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).

Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is the Immortal debut, a 35 minute-ish display of competent yet high quality Black metal from that time where Black metal was crystallizing into what we would generally recognize it as today. You know, the time where every Black metal band was playing Black metal except for Mayhem, the band that was laying claim to inventing second wave Black metal? Yeah, back then. Released in 1992, Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is six tracks and an intro featuring founding members Abbath and Demonaz, both surnamed Doom Occulta, who would be the driving forces behind the band to this very day through a series of twists and turns and other members.

Darkthrone’s A Blaze in the Northern Sky is widely acknowledged as being the first actual Norwegian Black Metal record, and Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism follows closely the pattern it established. That cold, grim, necro sound permeates every second of this album, and it is peak early 90’s Black metal. “The Call of the Wintermoon” is about as classic a Black metal track as there is, and album closer “A Perfect Vision of the Rising Northland” is the first appearance of elements that will become Immortal standards, including that slower, low key almost acoustic opening, a songwriting trait that will carry on all the way to the band’s early 2000’s releases like Sons of Northern Darkness.

Much of the album takes place in-between said classic track and said foundational track, and in true early 90’s Norwegian fashion, it’s good stuff, but largely indistinguishable as component parts. There’s something that is always going to be cool about hearing this kind of proto-genre entry from a genre legend, picking out the trappings of the genre to be alongside the things the band just did naturally. That slower down tempo passage that Immortal would include in two or three songs every album is apparently who the band was when they were just starting out, as that passage occurs multiple times on this album, nestled beside things that you can tell were notes from Vikernes and Euronymous and Fenriz and Culto, the guys who had already figured out what Norwegian Black Metal was supposed to be. When you look back at the genesis of a genre or scene, it’s always worthwhile to take a minute and survey the land, taking time to see where we’ve been, and maybe think about where we’re going next. Immortal may not have known where they were going in the beginning, but Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism was certainly the map they would follow.

The cover image captures some more of that early Norwegian awesomeness, when guys lined up for pictures spitting fire or clutching spiked weapons in filthy basements or forests, an aesthetic that I personally always get the warm fuzzies over.

The first releases by the core Norwegian bands are wildly different from what the bands would become known for, but Immortal may be the one that stuck most closely to its origin. Emperor and Darkthrone and Mayhem (100% counting Deathcrush as the first album here) and Immortal would all take strides from their first albums to become who they were going to be known as, but definitely drew from those first steps. Immortal’s first album also establishes the overall Immortal lyrical content, this band claiming the mantle of being the Norwegians that wrote songs about ice and frozen solitude and the power and majesty of winter, ideas that would be expounded upon over the next record and then projected into the eternal future of the band and its various members and their projects.  

Overall, Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is not the most exciting or noteworthy of the debuts from the Norwegian scene, but it is a good portent of things to come, as well as a suitable and capable announcement of the band to the Metal scene. Arriving not with the fire and frenzy of some of their contemporaries, and often as a result seen as something lesser, more casual, Immortal also established something that is perhaps their greatest quality with this album: consistency. A solid and even-keel listen, this album does not disappoint, but also signals the coming of better things.