Customer Reviews

Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism

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

 

 

This album was one of the first Black Metal releases I bought (Summer of 1993), and to this day, I can still listen to it and not get tired. There is a certain charm in this recording that grabs me & doesn't let go until the album finishes with the epic "A Perfect Vision of the Rising Northland". Alot of people have said that this album is reminiscent of early Bathory, but I don't really hear it. As opposed to the hyperspeed holocaust metal Immortal pumped out on their later albums, DFM is for the most part slow to midpaced with extremely grim vocals. Abbath Doom Occulta's voice was the best on this record...so vicious & rasping. I have yet to find one person who agrees with me, but this is Immortal's finest piece of work, and an absolute MASTERPIECE in the saga of Black Metal.

What better choice for the inaugural "first review" than the first album from perhaps my favorite metal band of all time. Their sound has certainly evolved over the years, making the transition from raw, unpolished black metal to a more produced, professional sound. Some black metal fans feel this goes against the beliefs and sounds of true black metal, but I say f*ck that. I don't classify the music I listen to into neat little labels like "Power Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal etc." Immortal takes the best of many different genres, death, thrash, and a touch of harmonic, and mixes it in a big pot with black as its base. What we get is a distinct and original sound that has inspired countless metal heads (me being one of them)

This CD was released in 1992 and although not their greatest, is an important milestone in their careers. It was their first CD to be produced by Osmose records; a company they would stay with for many years to come. The sound is very unpolished and garage-like, but the sound is discernable and the guitar is clear throughout the album. These dark, romantic songs convey an intensity that very few rock or metal bands can hope to match. The Norwegian influence that carries throughout their career is demonstrated here, with songs such as "Cryptic Winterstorms" and A Perfect Vision of the Rising Northland."

You won't find amazing guitar solo's on this CD, as that is not what this style is about. The solid blast of the guitar and the steady rhythm of the drums and bass, coupled with Abbath's signature vocals, create an atmosphere of ice and frost. After spinning this CD numerous times and taking into consideration the nuances of old vs. new black metal, I have decided to give this CD a 7/10 rating on the basis that this is classic black metal and would eventually lead to some of the greatest "hybrid metal" material ever released (all in my opinion of course)

This cd is not the immortal that exist now. The lyrics have a similar message but this is much more black metal. This cd has a more atmospheric feel through using acoustic guitars. Its also considerably slower than other releases but its still brutal. One of the best songs i've heard is the final track which spans over 7 minutes. Buy this before any immortal cd because it shows you where they started from and its a great release.

The 1992 debut album from Immortal, purveyors of their unique blend of Norwegian black/death metal for the past 10 years and seven albums.

DFM is an ambitious debut, with longer, more complicated songs than the short, furious blasts that their subsequent albums consisted of. The finale here, "A perfect vision of the rising northland," even stretches to near 10 minutes. There are also several acoustic and keyboard passages dispersed throughout the album.

Overall though, this is your basic hard and angry metal, with little melody or flash. It's a consistently interesting listen, and those into heavy guitar will enjoy it. This was a important early album in the development of the Norwegian scene and should be a must for Immortal fans as it does contain several classics, including "Call of the Wintermoon" and "Blacker than Darkness". However, this album is not the place for those wanting to see what this band is all about, better to check out the latest "Sons of Northern Darkness". If you're building an Immortal collection, wait to get this one and Battles in the North until last as I think all of the other albums are stronger than these two.

After having listened to allof Immortal's albums except for Pure Holocaust, Diabolicalis their slowest album. But it is still grim, raw, and powerful early Immortal. The vocals kind of sound like Darkthrone's Fenris to me, but the melodies are much more heavier than Darkthrone. I have only been listening to B.M. for a month, but I'm totally hooked. This album I definitely recommend for any B.M. fan.

Immortal is a band that you either love or hate. Some people love their consistent and unwavering support of the original raw, grim black metal sound. Others hate them because of their slightly corny image and weapon waving. No matter what way you look at Immortal though, there is no way around their influence on the scene.
Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is their first full length offering and features the two founding members Demonaz and Abbath as well as Armegedda beating the skins. The record is the band's first journey into the mythical realm of Blashyrkh. The record invokes images of icy mountains, and windswept plains where forces unknown to man still reign supreme. It is clear that the main goal of this record was creating an atmospheric and cold record very much in the vein of Bathory and the likes of Celtic Frost. The atmosphere is highlighted by the use of acoustic sections and other atmospheric interludes often vaguely reminiscent of later era Emperor and the melodic Black Metal uprising. Do not be mistaken though, these interludes are just that and do not form the core of the sound, unlike the melodic Black Metal offerings of later years. The track that exemplifies this the most is the album's closing track: 'A Perfect Vision Of The Rising Northland'.

