Customer Reviews

All Shall Fall

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Abbath was recently quoted in Decibel saying: "I always knew Immortal would be back, but I was waiting for the right time to strike." Well, he could have fooled me! 2002's Sons of Northern Darkness seemed like the perfect career bookend album. In a time when the integrity of the black metal scene was in question, that record put a stamp on the genre, in effect saying: "This is how you do this." Turns out, it was simply a condensed dose of what Immortal does best, and it did a great job of keeping the fans faithful through the band's lengthy hiatus.

So after all this time, does Immortal's new offering live up to the anticipation, the hype, and the hopes caused by this legendary band resurrecting itself?

In most ways, it does. Every element from the Immortal catalogue is present on All Shall Fall: the frenzied and chaotic blasting, the melodic riffing, the unique icy tones, and the overall feeling of apocalyptic resignation in the face of nature's wrath. This raw material is molded into songs that, while not as hard hitting as those on the last two albums, immediately carry the listener over frozen landscapes, up bitter mountains, and into heart-chilling battles to the death. Given all this, one might ask what more anyone could want from an Immortal album? The answer is, nothing really. In this day and age music that truly allows the mundane to be left behind should be treasured. All Shall Fall stands tall in the sea of recent metal releases as an album that does exactly that.

Still... what took so damn long? Seven years is a long time to wait, and although All Shall Fall is an amazing record, it doesn't quite reinvent the genre or shatter the relevance of the band's past efforts. Abbath's "I" project from 2006 contained enough Immortal elements for one to wonder why it wasn't simply blackened up and released under the better-known moniker of his main band. In parallel, the writing on All Shall Fall clearly reflects some carry-over from the "I" project (such as the main riff from track 2, The Rise of Darkness).

Marketing slip-up as that may be, All Shall Fall is sure to satisfy the cravings of any fan that began salivating at news of the band's return. In an age of faux-extremes, Immortal remain true to themselves no matter what, and in return, their fans remain true to them.

OUR RATING
(4.5/5)

In response to another review, I felt that this album was not worth the wait. Six years for this? I listened to it a few times, but could never figure out what exactly it was that I didn't like about this album. But if I had to sum it up in one word, it would be: slow. I myself am a huge Immortal fan. I have purchased (not downloaded) every Immortal album from Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism to this one. This album reminds me a lot of Abbath's other project 'I'. I didn't really like that album. Wasn't into the whole catchy riffs with an almost sing song vox on some songs. Those two elements show themselves on this album, when they have never been present on any other Immortal cd, including Sons of Northern Darkness, which I find to be the easiest on the ears besides ASF. Tyrants was the weakest track on SoND to me, and this whole new album reminds me of Tyrants. I'm just bummed that Immortal didn't make their return as the brutally fast, self-titled 'holocaust metal' that they began with.

On a second note, Hordes To War is probably one of my favorite tracks of all time. That track alone makes this cd. Norden on Fire is another one that I like too, however it is much slower. Basically, the album to me sounds like all b-sides from SoND, mixed with I.

I never thought I'd write a bad review about Immortal, but here I am. It saddens me, but I don't want to be one of those guys that give this album great marks just because of who the band is. If you're looking for another Pure Holocaust, Battles in the North, or Blizzard Beasts...I don't know what to tell you. But if you dig on the 'I' sound and are a big fan of the track Tyrants, then I guess this album is for you.

But let me just say that the new Burzum album "Belus" is unbelievably amazing ;)

This is an awesome album and what black metal/Immortal is all about. Thundering riffs, lightning fast pounding drums and great lyrics/vox. Immortal always makes great music and the lyrics always make you feel like your up top of that vast mountain or glacier or in the war with them. Very great atmosphere. Awesome band, great comeback album! Can't wait to see these guys live!

When Immortal decided to call it a day after their amazing 2002 release "Sons of Northern Darkness," the metal world was shaken to its core. How could one of the best black metal bands of all time decide to quit right at the peak of their popularity? Some took comfort in knowing that the band went out on a very high note, while others remained resolute in their confidence that the band would return someday. They were right.

In 2006, the Immortal sound returned, in a way, with the release of "Between Two Worlds" by the band "I". With Abbath as the front man, and a former Immortal drummer on drums, Immortal fans, such as myself, were happy to have the band around. "Between Two Worlds" was a good album that mixed later period Immortal with a more straight forward metal approach. Songs about frosty mountainsides and winter remained, but with a slightly different sound.

Fast forward a couple more years, and Immortal reformed in order to do a few live shows, including one right here in Los Angeles. I attended this performance, and it was truly one of the best shows I have ever been to. Shortly after the tour, it was announced that the band was coming out with a new album. And the metal world rejoiced. Finally, the black metal masters were coming back.

