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Saturday, July 21, 2018

ALBUM REVIEW: Immortal sear through the icy wilderness on Northern Chaos Gods

FROM the icy wastes, from the depths of a Norwegian winter...ach fuck the clichés can be forgotten because Immortal have slayed a black metal path on their new album 'Northern Chaos Gods'.

And, by the darkest of gods of the night Demonaz and his collaborators have produced an album of purest, evil black metal.

But, the real key to the greatness of this album can be found on 'Gates of Blashyrkh'.Within this song is a subtlety that reveals that breath within songs are the true source of greatness when it comes to the cluttered world of black metal.

It's not as if Immortal have anything to prove. They are among the elite and on 'Northern Chaos Gods' they elevate themselves to another level.

It would not be unfair to say that this matches, if not exceeds the albums released with Abbath, such as 'Sons of Northern Darkness' or 'All Shall Fall'.

Indeed tracks such as 'Where Mountains Rise' have a relentless momentum that has fire bellowing from its dark underbelly.

“This is how Immortal is meant to sound”, said Demonaz, “and this is an album that pays tribute to our musical past as well.”

That is the magic of this release. Demonaz, together with Horgh and session bassist Peter Tägtgren, have captured their heritage and extended it yet further

To be sure - if one was to come to upon 'Northern Chaos Gods' with no knowledge of the band's past you would believe this was an almost perfect black metal template.

Review by Jonathan Traynor

Northern Chaos Gods is out now on Nuclear Blast




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