Mass Burial: I, Between Two Worlds

The real shame of Demonaz’ March of the Norse solo album is that it isn’t very memorable or strong aside from it being a Demonaz solo album. The real shame of Abbath’s first solo salvo is that I was a one-off project.

Between Two Worlds is not going to try to be an Immortal record, or even a Black Metal one, really. This is more of an open road driving kind of album, I guess more Black n’ Roll than anything, but it is a great and tragically underappreciated release.

Eight actual songs, no intros or outros, of strong, hard rocking music that occasionally dips into something that I can only describe as being Blackened Judas Priest, I offers a selection of jammin’ tunes that feel, thanks to Abbath’s vocals, like a “good times” Immortal, unencumbered by the trappings of the genre and free to get a little groovy. The lyrical content is all the same, so we’ve got songs about battles and warriors and cold, typified by songs like “Battalions” and “Warriors” and “Days of North Wind”. Album opener “The Storm I Ride” is a great, pumping way to start things off and announce the arrival of the project, which at the time I don’t think was known to be a placeholder, but rather was assumed to be the first album of many.

The tracks are arranged in such a fashion that I want to say the best ones come first, as the opening gambit of “The Storm I Ride,” “Warriors,” the title track, and “Battalions” is song after quality song, jam after jam. “The Storm I Ride” contains maybe my favorite moment from the entire Immortal collection: to introduce the guitar solo, Abbath croaks out the name of Ice Dale, guitarist of Enslaved at the time, in a total ‘80s glam rock fashion, after which the solo kicks in and sweeps you up, the way they always did in ‘80s glam rock fashion. Every single thing I have ever read with Abbath point toward his being a guy who truly loves rock and Metal music, portraying him as a student of the form, and not just a guy in a band. Things like this admittedly minuscule moment add traction to such an idea, but in a really genuine and honest fashion.  But the good times don’t stop, as the back half of the album contains the most ‘Immortal’ song found on either of the Immortal solo albums, the excellent “Far Beyond the Quiet,” which strikes the slower, drawn out rhythm and pace of Immortal standards like “Tyrants” and “Beyond the North Waves” from immediate predecessor Sons of Northern Darkness. Closer “Cursed We Are” finishes the album in strong fashion, almost like a composite song comprised of “The Storm I Ride” and “Far Beyond the Quiet”.

For all of the praise I’m heaping on this album, it too deals with the similarity issue that generally lurks around Immortal’s fringes, and was a drawback for Demonaz’ solo album: the songs do tend to be same-y, without much to really differentiate them from one another, with the single exception being “Far Beyond the Quiet,” and then basically whichever songs you like the best. In truth, I have always personally really loved Between Two Worlds, and always wished the band would reconvene for more. But, made up of members of other bands, the ‘supergroup’ concept doesn’t often turn out multiple works; it’s just that this one is so good that it seems cruel to tease us with it and then vanish. More music like this is always a good thing, and the Metal genre is one that often doesn’t appreciate having fun, unless it’s something stupid like S.O.D. But once more, this album sounds like they had fun making it, and that’s a pretty refreshing idea in a genre that often takes itself way too seriously.

By now, it’s overkill to keep talking about how much fun this record is. That may be the thing that draws me to it so much, as this and Sons of Northern Darkness comprise what I may always think of as the best time for Immortal, and Between Two Worlds is similarly an album that I’ll put on at almost any time without provocation or reason. But the real tragedy is that it is the only release, and while Immortal would come back around to release new music a few years later, the real highpoint of the band had passed them, and while Abbath’s next solo record would be an excellent actual Black Metal affair, it would lack the joyfulness of I, relegating this project as a type of unicorn that I would welcome back with genuine elation were a reformation to be announced.

This is an album that you really owe yourself a listen, even if Black Metal or Immortal specifically don’t appeal to you. A truly underappreciated gem.