Valkyrian Music

Immortal
Northern Chaos Gods
Released 6th July 2018
Black Metal
Released via Nuclear Blast Records

Immortal doesn’t need much of an introduction. They’ve been a part of the Norwegian black metal scene since the early 1990s. Three years ago they parted ways with their original vocalist who has since released an album under his own name. Following Abbath’s departure, Immortal decided to continue as a duo with guitarist Demonaz taking over vocal duties. Personally I like Immortal’s old works, but I wasn’t too impressed with their last offering ‘All Shall Fall’. I’m quite curious to see how this albums compares to the Abbath album. Can there still be Immortal without Abbath at the helm? There’s only one way to find out…

Without even pressing the play button, it’s pretty evident that this is an Immortal album. All the usual themes are here including references to all things grim and frostbitten and not forgetting the words ‘Blashyrkh’ and ‘Ravendark’ in two of the song titles. In many ways Gates to Blashyrkh feels like a continuation of ‘Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark). The guitar patterns are very similar and it is definitely one of the more catchy tracks on here. I also enjoyed Grim and Dark which, despite the title, is anything but grim. Aside from the harsh vocals, the song it itself is actually rather uplifting at times thanks to the rocking guitar melodies. It reminded me of the mid-career works, particularly ‘At The Heart of Winter’.

The title track deserves an honorable mention as one of more coarse-sounding black metal songs on here, hankering back to the band’s early days. If it’s pummeling drums, harsh vocals and shredding guitars you were looking for, then Northern Chaos Gods is definitely the track for you. Obviously Demonaz’s vocals take some getting used to, but that should not be a problem for Immortal fans.

In summary, ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is far more memorable than its predecessor. In fact, it’s quite possibly the best album the band have produced in years. It proves once and for all that Immortal have a future without Abbath.

4/5

Iza Raittila

This entry was posted on 1st July 2018 at 6:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized with tags Black Metal, Immortal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.