Immortal have, on this album, sacrificed any apparent musical talent they might have had in favor of blind speed. Almost everything that made them special on “Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism” is lost on this CD and the apparent obsession with speed takes center stage… The guitars are somewhat nicely played but the songs were composed poorly, having a weak song-structure, and the riffs aren’t technical or impressive at all… It’s not like ‘Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism’ was a work of musical genius either, but it certainly leaves the music on this disc coughing in it’s dust!!! The bass, too, is quite average… (except for one godly bass intro that fucking kills) there isn’t any (other) remarkable thing about them, which is a shame because Abbath really knows how to play. The vocals are Abbath’s typical rasped croak and while it does fit the music well, it gets really annoying in the long-term, I much preferred the ones on ‘Diabolical…’, which were done better, lot of people, though, really love the way Abbath sings on this album so take anything I say in this matter with a grain of salt, so to speak... In the end, I really thought of this CD as a mediocre, halfhearted experiment in speed and sans talent musically. The thick guitar sound is a plus… but too little and too late to save this accursed disc… Avoid.

Pros – Very brutal and fast, deep lyrics
Cons – Unremarkable music and song structure, annoying vocals, utterly ridiculous cover art (It’s completely obvious that Demonaz, having left Immortal because of health reasons, is NOT gonna find a job as a fashion model… ever)
Style of Music – Unremarkable Black Metal with a lot of speed and a lack of substance.
Will likely appeal to – Speed freaks, die-hard fans of the band…

Overall – Sub-par – 5/10

© 2000 sauron anarazel