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Review Summary: Black metal legends Immortal stopped relying purely on black metal grimness in their music, and started showing some real ambition on At The Heart Of Winter. Review re-written from my material on www.globaldomination.se/
I was getting tired of hearing just "good" metal lately, and needed something really good to get me excited again, so At The Heart Of Winter was the perfect answer. However, I have to say that I’m not a fan of Immortal’s first two records, since the songs are mostly just straightforward, uninteresting blasts of black metal, and while Battles In The North was decent, Blizzard Beasts was yet another disappointment, due to the weak guitar sound. My my, I'm starting out pretty hard on these black metal icons, aren't I? Fortunately, Immortal really got their act together for Winter, with frontman Abbath Doom Occulta pulling duty on bass, synth, and guitar, since Immortal’s old guitarist, Demonaz Doom Occulta, had to quit that duty because of tendinitis. Still, Demonaz continued to contribute the same frostbitten lyrics he had for the previous albums, and, not to sound cold or anything, but Abbath’s a much better guitar player than he was anyway, so it all worked out for the best! Er, the songwriting’s better here as well, but I’ll dive into that once I get to the actual songs, which should be right about…
now! “Withstand the Fall Of Time” is our album opener, with a first minute that's made up of tentative blasts of Abbath’s formidably grim guitar, then taking off into one great riff after another, with relentlessly energetic backup from Horgh’s drumming all the way (who also does a great job of supporting Abbath for the rest of the album as well). When Abbath starts “singing”, it’s the same old gremlin-demon croak from the previous albums, and, while it isn’t something I really enjoy, what the hell; black metal vocals for black metal music, after all! The surprising-but-subtle integration of operatic female vocals later on in the song, plus its varied overall flow, makes “Withstand” a great argument for Immortal having actual songwriting skills, not just icy frostbitten-ness, and we have five more great arguments to go here.
“Solarfall” is propelled by an epic, energetic main riff that never fails to get me headbangin’, contrasted by atmospheric sections of clean guitar that circle straight back into into the bleak riffing. Through this, Immortal again shows a wider range of sound than most people would have previously expected from them, which makes “Solarfall” an extremely engaging listen as well. “Tragedies blow at horizon” is another excellently grim offering (with more of that sweet clean guitar, too), and “Where dark and light don’t differ” gives us even more unstoppable, catchy riffs, a very cool extended solo, and superbly guttural vocals from Abbath, earning him some additional kudos.
The album’s title track starts off unexpectedly calm, with relaxed guitar work (you can even hear an acoustic in the mix!) and classy synth playing, which lasts for over a full two minutes. That way, it’s a pretty sweet payoff when the heavy riffs finally start up, and later on, the track becomes propelled by the most energetic instrumental work on the entire album, a combined effort of incredible drumming, riffs, and soloing from Horgh and Abbath, who manage to turn this one into something real special. Finally, “Years of silent sorrow” closes “winter” out strong, with yet more icy riffage and hyperactive drumming, just what the doctor ordered…
So, if the lack of a goofy band pose on the cover was to let us know At The Heart Of Winter was Immortal getting down to business, then the music definitely followed through on that, drawing us deeper than ever into the icy kingdom of Abbath’s backyard. Sadly, Winter was on the very tip of getting the vaunted 4.5 from me, but I feel that Immortal stretched the song lengths here on for a bit too long, sacrificing some of the album’s potential punch for a greater sense of scope. Of course, not to say that I don’t enjoy these epic slabs of black metal, but Winter still didn't hold my attention quite as tightly as it could've. But still, this is a very well-executed, compelling album nonetheless, with an armada of extremely fluid, energetic riffs for our listening pleasure, where Abbath thankfully proves to be a helluva better guitar player than he was a drummer. Who had any idea a mere pair of black metal dorks could make music this good...?
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Album Rating: 5.0
Good review - always loved this album since the day i bought it..
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
frozen by icewinds
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
This is where Immortal started down the path to commercial music :/
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
nice first, pos'd. Try to limit the amount of times you say "I" and the like when you review.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
@ Hyperbore: Not at all, considering how long, complex, and un-radio-friendly the songs are on Winter, and as for the subsequent albums, I don't hear commercial friendliness on Damned at all, and while the last two are Immortal's most accessible records to date, they still don't qualify as "commercial music". But, if writing interesting songs counts as being commercial now, then sign me up. And thanks, Remains.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Absolutely at all, considering how complex these songs are not. The band members themselves verify this - Demonaz had to stop playing due to his tendinitis, and Abbath apparently digs epic heavy metal. Which is all this album really is, except the songs are drawn out to ridiculous lengths and played in a black metal style. At its core, though, it's very straightforward stuff.
