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Immortal

Immortal Live in Chicago, 2003

Review by Mike Korn

From the frozen wasteland of Blashrykh (or Norway, at least) came Immortal, the most intriguing and "different" of the bands on the Metal Gods tour. I was really looking forward to them, and they did not disappoint. These dudes create some of the most epic, majestic sounding heavy metal ever, and what's more incredible is that they recreate it live with no drop off in quality or sound. Abbath's guitar work is absolutely unique and creates an atmosphere of ancient frozen power. At the same time he handles the demanding riffing, he also unleashes his grim, troll-like vocals, sounding like Lemmy with a mouthful of gravel.

The visual aspect of black metal (and heavy metal in general) is very important, and Immortal did not neglect it. Encrusted head to foot in spiked leather, sporting their trademark black and white "corpse paint" and whipping their long black hair violently, they look like they had just ridden out of Mordor. Drummer Horgh could give Ralf Scheepers a go in a tussle...he's a big, tough-looking dude. Abbath's crowd control abilities reminded me of Saruman commanding the orcs in "Lord of the Rings". The band blasted through selections both old and new, with "One on One" and "Tyrants" from the recent "Sons of Northern Darkness" being highlights and also a hell-raising version of "Battles in the North" that may just have given Chicago its first vision of true black metal majesty, Norwegian style! All hail Immortal!
 

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2003 Year Book Volume 3 at https://garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2003-and-2004/.
 
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