Having said all this, I still haven't even started to describe what Aurora sound like; and truth be told, they are a difficult band to pigeonhole. Their eclectic style is mainly composed of Swedish melodic death metal with a powerful, modern, discretely technical sound. This is made all the more unique by the varying moods they employ (all the way between aggressive and introspective) and vocals that can range from sung to growled to shrieking. Without necessarily sounding weird or trying to come across as avant-garde, Aurora have a very refreshing and to some degree even unique style. Their riffs, melodies and drum patterns are indeed their own, rather than a more or less conscious rehash of someone else's -- which is an easy trap to fall into when you adhere very strictly to a given genre. Opeth, and Dark Tranquillity's _The Gallery_ are still the closest references I can come up with, but they're nonetheless rather distant ones most of the time. Not many people seem to know about Aurora, and these guys deserve exactly the opposite given their compositional and technical talent; so do yourself a favour and make sure you look into this band.