Immortal - Battles In The North review
Band: | Immortal |
Album: | Battles In The North |
Release date: | 1995 |
01. Battles In The North
02. Grim And Frostbitten Kingdoms
03. Descent Into Eminent Silence
04. Throned By Blackstorms
05. Moonrise Fields Of Sorrow
06. Cursed Realms Of The Winterdemons
07. At The Stormy Gates Of Mist
08. Through The Halls Of Eternity
09. Circling Above In Time Before Time
10. Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)
In 1993, the legendary band called Immortal released what is considered to be their sophomore work, Pure Holocaust. Two years later, they decided to go a little harsher, to produce a colder album: something on which we can bestow the term "grim and frostbitten". And in my books, these mighty Norsemen succeeded. Now after Erik "Grim" left the band, Abbath took the throne behind the drums (he still handled the bass, too), while Demonaz took over the duties of delivering some mighty guitar riffs, something Immortal is synonymous with.
The songwriting on this album is awesome. Demonaz slams us with riff after riff, each more atmospheric and catchy than the one preceding it. Those riffs are harsh, harsher than on Pure Holocaust, but still, they retain the melodic edge, and they go well with Abbath's drumming, which is just amazing and sounds very natural. And not only does Abbath succeed in creating some of the best blast-beats ever, but he also does great work with the slow parts. Great black metal drumming. The bass is buried deep beneath the other instruments, but since this is black metal, there isn't a big problem. Concerning the vocals, Abbath is as strong and mighty as ever, and in addition to handling the drums and bass, this king of northern darkness's vocals are more "croaky" than on Pure Holocaust, which is a good thing actually, and gives this album a slab of originality.
Overall, the instruments (and vocals) intertwine well with each other, creating an atmosphere not a lot of black metal artists have: an atmosphere of a devastating snow storm in the mountains of Norway. The mix is quite strange, with the drums and vocals getting a higher volume than the guitars, and although this adds to the stormy atmosphere, I still think this album could have used some better production, even by black metal standards. Not Damned In Black good production, but if they produced this album like, let's say, At The Heart Of Winter, it would have been loads better.
Battles In The North is a great album, not short of amazing tracks. The 10 songs are all amazing, but the ones that stand out are the title track, "Grim And Frostbitten Kingdoms", which has an oriental Demonaz solo that reminds us of Euronymous's solo on "Freezing Moon", "Cursed Realms Of The Winterdemons", "Cirlcling Above In Time Before Time" and "Blashyrkh". The others are all good; the only track that falls behind the others is "At The Stormy Gates Of Mist".
Battles In The North is an awesome record from the legendary Norse band called Immortal; it's an essential tr00 black metal record (better than Pure Holocaust IMO). If you're a fan of black metal, you should go ahead and grab this right now, for it will surely throw you in the midst of a tempest and destroy your mind with awesome riffs and brutal drumming. All hail Immortal, the mighty sons of northern darkness!!!
Rating breakdown
Performance: | 9 |
Songwriting: | 10 |
Originality: | 10 |
Production: | 7 |
Written by BeastOfMetal456 | 18.09.2011
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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