So, what's the verdict? It's certainly positive, but I can't escape the fact that it simply is not as good as previous Immortal releases. Traces of "I" have been carried over, resulting in a slower overall tempo and a more straightforward metal approach ("Rise of Darkness" is a great example). The frosty riffs are alive and well, but they are a lot tamer now than they used to be. The biggest problem I have with this album is that many of the songs sound the same, with little differentiation between them. This is in stark contrast to previous Immortal albums such as "At the Heart of Winter" and "Sons of Northern Darkness." Each song on those two albums (the former being my favorite Immortal release), sounds dramatically different than every other song on the album, yet the end result does not sound disjointed in any way. Truly a remarkable accomplishment in this genre, especially. On "All Shall Fall," some of the songs lack memorability. Songs like "Arctic Swarm", "Norden on Fire", and "Mount North" are not bad songs, but they don't grab you like older Immortal songs, such as "Withstand the Fall of Time", "Solarfall", "One by One", "In My Kingdom Cold", and many others. I listened to these three songs on "All Shall Fall" over and over, and I couldn't remember any of them afterward. Again, it's not that these are bad songs, but they just fail to stand out.

The song that stands out the most is "Hordes of War," which is similar to "Demonium" off of "Sons of Northern Darkness" -- songs that hearken back to the sound of earlier period Immortal. Actually, "Hordes of War" reminds me of some of the songs on Bathory's "Blood Fire Death" from 1989. "Rise of Darkness" has a strong "I" sound that helps differentiate it from the other songs on the album. The title track is one of my least favorite songs on the album, but it still stands out from the others, likely due to the fact that it is the first song on the album. That leaves the last, and longest track on the album, "Unearthly Kingdom." Although slow, this is a very strong song. Definitely one of the most memorable on the album, and one of the few that you will probably want to play again after it is finished. This song could have been on "Sons of Northern Darkness" and it wouldn't have sounded out of place. Truly a great song to end the album.

A solid 4 star album. I hope Immortal stays together and continues producing high quality black metal. I like this album a lot, but I hope their next one is better.

This album is awesome with a very good production, thanks to Peter Tagtgren, is very enjoyable album to listen. The vocals and guitar playing are equally excellent, Horgh's drumming is powerful and very precise, Apollyon give a little diferent sound.

It was recorded in "Abyss Studio" and in the mystical "Grieghallen Studio" so you can imagine how good the sound of this album is. The album carries on where "Sons Of Northern Darkness" finished so basically is the continuation of that album, obviously if you liked "Sons of Northern Darkness" you are going to like this new album.

The CD cover remembers me "At the heart of winter" because of the ravens and the door to enter the dark and cold kingdom. Also the occult pic of Demonaz in page 4 give a nostalgic essence.

Great album from start to finish, very cold riffs, for some reason i know it sounds weird gives me an icy feel or winter feel. But anyways awesome album from Immortal, still their traditional sound, great atmosphere throughout the whole album. I think anyone that is an Immortal fan would love this album, great album to get into black metal also for those that arent too familiar with the genre....

couldnt have expected much more from this follow up from sons of northern darkness, kicks ass all the way through

Other people have commented that this is a slower album; this is true. Imagine if you replaced Grutle from Enslaved with Demonaz, and then asked the band to write an album that was a cross between "Sons of Northern Darkness" and "Below the Lights," only with no keyboards. This album is essentially what you'd get. It's much more melodic, but calling either bands "trendy" or "poppy" would be a misdirection of the highest caliber. Most of the songs are a few notches faster than "Tyrants" off of SoND, though they have the same general melodic, dark, and opressive mood.

I tend to look for innovation in bands as the basis for my liking an album. Is this album terribly innovative? No. The next criteria: If it's not innovative, does it execute well? The answer to this question is: fist-poundingly YES. If you enjoy the more progressive elements that have infiltrated the genre over the past decade, Immortal picked up a few of those tricks and nail it on their first try.

This album is worthy on many levels; if you're any kind of extreme metal fan, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.

Immortal's All Shall Fall is another fine piece of Metal. After Sons of Nothern Darkness, they really raised the bar quite high. Good, but not that good. This release seems like a great melting pot of all their previous releases. All the essential elements are there and the music is wonderful, of course. Norden on Fire rips! All in all, a very well produced and fully rounded attack of "grim" music. Abbath and Tagtgren are Gods.

I always had an on/off again thing with black metal over the years but over the last year I have been really following it again. For the longest time I held Emperor's 'IX Equilibrium' as the Holy Grail of black metal albums (at least from what I've listened to over the years, also reviews & what not, etc.) but recently I came across Immortal's 'All Shall Fall' & I just had to have it! Almost needless to say, I can't stop playing this disc..it's that d@mn good!!! Now I know metal fans like myself who like extreme metal have a tendency to debate over what is "real" black metal or "real" death metal but truthfully I think it can be ridiculous at times...the fact is there is so many genres & it really makes metal more interesting & gives fans something that they might find in one band & not in another. Anyway, when it comes down to it what I love about this album is very simple..it's HEAVY as all hell & is more catchy mid-tempo style not just pure speed! I'm sure a lot of metal fans might agree that the slower the music is it tends to sound heavier & that's what makes this album stand out from most black metal albums that I've heard. One thing that always bothers me is when bands focus too much on speed & not enough on just making heavy catchy tunes! Not to say speed can't be heavy but sometimes when something is too fast it just looses that thickness in the sound plus you tend to focus on the intensity & drown out anything else in the music. Well Immortal definitely mad a lean, mean beast with their long awaited return album & EVERY track is worth listening to..absolutely NO FILLER in 'All Shall Fall' & w/ Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy/Pain) returning once again at the helm as producer it's no surprise! Check it out for yourself...I'd be surprised if this doesn't become one of your instant favorites!