Something like Pure Holocaust takes a while to really appreciate. When you first hear it, you may like it to a degree, but there's going to be at least some sense of "what's so great about this?" And you may outright hate it. This album, on the other hand, is likable right off the bat. That is why it's more commercial - it is accessible, easily understood, not challenging. It's not BAD - in fact, it's pretty good - but it is the first album that approaches marketability, and begins to drift away from being a labor of love.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I'm not indifferent to Pure Holocaust because it isn't "likable right off the bat", I'm indifferent to it because it has little to offer. And, while the songwriting on Winter may not measure up to the complexity of the average Dream Theater (ick) song, they're still far more intricate and interesting than the vast majority of the songs on the first four albums, and I hear just as much "labor of love" in their construction, if not more. I do agree about Winter being the more accessible album (though not the "more commercial" one), but I'd argue that's simply because it's the better album. Anyway, agree to disagree?
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haha i lurv Global Domination their reviews are beyond awesome
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Album sounds interesting. Good review, man.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Heh, thanks Fade; since I'm no longer writing for GD, but have a bunch of reviews over there, and I don't wanna deprive the Sputnik crowd of 'em, I'll be re-writing and uploading them over here as well. I'll try to alternate between re-writing my old reviews and writing completely new ones, which means the next one I submit here will be a Sputnik world premiere...
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
This is where Immortal started down the path to commercial music :/
I would have agreed with you if only you hadn't said 'commercial music'.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Accessible IS marketable. There is no difference. It's funny that you think Pure Holocaust has little to offer, seeing as it inspired hundreds of copycat bands whereas this inspired... more Immortal cash-cow albums. And no, these songs are not nearly as intricate as those on the first four (especially the first two) albums. Methinks you're paying more attention to the production than to the construction.
| | | Album Rating: 4.8
Good review dude. And this album doesn't go down a "commercial" path at all. Like Smalley said you would never find these songs played on the radio anywhere.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
There are plenty of radio stations that play music that is MUCH less radio-friendly than this. You should probably look around before declaring the truthfulness of bullshit statements.
Not only have I heard songs from this (and Damned In Black) played on one of the local metal radio shows, I've also heard Lustmord, Vital Remains, and plenty of others. So, first, this does get airtime, and there is more inaccessible music that gets airtime as well; and second, the only way in which this songs aren't radio-friendly is in their length and screechy vocals. If you were to notate the songs themselves, you'd see there's nothing in their composition that differs from typical heavy metal epics.
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Lustmord that would be awesome
but Hyperbore, it depends on where you live. here in the UK no form of metal at all (not even shit like a7x) is played on the radio or ever will be. mainly because there's no such thing as a metal/rock radio unfortunately
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
"Accessible IS marketable. There is no difference. It's funny that you think Pure Holocaust has little to offer, seeing as it inspired hundreds of copycat bands whereas this inspired... more Immortal cash-cow albums. And no, these songs are not nearly as intricate as those on the first four (especially the first two) albums. Methinks you're paying more attention to the production than to the construction."
Yes, but why is Winter more accessible than the previous albums in the first place? Because its songwriting is more intricate, and as a result, better. And that's great that PH inspired "hundreds of copycat bands" (which doesn't exactly sound like a ringing endorsement), that doesn't make it any less uninteresting by itself.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Are you deaf, or just blind? For the third (I think) time now: these songs are not more intricate. Also, to say something is more accessible because it is more intricate is lulz. You're basically saying that the more complex something becomes, the higher the number of people who are able to get it. If this were true, everyone would be great at calculus but most people would have trouble with Pythagorean geometry...
And no, it's not good that hundreds of copycats emerged. The quality of imitators, however, says absolutely nothing about the quality of the originator. Again, you've missed the point. Namely, that you are wrong in saying the album has little to offer. If it has little to offer, why would it inspire anyone at all, not to mention hundreds?
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yeah, I saw you post that the first two times; flatly repeating something over and over does not make you correct. And quit tryin' to strawman me; Winter is more accessible not just because it's more intricate, but because the increased intricacy in this case resulted in better, more interesting music than what had come before. Of course, more complex music doesn't automatically equal more accessibility, it all depends on what the music in question is more complex than; in the particular case of ATHoW versus the first four albums, it worked for the better. And I have no idea why the hell Pure Holocaust would inspire "hundreds" of copycats, if there really are that many out there; maybe they have poor taste in music?
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
I'm repeating it because you're ignoring it. You're pretending that what you believe about this album is absolute truth, and imagining that nobody has made an argument to the contrary. Even though the BAND ITSELF has argued to the contrary.
The change in direction resulted in simpler, more typical music than what had come before. If it hadn't, it would not also be more accessible. Accessibility isn't a difficult concept to understand - it means "more easily liked," which means more people will get it more quickly, which means simpler. Accessibility and intricacy are polar opposites.
It inspired that many (if in doubt as to numbers, just do some browsing, M-A and lastfm are good places to start) because it had the kind of content that inspires. Pretty simple, no?
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fuck i havnt listened to this band for maybe half a year, i have a feeling im going to drop my rating the second i decide to give this a spin
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