Search - Immortal :: At the Heart of Winter

Immortal's 5th album: New style with more talent.

Emperial Black Wizard | Needham, MA | 10/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is Immortals 5th studio album. When I put it in my CD player and "Withstand the Fall of Time" came on I was instantly shocked with the bands new cleaner style. Their previous 4 albums were known for being very raw and having speed like no other band. With this album it has been toned down a little bit, but don't get me wrong they are still the amazing group they were before and keep their ice cold winterlike theme(which I love.)
With the release of this album, sad memories were brought back to me. Erik, Immortal's amazing drummer (who I cannot picture the band without) killed himslef sometime during the "Battles in the North" and "Blizzard Beasts" time period. He killed himself because he thought the band was getting to big and famous. I did not agree with him at the time, but, with the release of this album, I understand what he had meant. I still don't agree with him though because I that with their new style they have been able to progress as musicians. In a way I blame this album for his death even though he had been dead well before this album had been started and even before "Blizzard Beasts."
Any way this album is great. It keeps the amazing speed that Immortal's previous albums had, but they aren't as raw as before and have a cleaner style. This album is amazing and should be in every Black Metal fans collection. This album is almost a new begining for the band and is MANDATORY for any Immortal fan. Be sure to check out "Pure Holocaust" to check out Erik's great contribution to the band when he was still around, and if you enjoy the bands new style check out their newest release "Damned in Black" which is also very good, but it seems that they have abandoned their claasic winter theme which I was sad to see. I hear that Immortal is working on another album right now on Nuclear Bast records which I am very excited about."