Mass Burial: Immortal, Northern Chaos Gods

Following All Shall Fall in 2009, Immortal once more went on a hiatus, with Abbath releasing another solo album in 2015. Again embroiled in legal matters, the band name would end up with Demonaz, who along with steady drummer Horgh, released what is probably the most Black Metal Immortal album since Pure Holocaust.

Mass Burial: Immortal, All Shall Fall

Following the hiatus which would result in both of the bands’ major figures solo albums, 2009’s All Shall Fall is the follow-up to Sons of Northern Darkness, and is an album that treads very, very much the same path. But, while Sons mimicked the best parts of its predecessor, Damned In Black, to marvelous results, All Shall Fall is a little too much of the same to competently stand on its own.

Mass Burial: Immortal, The Seventh Date of Blashrykh

Ah, the live album. An opportunity to relive a concert, or to experience one vicariously. A chance to assemble a “greatest hits” type package including all of the intensity and spectacle of the live setting. Usually, live albums are very hit-or-miss, dependent on ones’ enthusiasm for a band and the selectin of songs being performed. Personally, I like live albums quite a bit, although my hunger for them ebbs and flows. The Seventh Date of Blashrykh should have been a hit, as it depicts Immortal playing a true selection of hits with an emphasis on tunes from Sons of Northern Darkness, which I would argue is the bands’ high water point. But man, I really hate this album.

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.

Mass Burial: Demonaz, March of the Norse

Demonaz’ solo album is more Black Metal, or more Immortal, if you will, than Abbath’s of the same general time, but it is also more of a by-the-numbers affair. That shouldn’t be misread as a knock, only as a primer statement.

Mass Burial: Immortal, Sons of Northern Darkness

Chicago spent the last few days in the grips of the polar vortex, and what better time to take in some more of Immortal’s brand of frosty, frigid Black Metal? Why not make that an extra shot of what is probably Immortal’s most “Immortal” record, Sons of Northern Darkness?

Mass Burial: Immortal, Damned in Black

Here’s a hot take for a cold January morning: Damned in Black is the album where Immortal really started being Immortal. Following the truly different At the Heart of Winter, Damned returns to shorter songs that chug along with a feeling of canned ferocity that is clearly trying to capture the actual ferocity of other Black Metal bands and records, resulting in something that feels like prefabricated, check the boxes Black Metal that is never the less totally satisfying and enjoyable.

Mass Burial: Immortal, At the Heart of Winter

Considered by many to be Immortal’s finest work, for some reason, At the Heart of Winter is an album that nevertheless signals a fairly large shift in the Immortal trajectory, trading the short and sharp Black metal attacks for longer and more plodding fare. That adjective choice is not intended to be a slight or signal of disapproval; it just so happens to be accurate. I have personally always fought the notion that this record is an outlier in the catalog, or the “different one,” as future Immortal records will lean heavily on things learned from At the Heart of Winter, but it certainly is the one album that marks a transitional stage in the band.

Mass Burial: Immortal, Blizzard Beasts

Blizzard Beasts is another somewhat strange entry in the Immortal discography. The follow up to Battles in the North, Blizzard Beasts is an almost identical listening experience that cleans up that maddening issue its predecessor had with just cutting songs off after three minutes. That adds a whole lot to Blizzard Beasts in terms of listenability, but the album suffers from a different issue.

Mass Burial: Immortal, Battles in the North

The third Immortal album, Battles in the North may contain some of the bands’ best songs in the title track and “Cursed Realms of the Winterdemons,” but it suffers from one incredible and persistent flaw. And no, it’s not the cover photo.

Or any of the terrible photos in the liner notes, either.

Mass Burial: Immortal, Pure Holocaust

Pure Holocaust is where Immortal really got started. Solid in their version of Norwegian Black Metal and ready to pursue it, Abbath and Daemonez here took full control of their direction and charged forward with confidence and resolve, crafting what is an absolutely criminally underrated album, a crime which besmirches the entire genre. The result is one of the best offerings of the Norwegian scene, a Black Metal classic, and still one of Immortals’ top three records.

Mass Burial: Immortal, Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism

Immortal is a name that is surprisingly polarizing in the Black metal scene. Formed in 1991 as part of the blossoming Second Wave of Black metal, and absolutely one of the Norwegian scenes’ mainstays, Immortal developed its own lyrical direction around fantasy and mythology, somewhat akin to a band like Enslaved, as opposed to religion and Satan, akin to practically everyone else. Immortal’s members also managed to stay relatively out of trouble, putting them on a different plane of ‘realness’ than guys like Vikernes, and then later being viewed by some as something of a novelty, like a band playing Black metal instead of being a Black metal band. I imagine that that concept will be clarified as this Mass Burial rolls onward. Long, long, long a foundational band in the whole Norwegian/90’s Black metal evolution, a deep dive into the Immortal catalogue is certainly a task, the band having ten proper records, one official live record, and then three Immortal-adjacent albums that are mostly Immortal albums released under different names. (see here –mr).