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Initium Belli is one of those EPs that's a mishmash of stuff. The first three songs are rerecorded versions from their first two demos from 1997-98. The fourth song is brand new and the last one is a cover of Immortal's "Unsilent Storm in the North Abyss." I never heard the demos and can't compare against the originals, but the first three songs are fast, raw and heavy black metal that very much fit with the material released by various bands in that time period. The new song, "La mélancolie de l'abîme", is a heavy number and overall slower than the rest of the EP and bets more on an eerie atmosphere than sheer speed and rawness, though it does have its speedy passages. The Immortal cover is quite the step up from the original from 1993, with a much richer sound and production. Listening to both versions back to back is certainly interesting. Despite Hegemon mixing up eras here, the EP overall sounds pretty coherent and things fit together pretty well. Looking forward to the next full-length album...