What a perfect name for an album by the monsters of chilling Nordic black metal-Blizzard Beasts, the last release to feature the guitar work of Demonaz, who, due to an injury, had to retire from all but writing on future Immortal albums. If he had to go out, he went out in style, as this is one of the band's most fast and furious releases, featuring plenty of his razor sharp riffs and screeching solos. Stylistically similar to their previous work Battles of the North, this one is perhaps more crushing and extreme, with barely room for a breather on any of the album's nine songs.
As you make your way through Blizzard Beasts, you'll quickly discover that there's not a weak piece here, and although as a whole the album is not an instant classic like At the Heart of Winter or Sons of Northern Darkness, it's still very strong and consistent black metal. Tracks like "Nebular Ravens Winter" and "Suns That Sank Below" rage with plenty of cold, chilling riffs, blast beats, and Abbath's gargled vocals. The keyboard intro to "Mountains of Might" starts things off majestically before the song turns into a dark and ominous epic number with wonderful guitar riffs and pulverizing blast beats. The atmospheric mid-section is simply breathtaking, with undulating bass grooves and layers of guitar work, giving the listener a sense of cold terrain with crisp breeze and light falling snow. Simply a classic black metal song that pretty much sums up with this band is capable of. Other strong numbers include the furious title track, the rumbling rhythms of "Battlefields", and the non-stop riffage of the mammoth "Winters of the Ages", complete with an especially evil vocal from Abbath.
So if you have yet to dive into the world of black metal, but are interested in doing so, check out this, or any Immortal album, and experience what it is all about.
Track Listing
1. Intro
2. Blizzard Beasts
3. Nebular Ravens Winter
4. Suns That Sank Below
5. Battlefields
6. Mountains Of Might
7. Noctambulant
8. Winter of The Ages
9. Frostdemonstorm
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