metalmillennium
The first album of the new millennium for Immortal, and after the amazing "At The Heart Of Winter" I am ready to do battle once again with the unholy forces of evil. They have added a bassist, Iscariah, so Abbath can concentrate on all the guitar work, and besides that, the line-up has stayed constant. Demonaz still does all the written lyrical work and handles all of the financial dealings, etc. of the band. (We miss you in the music though Demonaz!)
Anyways, to start things off, I must say that the production on this album is top notch. Everything is recorded almost perfectly. The drums are thunderous to say the least (especially the bass drum), the guitar is low and crunchy and Abbath has a little more bass to his raspy voice. So with all the aspects there as usual, the songs don't lack anything either. Immortal has continued to work with the sound from the last album that projected them to greater heights, but they also use some more brutal sounds as well. Horgh has improved yet again from the last album and his drumming is the best I have ever heard it. His double bass has gotten faster and more precise and he stays locked with the guitar work thoughout the whole album. Abbath's guitar work has improved as well, and plays a little faster riffs on this album. Most of the clean guitar is gone, with the exception of a small part in the song "Damned In Black," but other songs such as "The Darkness That Embrace Me" and "Wraith From Above" make up for it.
Immortal have also used other atmospheric sounds on this album that add to the songs very well and give them more attention. What else can i say? This cd dominates my cd player. They have done it again!