Legendary Norwegian Black Metal band Immortal released their first full length album in almost a decade!  But, with a couple changes……we all know Demonaz was behind the scenes helping write the band’s music.  Now, he is back in the forefront as the guitarist and vocalist of the band.  In a recent interview Demonaz has stated he will be looking for a live guitarist and he will handle the vocals…..and play guitar whenever his hands feel good enough (knowing he had serious carpal tunnel issues and may occur occasionally).   Abbath was kicked out of the band after being with them since its inception (initially as a bassist, and then taking over on guitar and vocals when Demonaz bowed out when his issues persisted ).  With Abbath’s solo album released, that created an opportunity for Demonaz and Horgh to make an Immortal album.  In the same interview Demonaz also stated Abbath’s solo album was supposed to be Immortal’s next album but he used it for his own accord instead of Immortal.

I love Abbath….Immortal got me into black metal.  You can tell where I’m conflicted, right? I was in the group being very skeptical about not only the release but how Immortal would do shows.  Well, color me impressed.  The two spent a lot of time recording Northern Chaos Gods and is a great return.  It’s a heavy and grim album…nothing new you would expect from Immortal.  It has a classic Immortal sound….very raw and energetic.  Demonaz’s voice sounds amazing and is a chaotic frenzy reminiscent of his time in the band.  Peter Tagtgren played bass on the album and also recorded it.

Demonaz’s guitar skills are also up to par, to say the least.  There’s many great riffs, and melodic leads that spice up Immortal’s landmark album.  There’s no official news on a lineup (outside of Demonaz and Horgh) as far as an official bass player (Apollyn left Immortal to return to his band Aura Noir as a drummer) and how the live lineup will look as well.  In the meantime, pick up this great comeback album! It’s grim as fuck! Stay Trve!