IMMORTAL — At the Heart of Winter (review)

IMMORTAL — At the Heart of Winter album cover Album · 1999 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
SilentScream213
Wow! I know I’m in a crazy minority here, but I actually thought “Blizzard Beasts” was going to end up my favorite Immortal album. The way Immortal integrated twisted Death Metal riffs and more varied drumming into their wintry 2nd wave Black Metal formula worked very well for me. I was expecting a return to regular Black Metal with this album.

But no! They learned something very important from the last album! Which is how to write incredible riffs! As far as Black Metal goes, these are some of the best riffs in the genre. Melodic yet raw, aggressive and thrashy but still unmistakably cold. This is still 2nd wave Black Metal at its core, but this time, instead of Death Metal influence, they’ve injected their wintry hellscape with Melodic Black Metal and Thrash influence. Somewhat opposing forces, but it all comes together so well here!

The leads sit in this perfect purgatory between melodic and twisted, they are very memorable and full of impressive lead work a la Meloblack, but they are evil, destructive, and almost out of control a la Thrash! The drumming is in a similar place, where it is much more controlled and willing to run in non-blast beat territory, bordering on progressive at times. However, it never loses sight of being a mad, combative beast of rhythm.

Production is also quite good for this genre. Clear enough, mixed well, sounds good, but not overproduced. Plainly, the album doesn’t have any flaws, and is a masterpiece among the genre.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed