CoC : Immortal - At the Heart of Winter : Review

Immortal - _At the Heart of Winter_
(Osmose, 1999)
by: Paul Schwarz (9 out of 10)

I don't know about you, but after less than ten listens I found Immortal's last album, _Blizzard Beasts_, was a little uninteresting and most definitely a step down in quality from the excellent _Battles in the North_ or the classic _Pure Holocaust_. I thought at the time that the band might have hit a creative rut and wondered whether they would again grace my ears with music which would impress and move me as much as their earlier releases did. I shouldn't have worried. Despite losing his Doom Occulta "brother" to tendinitis, Abbath has forged on with drummer Horgh and they have made an Immortal album which not only cements the bands reputation as one of black metal's finest, but also shows that they can develop their style without losing their essence. This album abandons the path of speed which Immortal have been travelling at increasing rates on since _Pure Holocaust_ and opts on the whole for a slightly more relaxed pace. There are still blasts and speed, believe me, but the band are utilizing it where they were before coming close to relying on it. _AtHoW_ is also more music-focused; there are more riffs and they are given more time and space to breathe from the vocals as well as being astoundingly well-pronounced by Peter Tagtgren's slick production. The album has a dark feel and captures, through the combination of riffs, drums, vocals and sparingly used keyboards, a chilling atmosphere which fits their lyrical concept and fantasy themes effortlessly. The symbiosis is successful: the album takes the enraptured listener into the "Heart of Winter", into a world of Immortal's own creation.

(article published 19/5/1999)

CHATS
5/19/1999	P Schwarz	Immortal: We Worship Winter

ALBUMS
11/13/2009	J Smit	9	Immortal - All Shall Fall
7/3/2002	P Schwarz	10	Immortal - Sons of Northern Darkness
5/25/2000	A Wee	8	Immortal - Damned in Black
4/9/1997	S Hoeltzel	8	Immortal - Blizzard Beasts

GIGS
7/3/2002	P Schwarz	Immortal / Hypocrisy	Northern Darkness Descends
7/3/2002	P Azevedo	Immortal / Hypocrisy / Holocausto Canibal	The Night After the Night Before
8/12/2000	M Noll	Deicide / Immortal / Cannibal Corpse / Marduk / Vader / Dark Funeral / Hate Eternal / Vomitory	There's No Mercy in Satan's Oven
6/7/1998	P Schwarz	Immortal / Angelcorpse / Desecration	London's Underworld Holocaust