| | Full Review | Ratings (614) |
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| 4.0 excellent | Futures | May 16th 24 |
this is not a big step down from diabolical fullmoon mysticism or pure holocaust at all. maybe it is a touch less memorable in the riff department but it still delivers relentless pure black metal experience. this album's strength is definitely the speed it is played at, pure holocaust is fast but this aims to go even faster. some say that abbath's drumming is sloppy and a touch off but i don't even care when you are constantly blasting at the nonstop pace he is on this. abbath is even more croaky and goblin-like here which perfectly compliments the frostbitten atmosphere.
the thicker wall of sound production actually adds to the album with the drums being very high in the mix, higher than the guitars even and create a unique noisiness when combined with the as always varied fun riffage from demonaz that is albeit a touch muddled compared to pure holocaust. the closer "blashyrkh- mighty ravendark" slows down to mid-tempo for the albums first real breather which ends with a clean melodic fade out that seemingly culminates with some eerie synth work before guitars come screeching in again. an unexpected way to end an album that never stopped the pace it was going at. it is one note in what it's trying to do by cranking the speed to 11 and not letting up but still delivers great riffs and is executed just about as well as you can do it. long live immortal.
check out: "cursed realms of the winterdemons" and "blashyrkh- mighty ravendark"
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| 3.0 good | zaruyache | October 15th 20 |
Good, but needed to be colder and a little more diverse. As-is, this is a fairly modern-sounding icy bm album (for 1995) that's for the most part one-speed riffing (read: fast). It kinda feels like Immortal heard Transilvanian Hunger and liked what Fenriz did with the "one idea for an entire album" concept, but split across more tracks and a shorter runtime. The result is that Battles in the North try a bunch of different riffs all played at the same speed, with songs feeling very structurally similar to one another, and not much fleshed out due to how short they typically are. On the one hand everything here definitely runs together, while the record is short enough (35 mins) for that sameyness to not really get to the point of actually being annoying. It really does feel like they tried to do Darkthrone's TH but "with more riffs!" which definitely sounds like something Abbath would say. 3.3/5 not quite a 3.5.
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| 5.0 classic | snowsorcerer | June 22nd 20 |
Faster than Reign in Blood? Colder than Reign in Blood? No penguin can listen to the album, but it's not meant for them.
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| 3.0 good | GamamJ | March 20th 20 |
Everything about this album is mostly good. The instrumentarion, vocals etc. are great raw Black Metal. However, it is very ine dimensional. Other than that, not really anything to pick out.
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| 4.0 excellent | Risodo | April 19th 18 |
I have a little experience inside Immortal's discography, but after listening to "Battles in the North", i have the brief impression that this is the most underrated album of the band. With highs and lows, one of the biggest Black Metal bands has always been connected to the cooler, chilling and even comic side of the genre thanks to Abbath, but always punctuating the sound quality as a propeller of the band's success. "Battles in the North" is a great job that brings everything essential in the genre, giving off thermal sensations and perhaps proving that if hell exists, it is absurdly cold.
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| 3.5 great | Skull917 | September 14th 16 |
Meters deep snow in every direction for hundreds of kilometers, barely able to move, stuck inside a blizzard mauling your exhausted body and eventually getting swept and buried underneath.
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| 4.0 excellent | ThrashK | February 10th 14 |
Another great Immortal album, while not really as good as Pure Holocaust or At the Heart of Winter. I don't really get why this gets so much dislike. The execution is a little sloppier yes, but there are a good deal of great riffs and ferocious drumwork throughout the album. The production makes some of the riffs tricky to distinguish, though. Nevertheless, this is probably Immortal at their most extreme and pure in terms of black metal, and it turned out good.
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| 5.0 classic | Alastor | July 25th 13 |
If you don't love this album with all your heart, you have never loved winter.
