### Immortal: At the heart of winter

#### 05/10/09 || Smalley

I was getting tired of reviewing just good metal lately, and needed something really good to get me excited again, so “At the heart of winter” was my 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 solid, “Blizzard beasts” was another disappointment, due to its weak production. My my, Smalley’s starting out pretty hard on these black metal icons, isn’t he? Fortunately, Immortal really got their shit together on “winter”, with frontman Abbath pulling duty on bass, synth, and guitar, since Immortal’s old guitarist, Demonaz, 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 anyway, so it worked out for the best in the end! Er, the songwriting’s better here as well, but I’ll dive into that once I get to the songs, which should be about…

now! “Withstand the fall of time” is our album opener, its first minute 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 drums all the way (who does a great job of supporting Abbath for the rest of the album as well). When Abbath starts “singing”, it’s the same gremlin-demon croak from the previous records, and while it isn’t something I really enjoy, what the hell; black metal vocals for black metal music, after all! The excellent, subtle integration of synth work later on in the track, and its varied overall flow, makes “Withstand” a great argument for Immortal possessing actual songwriting skills, and we have five more great arguments to go here.

“Solarfall” is propelled by an epic, energetic 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’ve expected from them, and makes “Solarfall” an extremely engaging listen. “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 additional kudos from me.

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…

If the lack of a goofy-ass band pose on the cover was to let people 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 (just a lil’ in-joke). Sadly, “winter” was on the very tip of getting a 9 from me, but I feel that Immortal stretched the song lengths here 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 BM, but I also can’t say “winter” held my attention tightly enough to make it to 9 status. Oh well, this is still a very well-written album, 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, heh. Who knew a mere pair of black metal dorks could make music this good…? Now bring on “All shall fall”!!

- Information
- Released: 1999
- Label: Osmose Productions
- Website: www.immortalofficial.com
- Band
- Abbath Doom Occulta: vocals, guitar, bass, synth
- Horgh: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Withstand The Fall Of Time
- 02. Solarfall
- 03. Tragedies Blows At Horizon
- 04. Where Dark And Light Don’t Differ
- 05. At The Heart Of Winter
- 06. Years Of Silent Sorrow