Track Listing
1. One by one 2. Sons of Northern Darkness 3. Tyrants 4. Demonium 5. Within the Dark Mind 6. In My Kingdom 7. Antarctica 8. Beyond the North Waves Year: 2002 Label: Nucleur Blast - Official Site |
Immortal - 'Sons of northern darkness' - By W. Spurrier
Living in the shadows of your past work is often a blight on many bands careers. With every new release, they know the fans will be saying � Yeah it�s good, but is it better than��� Take Slayer for example. They�ll never shrug of the awesome legacy of � Reign in blood.� The same could be said of Immortal. Ever since they released the classic � Pure holocaust� album in 1993,every new release has been compared to it. � Sons of Northern darkness� though may well be the album where they shrug off comparisons to past work. Although they haven�t done anything like given their sound a complete makeover a�la Arcutrus or Ulver, this is still a nifty step forward for the band. First songs like � One by one� are brutal, and the element of old school thrash can be heard clearly. The production itself is cleaner. Which gives the listener more of a punch in the guts. With 2000s �Damned in Black� Immortal had more of a death metal feel, which I felt personally underwhelmed by. This time though, they seem to have learned, and incorporated a form of Death metal into their sound which does work. We also have an atmospheric feel. This is created by the guitars in � Antartica� and add an extremely haunting ending to the album in the shape of � Beyond the North waves� and the feel is of a band in control of their preferred medium. Over the years Immortal have stoically stuck to their guns, incorporating slightly different elements into every new album. You have the feeling this time though, that the kings of ice cold Black metal seemed to have caught the true essence of a brutal winter. Metal Obsessive Grade: 76% |