Battles In The North

Immortal | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 21, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Osmose Productions
• ASIN: B000EDWLK0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,614 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Battles in the North

2. Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms

3. Descent Into Eminent Silence

4. Throned By Blackstorms

5. Moonrise Fields of Sorrow

6. Cursed Realms of the Winterdemons

7. At The Stormy Gates of Mist

8. Through the Halls of Eternity

9. Circling Above in Time Before Time

10. Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If ice could speak its cries of sorrow, April 30, 2004

By 

A. Jardine "Midgard Jardin" (Washington, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battles in the North (Audio CD)

This freezing, ice cold album is way beyond what I thought it was! I knew it was not going to disappoint, but it exceeded all expectations. Every song is colder than the last, vokills exploding and the guitars send my spine to frost! The pics are repated throughout the pagelet tho, but they all kick ass anyway. Listening and looking at the album make me think about traveling to Antartica and getting lost in the wilderness of icy death

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...don't judge the book by its cover. ;-), December 5, 2003

By 

M. T. Chelmowski (Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battles in the North (Audio CD)

Come forth demonized
Under the banner of
Blashyrkh we ride....

...and ride they do. The album opens with a mighty blow in the listener's face and never stops pummeling you into submission. The third release by the Doom Occulta brothers, Demonaz and Abbath is probably their most aggressive record to date. Incidentally the title it carries was supposed to be the title of their first release but that was changed before release to a more fitting title, I'm sure you will agree that this record fits the title of 'Battles In The North' better than the first release. The album is not quite as cold and dark as 'Pure Holocaust', it does however, more than make up for this in pure energy and aggression.

The sound is that of a rusty knife, granted it is not quite as rusty as Darkthrone but it is certainly no compromise but a conscious choice on the part of Immortal. Hyperspeed blastbeats underline the incessant and furious riffing and make sure that you know that Battles In The North are no skirmish but a full on frontal assault on anything standing in Blashyrkh's path. The production is slightly murky and the instruments often blend into a chaotic sound but this does not detract from the experience of the album. To many people this is the highlight of Immortal's back catalogue. Not in the least due to the pure aggression and hate seeping from every nook and cranny of the record. And certainly thanks to what is possibly Immortal's greatest single tune i.e. 'Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)'. This particular tune cunningly manages to blend the mid-tempo Immortal sound with wonderfully atmospheric sections and in doing so creates a true anthem for the imaginary world of Blashyrkh.

I have said this about 'Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism' and 'Pure Holocaust' and there is no way to work around this once again: Immortal manages to create an unparalleled atmosphere without reverting to the often cheesy gothic esthetic of later Black Metal acts. While we are on the subject of cheesy I do have to point out that this album is probably the highpoint of the band's shenanigans with weapons, makeup and spikes that we all love to hate. Just look through the artwork and some occasionally cheesy lyrics and what you will get is an earnest band whose sound and dedication is I dare say unmatched in the Black Metal scene up until this day. No thrills, no frills just an all out war in an imaginary realm.

If you are planning on expanding your metal collection I could not honestly recommend whether 'Pure Holocaust' or 'Battles In The North' would be the album to go for (if you were to buy only one). The first is cold and grim the latter is just aggressive and wicked. Being the spineless wimp that I am, I would seriously have to say: Get both!

9/10

P.S. I wonder if the World Wildlife Fund would be interested in contracting them as a new mascot instead of the panda ;-)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely classic, September 5, 2004

By 

Karuṇā (Heidelberg, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battles in the North (Audio CD)

wow, a classic, spine-busting assault of scandinavian black metal that will leave no doubt in your mind (if you have any now) why people disrespect dimmu and cradle of filth... relentless, demonic drumming and insane riffing from beginning to end, along with the gravelly semi-growl of old, classic black metal (but bearable, unlike mayhem's atila on dmds...) i looked for this album forever, and i'm not disappointed at all... definitely required listening. pick it up while you can!

however, no props for the album art, heh. :) but it's all about the music.... hail!