ALBUM REVIEW: Immortal – Northern Chaos Gods

Today I review the long awaited new album from Immortal, a band I have enjoyed for many years but obviously the huge difference is the lack of Abbath on vocals and how it might effect the band. Read on to find out what I think.

1. Northern Chaos Gods opens with Immortal’s chaotic but huge riffing that they have established as their own over the years. The attack of the drums is excellent, with tons of menacing guitar work and evil screams. The vocals are very much like Abbath’s due to his absence from the lineup, I guess they wanted to keep his sound without him. The later part of the song is really atmospheric and epic but in a very bombastic and raw style as Immortal usually do. They certainly have not lost their cold, icy feeling for sure. The opening song is one I had heard a while before, and it is pretty good.
2. Into Battle Ride kicks straight in with thrashy riffs and tons of ferocity. The piercings blasts and guitar chords create a really brutal and chaotic assault, with some pretty damn good vocals layered over the top. There is something that sounds both very new and very old about the sound of this track which is really cool. The song is surprisingly catchy in the chorus parts for a Black Metal song, something very admirable about the way Immortal have been able to do that.
3. Gates To Blashyrkh has a very typical start for Norwegian Black Metal, using a really grim and melodic approach. The riffs are beautifully written, the drums played extremely well, and the clean guitars adding diversity to it all, before going back into more frostbitten soundscapes. The song is much more typical for an Immortal song, which is nice to revisit the sounds we all enjoyed over the previous records, but with more progression and of course better production.
4. Grim and Dark is exactly what the title suggests, the huge atmospheres are certainly “Grim and Dark”, they create a menacing but also beautifully done approach to the bands style, with tight riffs and punchy drums. The band may use very simple techniques, but they use them excellently to achieve a really great and unique sound. This track sounds more like bands such as Taake in how it is written, which is really awesome. Great piece of music.
5. Called To Ice does not cease with the momentum, more ballistic and chaotic assault from the guitar, bass and drums joined with glorious vocals hit us. This song feels much more upbeat than the last which works beautifully in contradiction, ironically complementing each other rather a lot. The progression of the riffs in the song are really the thing Immortal do the best in my opinion, with some awesome leads thrown in too. Best song by far for me.
6. Where Mountains Rise slows things completely, the melancholic riffs sounds absolutely gorgeous. The still slowed tempo of the song when it all drops is really atmospheric and stunning to listen to. The vocals are absolutely piercing with the sombre guitars and punishing drums. The lyrics are fantastic and the faster parts hit even harder due to the general tempo of the song. The guitar solo is simplistic but really complements the rhythm section. The ending is just so damn aggressive, great stuff once again. Note: the more upbeat riff strongly resembles “Where Eagles Dare” by Iron Maiden, a cool nod to a great band.
7. Blacker Of Worlds continues from the chaotic ending of the previous song, very nicely too. The full throttle approach is absolutely wonderful. The riffs are catchy and really headbang worthy. The vocals completely dominate this track, the production is perfectly done here. The interwoven mute picked parts are more melodic and really pleasant.
8. Mighty Ravendark opens with much cleaner melodic guitar work, it creates a very haunting soundscape and is followed with the distorted sections beautifully. The lead guitar in the riffs sound so damn cool, there is a really menacing and forceful feel to this song. The vocals are ferocious and the song is absolutely huge, like a wall of sound. There is certainly a feeling of closure, with it being the final track of an album that has been so long awaited, this song really conveys that beautifully. This sounds like it could be from “At The Heart Of Winter” which is my favourite Immortal album, absolutely loved this song and it is a perfect ending piece to the bands glorious return.

The new album is different, as we would expect, but also reminiscent of Immortal’s legendary career. It is a triumphant return, and definitely worth the listen regardless of any preconceptions you may have about it. -8/10