Immortal, formed in 1990 are one of the original black metal bands. This, 'Pure Holocaust' is their second full length release, released in 1993 on Osmose productions. This is probably their most raw, grim album to date. Immortal split up in 2003, after seven full length albums.
The lineup for this album...
Abbath - Vocals, Bass, Drums
Demonaz - Guitars
*In the booklet Erik "Grim" Brodreskift is credited with the drums, he commited suicide before recording so the drums were actually recorded by Abbath.
The album starts off Unsilent Storms in the North Abyss, immediately coming at you with blasting drums and ripping guitars. This song really gets the raw atmosphere going on this album.
A Sign for the Norse Hordes to Ride continues this atmosphere with some good guitar work, and good drumming. Some good raw black metal here. This leads into Sun No Longer Rises, this song has some good riffage, this song includes the first part on the album where the music begins to slow down a little, the music is slow, but powerful, not to a doom metal level, but it's considerably slow compared to the rest of the album. The song picks up a little towards the end, this is one my favorite songs on the album.
Frozen By Icewinds picks the album back to the normal speed, this song is more or less defined by it's drumming. A solid track, nothing special here, other than some good tremelo picking. The album then picks up speed with Storming Through Red Clouds And Holocaustwinds, raw, fast black metal here. Excellent vocals here. For this song, think Darkthrone with better drumming, better vocals, better guitar work and faster. Good stuff here. Keeping the intensity up, Eternal Years On The Path To The Cemetary Gates starts with some good tremelo picking, which is then drowned out by the drumming. This song switches between slower riffs and faster riffs very well. Solid track.
As The Eternity Opens starts off with a nice riff with the arrangement of a melodic death song gone black metal, the song evolves throughout into more and more black metal. One of my favorite tracks on the album, good stuff here.
The last track, Pure Holocaust fades in, the music here is fast and agrressive. Shifting between slow and fast tremelo picking before going into all out agressive mode. The song fades out, ending the album. This is my favorite track on the album.
This album gets a 4/5 (though it's a 5/5 for any Black metal enthusiast). This CD is full of fast and agressive riffs while still being able to shift to slower, more powerful riffs. Good solid album, though if you're into black metal, this is an essential.