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| 4.0 excellent | Above | March 24th 24 |
| 5.0 classic | gfgfg11 | January 14th 24 |
| 3.5 great | heck | January 3rd 24 |
| 4.5 superb | Kelek | November 15th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | KManoc1 | March 6th 23 |
| 4.5 superb | Surtur | February 21st 23 |
| 4.5 superb | Aurora | January 5th 23 |
| 3.5 great | ElSomni | November 21st 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Wolfy80 | November 16th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Bren80 | August 1st 22 |
| 5.0 classic | GhostK | April 21st 22 |
| 3.5 great | Jerrad | January 25th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Lvxfra | October 23rd 21 |
| 3.0 good | Mitch | June 6th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | yayafa | January 28th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | perkeleh | November 30th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | JoeTex | October 19th 20 |
| 3.0 good | remi | October 1st 20 |
| 2.5 average | Gorey13 | August 24th 20 |
| 2.5 average | Elynna | July 21st 20 |
| 3.0 good | Trey STAFF | July 17th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | dragoth | June 23rd 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Cuinhell | February 26th 20 |
| 2.5 average | SuzyC | February 22nd 20 |
| 3.5 great | CK1991 | January 30th 20 |
| 3.0 good | Aranox | December 23rd 19 |
| 3.5 great | blou52 | November 28th 19 |
| 3.0 good | ElioG | November 26th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | jfish226 | November 25th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sasaboy | September 22nd 19 |
| 3.5 great | Aske | September 10th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | gk1979 | April 25th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Coast | April 6th 19 |
| 2.5 average | Blurbs | March 21st 19 |
| 2.5 average | kkarron | January 29th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Basara | November 3rd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Korpcun | September 22nd 18 |
| 2.5 average | Santet | May 8th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Gary STAFF | April 28th 18 |
| 3.0 good | Flave | February 12th 18 |
| 3.0 good | Fear | December 10th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Rambles | September 12th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Jhator | August 28th 17 |
| 3.0 good | AriDoe | August 23rd 17 |
| 3.0 good | adr | July 8th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | GazAldo | June 30th 17 |
| 3.5 great | Prole | May 9th 17 |
| 3.0 good | gilly | April 6th 17 |
| 3.5 great | bbgames | February 18th 17 |
| 4.5 superb | Spado | February 14th 17 |
| 3.5 great | chanson | February 10th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Inveigh | January 27th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | bSmith | January 11th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | ckssr1 | January 1st 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | jpjpablo | December 17th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Brumas | November 27th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Ulairi4 | November 5th 16 |
| 3.5 great | GxTxK | October 23rd 16 |
| 2.5 average | Pho3nix | October 17th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jeejee | October 4th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | dethkyat | September 22nd 16 |
| 5.0 classic | Chaioth | August 25th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Lanas | July 23rd 16 |
| 2.5 average | Ianman | July 11th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Leymon | February 25th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | Horsey | February 15th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sunnyvale STAFF | February 14th 16 |
| 3.5 great | manosg EMERITUS | January 24th 16 |
| 3.5 great | 8genre | January 5th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | KGB1990 | January 2nd 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Pegana | November 23rd 15 |
| 3.5 great | mEyck97 | November 19th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | btati | November 12th 15 |
| 3.0 good | Kriss | September 6th 15 |
| 3.0 good | Paul | July 9th 15 |
| 2.5 average | swoen | May 26th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | Faustus | April 18th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | Aion | March 6th 15 |
| 4.5 superb | LunarF4 | January 13th 15 |
| 4.0 excellent | SunSpot | October 23rd 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | MrYeeepa | September 19th 14 |
| 4.5 superb | jseijo | August 4th 14 |
| 3.5 great | jmh886 | July 17th 14 |
| 3.5 great | ngk44 | April 20th 14 |
| 1.5 very poor | SeiGor | February 8th 14 |
| 3.0 good | Pagan | January 17th 14 |
| 4.0 excellent | MrThrash | November 29th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Leviath | November 16th 13 |
| 1.0 awful | kalki | September 25th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Saint54 | September 8th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | goat38 | August 17th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Majkl | August 4th 13 |
| 3.0 good | Disco | February 19th 13 |
| 5.0 classic | Manco | February 19th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Tale | January 16th 13 |
| 3.5 great | kx8 | December 8th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Lotide | November 29th 12 |
| 3.5 great | eeule | October 12th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | sagu | September 27th 12 |
| 3.5 great | Meowza | August 25th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | LAD | June 25th 12 |
| 5.0 classic | Vacceo | June 2nd 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Custy | February 3rd 12 |
| 3.0 good | HWBTW | December 19th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | gazanga | November 23rd 11 |
| 3.5 great | Phate72 | November 19th 11 |
| 3.0 good | junkie | November 19th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | GROK | October 3rd 11 |
| 4.5 superb | stotty | September 25th 11 |
| 3.5 great | joec101 | September 18th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | SWORD | September 2nd 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Vorg | August 25th 11 |
| 3.0 good | true | August 4th 11 |
| 2.5 average | Vesper | February 3rd 11 |
| 2.5 average | dpaul | December 25th 10 |
| 5.0 classic | AuEllai | December 8th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Kyle Ward EMERITUS | November 30th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Aether | November 14th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Mikk | November 3rd 10 |
| 2.5 average | Kenos | September 25th 10 |
| 3.5 great | Scoot | May 24th 10 |
| 5.0 classic | Zadok | April 2nd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | qWot | March 15th 10 |
| 2.5 average | jk2two | March 7th 10 |
| 5.0 classic | kayowas | February 21st 10 |
| 3.5 great | Hoenir | February 14th 10 |
| 1.0 awful | Treska | January 11th 10 |
| 3.5 great | ferrum | January 10th 10 |
| 2.0 poor | rc1288 | January 5th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Awake88 | December 12th 09 |
| 2.5 average | fireman | October 25th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | Usagi | September 24th 09 |
| 4.0 excellent | DLNation | September 24th 09 |
| 4.5 superb | unfsin | September 23rd 09 |
| 3.5 great | Set | September 12th 09 |
| 3.0 good | KILL | September 3rd 09 |
| 4.5 superb | Worm | July 8th 09 |
| 2.5 average | Xub | May 20th 09 |
| 2.5 average | quaazi | March 25th 09 |
| 3.5 great | Goler0 | September 27th 08 |
| 3.0 good | Bleak | July 23rd 08 |
| 2.0 poor | D0wN | November 18th 07 |
| 4.0 excellent | Thor | May 17th 06 |
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