The drumming is used quite effectively to highlight the music and ranges from death-metal rhythms to an occasional foray into a very rock'n roll kind of sound. The traditional black metal blast beats make a careful entry on this record but are certainly not as prevalent as on later Immortal records. The guitar sound is not quite the wailing, hypnotic shriek that many of the old school Black Metal bands enthralled us with, rather it is more of a Death Metal sound, which is not at all surprising considering that the band members' first steps in music were in the Death Metal genre.

The production is surprisingly crisp and clear for what was then quite an underground release. All of the instruments are clearly discernible although they do seem to be a bit overpowered by the vocals on occasion. This does not detract from the overall experience though.

Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is a classic release, which should be a part of any serious metal collection. It lays a thick foundation for Immortal's exploration of the realm of Blashyrkh and manages to create a cold and grim atmosphere without overdoing it and with seemingly natural ease. It is not as fast as ferocious as the later releases but as I said before this is more than made up for by the sheer coldness of the sound.

9/10

I dont know what most of these reviewers are talking about, heres what this CD is, and im right: Basically this CD sounds like the first 2 Satyricon CDs and Battles in the north combined. The vocals are not like the newer immortal. Where the new immortals vocals, (especially on battles in the north), have less reverb and he has that weird voice that nobody else can do, this CD sounds alooot like Satyr on 'the shadowthrone', and thats a very good thing. I mean, you can tell its not satyr, but the style is the same and Abbath stretches out his screams etc. In other words, the best vocals of any immortal CD in my opinion. The guitars sound a little like 'blizzard beasts', which i hate, cause i think blizzard beasts is crap, that whole death metal vibe doesnt fit with immortal, cause immortal is at their best when theyre either making really epic music (a.k.a all songs related to blashyrkh, or sons of northern darkness) or they are making cold old school black metal, this CD is the latter. The drums sound like horgh, which is good i guess, they sound professional, unlike abbath playing on battles in the north. Oh and by the way i think battles in the north is a masterpiece, so comments comparing this CD to that are all compliments. Abbath sings kinda fast on some of the tracks, also in a death metal way, but that doesnt annoy me. His voice is the best part of the CD. But most importantly, i mentioned the Satyricon because unlike any other immortal CD,( i guess sons of northern darkness was atmospheric, but this is.. 'evil atmospheric' you could say) this CD is atmospheric as hell. There are acoustic guitars (satyricon), and because of the vocals and some solos and odd riffs, this is definitely the kind of CD that takes you away, like dark medievil times exactly. So i think this CD, battles in the north and sons of northern darkness are my favorite immortal cds, but i want to get pure holocaust, im sure its good. Good luck, i hope you like it.

Since this was my first Immortal cd, I figured I should review this one first as well. Although I would agree that their later stuff was better, this album shows Immortal's roots a bit more and it is still an awesome cd. The production isn't fantastic but thats never been a negative factor for me with black metal. The songs are all great and after listening to this cd you want to just keep on going by listening to another of one of their amazing albums. Over time, Immortal has become one of my all time favorite bands. Their lyrics are in my opinion are alot more intelligent than some other black metal groups out there and their muscianship is incredible.

The album begins with the obligatory atmospheric "intro" which is sort of a tiring standard in heavy metal music. For a style as direct in intent as black metal, it probably would have been more effective to just commence with the definitive Call of the Wintermoon.

A good reason to buy this album is the amazing vocals. Abbath really gives a lot here, and this album will reward anyone who wants to hear pure and intense shrieking.

The acoustic guitar parts don't work here for me. Nothing against clean guitar in general, but it's hard to explain why it rubs me the wrong way on DFM. On the other hand, as these parts are basically arpeggios on the thick strings, they undeniably evoke a very dark, chilly soundscape.

On the whole there are no bad songs, but the album could have used a little more energy. It is solid, and it displays the black metal sound before the genre completely rebelled and separated itself from death metal trappings.

Unlike the rest except for burzum...Immortal is another pick of my as a amazing black metal band and me being some one who can't stand black. So i quess their that good. Realy good production too, i might add. Worth checking out ! Recommended.