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Tracklist
1. All Shall Fall
2. The Rise Of Darkness
3. Hordes Of War
4. Norden On Fire
5. Arctic Swarm
6. Mount North
7. Unearthly Kingdom
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Seven years, we waited in the cold for the son's of northern darkness to return. Seven cold years with only a brief "I" to momentarily satiate the hungry and starving warriors of the black metal mountains to finally return.
Then all fell.
The sound of a cold wind heralds the unmistakable guitar tone of Abbath as the title track violently swells on the opening of the album, and re-introduces the band into battle. Immortal emerges from the forest sounding expansive, and epic as ever. Two minutes into the first song, a break down with clean-tone guitar with heavy chorus slows the pace and builds up to a double-bass groove with Abbath crooning "All Shall Fall" in the background; it sets a perfect tone for the war about to be waged.
After listening to only two songs, it was beyond certainty that All Shall Fall is one of the top 3 albums of 2009. Few black metal bands can achieve the balance of melody, technique and iniquitous brutality that is the banner of the Immortal empire; All Shall Fall is a testament to Immortal's legacy. The only thing this album doesn't come with is a massive spiked club, save the metaphorical one spilling blood all over the Scandinavian snow with dark musical warfare. All Shall Fall is a progression beyond the previous album, "Sons of Northern Darkness". Most noticeable in the guitar tones; All Shall Fall is more expansive, and perhaps with a additional degree of reverb. All Shall Fall has a number of moments that draw from the "I" album put out between Immortal releases, namely on track two, "The Rise of Darkness", but without all the solo's.
On the whole, All Shall Fall is by far the slickest, and most polished Immortal album to date, but improved technology hasn’t tarnished the classic sound; it has the metal, the thrash, the blast-beats, and the most distinguishable voice in the black-metal underworld. They went to great lengths to preserve what Immortal does best, echo the ancient winds with the cold steel of black metal. The crowning moment comes at the end of the album, with "Unearthly Kingdom". Call it Bathory worship, but Immortal and epic have been synonymous since Diabolical Full moon Mysticism, only now, one stands at the top of the snowy peak, and the rest, have fallen.
Review by: D-FLOx
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