Review Summary: Cold. Black. Immortal.
Released in 1993 during the peak years of the second-wave of black metal, this masterpiece rooted Immortal as true pioneers and innovators in their genre. With vocals that will send many a shiver down the spines of the pure and guitar work that resembles the ice covered mountain peaks of the Norwegian landscape. Unrelenting blast beats and double bass work add to the barebones intensity and frozen cold atmosphere of this landmark. Much more than just a single step above their debut, "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism", and by far their best straight forward black metal album.
Abbath Doom Occulta has a very unique vocal delivery even for a black metal vocalist. While he does employ the genres trademark shrills and shrieks he has an almost burpy way of presenting them which is personally why I favor him over other vocalists from this genre and era. He keeps it unique and you have to admire that. The lyrics are written by Demonaz Doom Occulta and are very deep, no messing around but at the same time choosing uncommon themes for the time such as the harsh winter of their homeland, the eternal frost, beautiful landscapes, fantasy, snow and typically other cold topics. Blashyrkh is a fantasy land the members of Immortal created inspired by the region of Norway and the surrounding lands. They use this land as a strong influence for their lyrics and cold musical atmosphere.
Demonaz handles guitar duties on this album. He was very influential to the guitarists of his time and countless others as the years have passed. Tremolo picking is extremely prevalent throughout the album and helps conjure scenes of snow peaked mountains and whirling blizzards. While not overly technical they are undeniably beautiful and well thought out. Fuzz laden power chords also appear throughout and add a feel of traditional heavy metal to the guitar work. There is an unusual pedal effect used on a guitar solo to close out “Frozen by Icewinds” which demands attention and is quite trance inducing while it lasts. Overall I would describe his axe-wielding as a massive blizzard and a true attack on the ears. Such a shame tendinitis robbed him of his ability to play in later years.
Abbath plays bass and drums, along with vocals, on this release. The bass never seems to stray from following the guitar parts and adds a nice fuzzy heaviness to the productions low end. His drumming is simple (for extreme metal of course) but vital to the sound they have achieved. Originally a third band member, Grim, was to lay down the drums but he committed suicide shortly before he was able to. So Abbath took up the sticks and blasted away for almost the entire 33 minute run time. As a drummer he isn’t terribly innovative and his fills are weak most of the time. His timing sometimes falters on the longer blasts involving the snare and accent pieces but I love the faults as he wasn’t even meant to drum at all and filled in quite admirably. His double bass is very prevalent and a welcomed trademark of the genre. I sometimes find myself listening to the album solely for his drumming as it is very powerful at times and certainly more concentrated than on their next release “Battles in the North” where Abbath picks up the sticks once more before Horgh joined Immortal on “Blizzard Beasts”.
Not a very long album, 33 minutes or so, but a powerful one. Production wise the guitars come in through the fuzz and give off a bone-chilling feel rather than a muddy one, the vocals aren’t up front nor in back, they stand perfectly in the midst and Abbath’s drumming pounds away just behind the axes. The album cover presented in the usual black and white shows the band in a much better picture than on latter albums (“Damned in Black”) and includes the drummer who never was, Grim, standing among Abbath and Demonaz. All in all as the years go by this album gains agency and holds its snow covered ground in the black metal genre. Immortal never made another album like it in terms of delivery and production and the history behind it is just as rich. Not a church burner… but an absolute frost-bitter.
