Coming five years after the unexpectedly excellent Northern Chaos Gods, Norwegian black metal legends Immortal arrive once again with War Against All, Demonaz seemingly all alone running the ship after he and drummer Horgh had a legal battle over the band a few years back, which was won by Demonaz. So, now no Horgh, and of course no Abbath, and just Demonaz is left standing, writing all the songs, playing guitars, and singing, while drums were done by Kevin Kvale, with additional guitars and bass provided by none other than good friend Ice Dale/Arve Isdal (Enslaved), who also produced the album. Stylistically, War Against All isn't all that much different than Northern Chaos Gods, Demonaz' black metal croak triumphantly erupts over powerful tremolo picked riffs and relentless blast beats on standout tracks like "No Sun", "War God", and the venomous opening title track. One difference here on this album is there seems to be a few more mid-paced belters, such as "Return to Cold" and the epic "Northlandihr", the latter containing some excellent guitar work which reveals additional textures with each repeated listen. And, to think it took the band 30 years to finally do a song called "Immortal"...it's also one of the most savage songs here, and closer "Blashyrkh My Throne" continues on with the story that's been told throughout most of this catalog, putting on display the icy landscape of Norway as only Immortal can.
While I don't think that War Against All is quite the achievement that Northern Chaos Gods is, truthfully it's not far behind it. Immortal (well, Demonaz) isn't offering us anything really different with this one, but damn it's so good, and I'll take familiar Immortal each and every time if that's what they are most comfortable doing.
Track Listing
1.
War Against All 03:26
2.
Thunders Of Darkness 03:48
3.
Wargod 04:38
4.
No Sun 04:16
5.
Return To Cold 04:31
6.
Nordlandihr 07:12
7.
Immortal 04:14
8.
Blashyrkh My Throne 05:58
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
