Illdisposed has approached things a little differently as well, but it’s not very noticeable. The result is a thick and vigorous sound that fits the music just right.

I liked Burn Me Wicked, but it’s nice to hear the band return to a more straight forward style. Illdisposed 2008 sounds like a well-oiled bulldozer that flattens all in its path and this is most likely why I repeatedly find myself giving The Prestige another spin. There’s no doubt that the Danes have made another fine album with The Prestige.