Diabolical Full Moon Mysticism - Immortal

Pure Holocaust - Immortal

Immortal are one of the more contentious bands of Norwegian black metal, as praised as they are ridiculed inside and outside the metal community, the latter being largely for their corpse-paint obsession. 'Pure Holocaust' is the band's second album and a defining work of second-wave black metal of the early nineties, even if it's not an album I could comfortably sit through for its entire thirty-odd-minute length. The classic duo of Abbath on bass, vocals and drums and Demonaz on guitar makes for an effective combination that remains roughly the same throughout the album, songs mainly being distinguished by the occasional melodic lead guitar melody, especially good in 'A Sign For ...

Pure Holocaust - Immortal

Immortal are one of the more contentious bands of Norwegian black metal, as praised as they are ridiculed inside and outside the metal community, the latter being largely for their corpse-paint obsession. 'Pure Holocaust' is the band's second album and a defining work of second-wave black metal of the early nineties, even if it's not an album I could comfortably sit through for its entire thirty-odd-minute length. The classic duo of Abbath on bass, vocals and drums and Demonaz on guitar makes for an effective combination that remains roughly the same throughout the album, songs mainly being distinguished by the occasional melodic lead guitar melody, especially good in 'A Sign For ...

Battles In The North - Immortal

Taking the relentless frosty sound of Pure Holocaust to an undesirable extreme, Immortal s most poorly conceived album artwork belies a fittingly poor album. To its credit, the improved production quality does render the experience genuinely unsettling, creating the mood of being trapped in a fierce snowstorm from which you shall never return, but this doesn t exactly make for the most enjoyable listening experience, unless you re the sort of sadist that enjoys modern Behemoth. The main problem I have with this album is that it sounds half-hearted and even unfinished in places, the ends of songs cutting off abruptly without a satisfying resolution and the drumming ...

Battles In The North - Immortal

Taking the relentless frosty sound of Pure Holocaust to an undesirable extreme, Immortal s most poorly conceived album artwork belies a fittingly poor album. To its credit, the improved production quality does render the experience genuinely unsettling, creating the mood of being trapped in a fierce snowstorm from which you shall never return, but this doesn t exactly make for the most enjoyable listening experience, unless you re the sort of sadist that enjoys modern Behemoth. The main problem I have with this album is that it sounds half-hearted and even unfinished in places, the ends of songs cutting off abruptly without a satisfying resolution and the drumming ...

At The Heart Of Winter - Immortal

Depending on the listener s preference, Immortal s fifth album is either the point at which they sold out, or actually started to make decent music for the first time. A far cry from the short, sharp, icy shocks of their earlier material, the songs are now longer, denser and more intricate, possessing actual structure for the first time rather than simply focusing on hammering out some blast beats for three minutes. Abbath is a much more impressive guitarist than his predecessor Demonaz, even if his riffs and melodies borrow distinctly from the heavy metal tradition, in many places sounding like dead ringers for Iron Maiden, if that band played black metal. Horgh s drums ...

At The Heart Of Winter - Immortal

Depending on the listener s preference, Immortal s fifth album is either the point at which they sold out, or actually started to make decent music for the first time. A far cry from the short, sharp, icy shocks of their earlier material, the songs are now longer, denser and more intricate, possessing actual structure for the first time rather than simply focusing on hammering out some blast beats for three minutes. Abbath is a much more impressive guitarist than his predecessor Demonaz, even if his riffs and melodies borrow distinctly from the heavy metal tradition, in many places sounding like dead ringers for Iron Maiden, if that band played black metal. Horgh s drums ...