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Immortal's discography is long overdue for a review. I never really dug their campy vibe but i do enjoy some of their albums with "At Heart of Winter" being my absolute favorite. I never really understood why the older albums are held in such high esteem though since they are so messy sounding. But like i said i really should give their discography a thorough chronological review. 

The new album without Abbath was okay but sounded pretty dated like it could have been recorded back in the late '90's. Normally i would consider that a compliment but in this case it just sounded tired and uninspired. At least the two solo albums by Abbath sound a little more lively and diverse, especially the last one. So for now i'm with team Abbath even though he turned into the black metal version of KISS.

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1 hour ago, Benjaminc81 said:

The new album without Abbath was okay but sounded pretty dated like it could have been recorded back in the late '90's. Normally i would consider that a compliment but in this case it just sounded tired and uninspired. At least the two solo albums by Abbath sound a little more lively and diverse, especially the last one. So for now i'm with team Abbath even though he turned into the black metal version of KISS.

While I only listened to his new album once, I got the impression that it was based more heavily in first wave bm than anything from the late 90s (particularly due to the emphasis on the solos and more riff heavy/thrashy sound)  However, I agree with your general appraisal of its musical worth.

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On 9/29/2019 at 11:34 PM, MacabreEternal said:

I think the difference is that Demonaz's songwriting prowess hasn't waned when (based on last output) Abbath's has.  Post 'Sons...' (and arguably most of ' Damned..') Immortal have been below par.  Listening to Abbath's paltry solo work it isn't too hard to join the dots when Demonaz walks back in and writes a killer opus like 'Northern Chaos Gods'. If the shoe were on the other foot we would be calling for Abbath to hire Perry Mason to get the rights back from Demonaz's grubby little mitts.

Also, something I didn't take into consideration is that 'All Shall Fall' came out in 2009, so the band had fundamentally been dormant for 9 years as far as releases are concerned. That probably swayed the judge significantly. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Who else here absolutely loves the drum production and performance on Immortal’s seminal soundtrack “Pure Holocaust”? The subtleties of technique displayed, along with the way in which the overall mix allows for such percussive showcasing, make this album an indispensable pleasure when one is craving some substantive drumming.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Gave "Damned in Black" a spin today and somehow this album always get´s a bad rep in the Immortal discography. It certainly isn´t their most exciting release but there are still plenty of killer riffs and songs on that album, Wrath from Above, My Dimension and In Our Mystic Visions Blest being the stand outs. The modern sterile productions takes away some of the atmosphere but all in all not a bad record. Certainly not as bad as some fans may want you to believe.

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On 9/30/2019 at 11:30 PM, Benjaminc81 said:

Immortal's discography is long overdue for a review. I never really dug their campy vibe but i do enjoy some of their albums with "At Heart of Winter" being my absolute favorite. I never really understood why the older albums are held in such high esteem though since they are so messy sounding. But like i said i really should give their discography a thorough chronological review. 

The new album without Abbath was okay but sounded pretty dated like it could have been recorded back in the late '90's. Normally i would consider that a compliment but in this case it just sounded tired and uninspired. At least the two solo albums by Abbath sound a little more lively and diverse, especially the last one. So for now i'm with team Abbath even though he turned into the black metal version of KISS.

I'm with team Demonaz. 

Yes, there were two great albums with Abbath at the helm ('..Winter' and 'Sons...'), but too many weak sauce releases. 'All Shall Fall' was the last insult.

The latest with Demonaz is an amazing release if you ask me (and I'm pretty sure you did). It's dark, it's heavy, it's melodic and catchy. It has dignity and poise. 

And the first three Immortal albums are all very special in their own way. Yes, there's mess involved, but it's the kind of mess that gives it authenticity and atmosphere. The youthful exuberance, the dedication to the cause. And when you listen to those albums you feel the same surge of energy that drove the Norwegian Black Metal scene back in the early 90s. That magic comes across. Obviously, Abbath played a huge part in these albums too, so fair play to the guy. 

See my ranking of the albums on page 2 of this august thread for Requiem's assessment. 

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I personally would consider Immortal one of the few bands where the later albums are actually better then the earlier ones. Most black metal bands peaked with their earlier releases but Immortal did exactly the opposite in my opinion. To me their sound improved with each release and when Abbath took over as lead guitarist it finally took the band to the next level. But as with so many things that´s probably a question of personal taste. I like the thrashy influences Abbath brought to their sound as where Demonaz plays a more regular black metal style as is notable on the earlier releases.

Right now i´m going through all the Abbath fronted release before i return to first four releases where Demonaz was the lead guitarist. Hopefully i´ll gain some new found apprection for the Demonaz material although i have no doubt that i will still prefer the later Immortal sound.

 

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12 hours ago, Benjaminc81 said:

I personally would consider Immortal one of the few bands where the later albums are actually better then the earlier ones. Most black metal bands peaked with their earlier releases but Immortal did exactly the opposite in my opinion. To me their sound improved with each release and when Abbath took over as lead guitarist it finally took the band to the next level. But as with so many things that´s probably a question of personal taste. I like the thrashy influences Abbath brought to their sound as where Demonaz plays a more regular black metal style as is notable on the earlier releases.

Right now i´m going through all the Abbath fronted release before i return to first four releases where Demonaz was the lead guitarist. Hopefully i´ll gain some new found apprection for the Demonaz material although i have no doubt that i will still prefer the later Immortal sound.

 

Knowing your penchant for a clearer, fuller, sound, I'm sure you'll prefer the Abbath albums because that's what they provide. That much is clear. 

Those early Demonaz albums are helter-skelter nonsense that just seems to work and has, like I say, the magic. 

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  • 5 months later...
On 11/15/2011 at 1:48 AM, BlutAusNerd said:

Re: IMMORTAL Like all their stuff, but Pure Holocaust and At the Heart of Winter are my faves.

Pure holocaust is amazing album.So fast and so much going on. For me this would be best live but missed that chance so best option I got  is to be played really loud through headphones. I will probably go deaf but at least I was happy doing so.? You can see why one of them got tendonitis from playing this pace of music. I assume it was to do with this?     

Will probably try out at  heart of winter as fair few people talk highly of it. 

Also have you seen them live. 

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11 hours ago, blaaacdoommmmfan said:

...so best option I got  is to be played really loud through headphones. I will probably go deaf but at least I was happy doing so.?

Hardly think consciously damaging your hearing should be considered as a “best option”.  As someone who has damaged hearing already from the very act you describe I can attest that there is no happiness involved.

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On 4/30/2020 at 8:06 AM, MacabreEternal said:

Hardly think consciously damaging your hearing should be considered as a “best option”.  As someone who has damaged hearing already from the very act you describe I can attest that there is no happiness involved.

Your right I was being silly. Damaging hearing is no laughing matter even if it's just mine that gets affected. Even before today I was thinking i should be more careful. ?

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  • 1 year later...

I actually like newer Immortal more than stuff like say, Pure Holocaust. I am not kvlt and I like my albums to be engineered well and sound good, which a lot of the early Immortal stuff didn't. First Immortal album I got was Sons of Northern Darkness and then Damned in Black, and I love those two albums but I haven't checked out All Shall Fall or any of Abbath's solo stuff yet. I'm actually really behind the times when it comes to music, it takes me years to figure out whether I really like an album or not. I don't usually listen to stuff when it first comes out, I wait to see what others have to say about it and then check it out if an opinion comes from someone who I respect.

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