9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Darkness that Embraces Immortal, January 24, 2002
`Damned in Black', Immortal's 6th studio album and follow-up to 1999's monumental `At the Heart of Winter', is a stellar release full of some of the most memorable riffs and tightest playing imaginable.
`At the Heart of Winter' saw Immortal moving in a different direction from their previous efforts. With Demonaz leaving the band as guitarist due to injury, we saw Abbath taking over and leading Immortal to a slicker, more mid-tempo sound. `Damned in Black' follows in `At the Heart of Winter's footsteps although it has been described as its angry older brother. I agree completely. It is faster, more aggressive, yet it still has very much the same feel.
Abbath's vocals are slightly different on this release, a little rougher, slightly less troll-like than on previous releases. I liked how they sounded on `At the Heart of Winter', but they are even better here. Let's just say that Popeye is in the house!
The guitar on this album has a nice, thick thrashy sound. It is a lot warmer than the razor-wire insanity that was their sound on older releases. Here it has more definition and makes the outstanding riffs stand out even more. Revel in the pompous majestic opening riff of the title track `Damned in Black'. Check out the first four riffs from `Against the Tide (In the Arctic World)', they are all absolutely brilliant! But the best riffs of the album, coupled with a headbang-worthy tempo change, are the first two of `Wrath From Above'. This is why metal is king!
The drum work also stands out very much on this release. Horgue gets a chance to show his stuff with many complex rhythms and loads blast beats. I'm not saying that this is a fast album, a lot of it is mid-paced (by black metal standards, anyway) but there are definitely some chaotic `Blizzard Beasts'-style sub-zero riffs present on this album.
As for keyboards, they are virtually nonexistent. They are so low in the mix that you can barely hear them. Not that this is a bad thing, they poke through when important and they still contribute to the overall feel of the album.
Overall this is an excellent release from Immortal. Don't be put off by the short running time of this album. Every track kills. Quality over quantity here. Would you have passed on `Reign in Blood' because it's only 30 minutes long? I don't think so. If you did go buy it immediately! `Damned in Black' came out very soon after `At the Heart of Winter' was released and it could have been just a more-of-the-same album But Immortal has taken their new sound and frozen it with elements their old, resulting in seven very strong tracks of black metal mayhem.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Immortal's heaviest album since Battles in the Noth, July 24, 2001
After having listened to Immortal's previous album's, DIBis without a doubt their most aggressive and fastest album since Battles in The North. You'll notice a thrashy sound in their music which I enjoy immensely. The album immediatelyblasts off with the track "Truimpth" and the speed and brutality never cease. Their drummer "Horgh" in my opinion is one of the top 3 drummers in Black metal music(Hellhammer,Fredrick Anderson). But in a way, DIB is across between BITN and At the Heart of winter. Immortal still plays Black Metal the way it's meant to be played, they haven'tgone soft, gone in a different direction like Emperor and Mayhemhave. If you haven't picked up DIB yet, do it now.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Immortal proves that less can be more., July 10, 2000
With Immortal's latest release, the black metal trio promptly dismisses concept of "filler", and saves only what's necessary for this 7-track LP. This offering from Abbath and the gang doesn't really contain a dull moment, and is solid from start to finish. You could almost consider this a "model album", one for all others to live up to. While a lot of black metal is much more convoluted, mixed with atmospheric elements such as keyboards, and also severely choreographed, Immortal choose not to take that path, and stick to playing basic, straight-up, guitar-bass-drums, black/thrash metal. And it sounds brilliant. What Immortal lacks in atmosphere, they make up for with sheer force and stunning riffage. Definately one of, if not THE best Immortal release thus far. Black metal fans dare not pass this one up.
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