It's been quite a while since I heard them Jonas so I'll make a point of revisiting them (it's overdue anyway). From what I recall of them I certainly wouldn't deny what those albums owe to both camps, but melodic black metal in general can be quite far removed from the kind of bands you mentioned. There is less emphasis on that raw, cold sound that black metal is known for and there tends to be better production values too. The genre certainly has its similarities to melodeath in the latter respect when put up against old school death metal.
There certainly were early melodic black metal bands and albums that were closer to the early 90s style (Kvist's sole album springs to mind). I believe Dissection's work may qualify as the first true albums of the genre, albeit not in a pure form because of the death metal element.
