| Immortal 'Pure Holocaust' Osmose, 1993 Tyrant: Immortal are a grim Norwegian melodic blackmetal band and Pure Holocaust is their second offering of cold, winter obsessed blackmetal. Immortal are essentially s guitar based band and rely upon their ominous melodic riffing combining with good drum and vocal shifts to produce interesting and different tracks. Most songs are fairly uniform, starting with a powerful melodic riff before reverting to a more traditional blackmetal riff and then bringing back the cool riff for the chorus. This pattern is employed to excellent effect throughout Pure Holocaust and it is amazing to see a wide variety of excellent songs produced whilst steadfastly sticking to traditional blackmetal format. The lo-fi production is average but sufficent ( like most early blackmetal releases ) and adds an ominous feel to the atmosphere of the album rather than detract from the music in anyway. Vocalist Abbath further sets Immortal apart from their peers with his unique flemmy rasps being the equivalent of another instrument holding down grim melodies that add more depth to the musics icy feel. Overall Pure Holocaust is one of the finest examples of the pure blackmetal genre with eight mighty hymns to Nordic darkness and beauty. Essential. Favourite Tracks - Pure Holocaust ; As The Eternity Opens ; A Sign For The Norse Hordes To Ride Mark - 9/10 Immortal 'Battles In The North' Osmose, 1995 Tyrant: Immortal’s third full length sacrifices some of the speed of its predecessor in favour of a slightly better production. Battles In The North plays essentially by the same formula as Pure Holocaust, but the material isn’t quite as varied or strong. Some new elements have been introduced this time around like the small acoustic intro on 'Cursed Realms Of The Winter Demons' and some keyboard passages on 'Blashyrkh ( Mighty Ravendark )' that add variation and show some promise for future development. Where Battles In The North falls short is in its more straight forward blast beat ridden blackmetal approach with less of the excellent melodic riffs that made Pure Holocaust so good. Abbath’s voice also isn’t used to full effect like it was on is predecessor, he just sings along rather than highlighting the music with his excellent grim melodies. All gripes aside however Battles In The North is a decent blackmetal album in its own right, just a little dissapointing compared to what came before. Ironically it is the increased production values and muddy mix that drowns most of the decent melodic riffing out and is responsible for this albums slightly samey sound. Overall a dissapointing follow up to a genre classic, but another good album of grim icy blackmetal. Favourite Tracks - Blashyrkh ( Mighty Ravendark ) ; Battles In The North ; Cursed Realms Of The Winterdemons Mark - 7/10 Immortal 'Blizzard Beasts' Osmose, 1997 Tyrant: The masters of cold raging Nordic blackmetal have once again hit their stride with a new sharper production that captures the grim intensity and cold melodies that was sadly muddied on its predeccesor. Abbath's rasps are also now back on form once again fully interacting with the percussion and icy melodic guitar rhythms to forge memorable and catchy winter blackmetal anthems like the excellent 'Nebular Ravens Winter' and 'Battlefields'. Some further experimentation with keyboards has resulted in the albums highlight track 'Mountains Of Might' a sweeping cold epic which fully intergrates the synth into its sound. Some new snappy heavy riffs make a good impression most likely thanks to the improved production. Blizzard Beasts isn't as grim or underground as the bands last two releases with a more colourful 'blue' hue in the albums cover and booklet but rages with the same cold intensity that Immortal are reknown for and made its predeccesors standout albums. Overall a highly satisying album that restores the band to their icy glory at the top of the blackmetal glacier of fame. Favourite Tracks - Mountains Of Might ; Nebulah Ravens Winter ; Winter Of The Ages Mark - 8.5/10 Immortal 'At The Heart Of Winter' Osmose, 1999 Tyrant: Immortal’s fifth release takes the band to a new level. Founding member Demonaz has departed due to a hand injury and the song writing has fallen onto the capable shoulders of Abbath. At The Heart Of Winter relies once again on melody and timing changes working with the rapsed vocals to create catchy blackmetal songs. Expanded use of acoustic breaks in 'Tragedies Blows At Horizon' and synth in the title track point to a band evolving out of the grim blackmetal spheres and into more modern territory. The production this time is their best so far by a long shot with fullbodied and clear mix. The guitars have the same whinny majestic sound they have always had minus the fuzz and some even more melodic at times rocky riffs make an appearance. The song writing and structuring is has gone upa notch, many more layers and ideas are utilised but at heart the band still remain guitar driven blackmetal. The album artwork also dispels any illusions that this is going to be another Pure Hoplocaust with a bright and colourful winter scene that is more ‘happy’ looking suiting the new direction of the music. New drummer Horgh never misses a beat with a tight and pummeling percussion performance in line with Immortal's other high calibre muscianship. Overall a good new sound and direction for Immortal, no longer dark of mysterious, instead somewhat uplifting and melodic. Favourite Tracks - Withstand The Fall Of Time ; Solarfall ; At The Heart Of Winter Mark - 8/10 Immortal 'Damned In Black' Osmose, 2000 Tyrant: Immortal have chosen to go into more deathmetal orientated territory in look and sound with their new album Damned In Black. I don’t understand why bands do this, if they are unique and have their own sound why tread territory already well wandered? Most of the melodic riffs have been removed in favour of chunky thrash riffs and the production is the equal of At The Heart Of Winter with a harder edge. The music has been stripped down inline with the newer direction and now sounds less like their melodic brand of winterised blackmetal, and more like a heavier thrashy brand of blackmetal. Lyrically the band have gone for a more satanic slant and the artwork reflects this with a red and black cover and the bands ridiculous poses looking a little meaner this time around. Keyboard passages are integrated sparingly into some of the tracks most prominantly in the subtle 'The Darkness That Embrace Me'. There are still a few remnants of the old Immortal sound along with Abbath’s classic vocals to make this an above average album which slowly grew on me. Overall a decent release with a number of good tracks in a new darker lesswintery direction. Favourite Tracks - Against The Tide ; Triumph ; Damned In Black Mark - 7.5/10 Immortal 'Sons Of Northern Darkness' Nuclear Blast, 2002 Tyrant: Immortal have taken a step back after the darkner Damned In Black and intergrated some of that albums heaviness with their older material to make their new opus Sons Of Nothern Darkness. A reduction in speed has accomadated more memorable riffs than its predeccesor whilst the traditonal raging riffs of old still come to the fore on occasion. Sons Of Northern Darkness takes elements and riffs from across the whole Immortal backcatalogue including the acoustic passages and vague keyboard intro's reminscent of At The Heart Of Winter. Abbath's charismatic vocal delivery is in perfect form and his voice carries many of the musical passages like it did on Pure Holocaust, even expanding into semi Attila style range on the viking hymn 'Beyond The North Waves'. Immortal continue in their fine traditon carving excellent pure blackmetal from merely excellent songwriting and great guitar work, rather than over extravagant keyboards and other gimmicks. Immortal's refusal to comprimise is one of their most admirable traits, althoughadmittedly I was a little worried after At The Heart Of Winter as to what their new disc would sound like but Immortal proved me wrong by coming back a completely stripped back thrasher, and now this, another gem in the crown of modern Nordic metal. A little slow to grow on you initially, but given time Sons Of Northern Darkness will work its way into your head. A fitting swan song. RIP. Favourite Tracks - Beyond The North Waves , Tyrants , In My Kingdom Cold Mark - 8.5/10 |
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