IMMORTAL - NORTHERN CHAOS GODS (2018)

On a bi-colored black and white vinyl released on Nuclear Blast and limited to 500 copies. Holy Blashyrkh this was great!

Remember when I read on Blabbermouth that Abbath wasn't part of Immortal anymore. Another thing I also remember reading was that Immortal would still continue on with Demonaz the original and former guitarist (1991-97) on vocals. But not only that he would return playing guitar once again. Guess that everyone knows about his health issues kept him from playing with the band. He was still a key figure in Immortal after that and continued writing the lyrics.

Must admit that I was highly skeptical to this Immortal but still being very curious how they would sound like without Abbath. He was a certainly a very charismatic frontman, some might not like his antics on and off stage, but his vocals were a huge part of the Immortal sound for me.

My expectations was either it’s either amazing or utter shit. Didn’t think that I would buy the album but if I did I wanted to hear the entire Northern Chaos Gods album before buying it. I try to keep a high standard in my collection and this would have been a wildcard. Then they released the title track Northern Chaos Gods about 2 months ago on streaming services also on a 7" vinyl. It blew me away how great it sounded and immediately pre-ordered the LP because I wanted to hear the rest of this album.

They released the song Mighty Ravendark just a few days before the release day of the album. Even if I wanted to wait for the LP to arrive I held out for approx 5 hours before listening to it... Amazing song sure it’s very reminiscent of previous Immortal songs but probably my favorite on the entire album.

The new Northern Chaos Gods record sounds like an Immortal album. If you wanted it to sound like a follow up to Blizzard Beasts (1997) the last time Demonaz played guitar on a Immortal album you’re however going to be disappointed.

Sure all the old Immortal lyrical references are there throughout the entire album there's Blashyrkh, Grim, Ice, Might, Battles, Raven realms, Mountains etc. Which is of course what probably most fans want anyway and also me. But there’s a very thin line between it being too much, however they managed to pull it off without it sounding like a parody of themselves.

Great production in The Abyss Studio with longtime producer Peter Tägtgren who they worked with since At The Heart Of Winter (1999). He also play bass on the album and yes I'm aware that All Shall Fall (2009) was partly recorded at Grieghallen. The vocals by Demonaz are also great and the guitar is excellent at most times but not perfected and I would have liked some more great guitar solos. Horgh does a stellar performance as always.

8 songs in 42 min is a perfect formula and format for Immortal. A perfect number of songs and length in my opinion. The Northern Chaos Gods album is great throughout but with a few personal highlight songs like: Mighty Ravendark; Where Mountains Rise; Called To Ice; Grim And Dark and Gates To Blashyrkh.

Sure it's very early to have a real perspective on Northern Chaos Gods among the 8 other Immortal albums. Well I can say for certain it’s not a new Pure Holocaust (1993) or Battles In The North (1995) even if I don’t think anyone expected that.

In the end a very solid record that probably will make my top-9 albums of 2018.