At the Heart of Winter

Artist: Immortal
Label: Osmose Productions
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD

UPC: 017533193024
EAN: 0017533193024
ASIN: B00002JV0I

Release Date: 1999-12-07

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Tracks:

Withstand the Fall of Time
Solarfall
Tragedies Blows at Horizon
Where Dark and Light Don't Differ
At the Heart of Winter
Years of Silent Sorrow

Customer Reviews:

please help urgent!.......2004-01-13

i want to get into this band but all i have heard from them is the thirty second samples that this site provides. yet i am amazed from what i have heard. my question is though,
DO THESE GUYS HAVE GUITAR SOLOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF SO THEN I AM HOOKED. FOR SOME REASON I CANT GET INTO BANDS THAT DON'T SOLO.
SOMEONE PLEASE WRITE A RESPONSE TELLING ME IF THEY SOLO!
WHOEVER DOES TELL ME I WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL

Grim and cold black metal..........2002-10-14

I became a fan along with a friend a while back while searching through my brother's CD case. We found this, thought it looked cool, so we popped it in my boombox. The only black metal we knew of back then were Emperor, but we loved them to death, so obviously we enjoyed 'At...' This album was a major push into the world of black metal for my friend and I. I now own a multitude of black metal albums, yet this still seems to be one of my favorites. Also, its the only Immortal CD other than 'Sons..' than I can find! I find it incredible how these songs can be quite repetitive and still I can listen to each second of every song. I believe its because of the incredible atmosphere that was created with this album. I mean just listen to the all out beauty of Solarfall. The crunchy cold guitar riff, coupled with the distorted bass, gargled vocals, and insane drumming create a winterland of metal. Its really hard to explain, so please, do yourself a favor and check this one out!
The Band-
Abbath, guitars, bass, synthesizers, and vocals- I give Abbath incredible credit for being able to pick up guitar and synth duites as well as bass. Demonaz caught some sort of illness sadly that restrained him from playing the guitar. He still writes lyrics for Immortal though. I believe with this album Immortal found an incredible style of their own, since Abbath creates most of the material written nowadays. I am glad more clean guitar is being incorporated with Immortal's music. Abbath also creates some very cool keyboard lines as well, like those on Solarfall and the title track. Hail Abbath!
Horgh, drums and percussion- Horgh is one of the standouts of this album. His drumming isn't as fast as it is on 'Sons..', but it still fits the music perfectly and adds even more to that atmosphere I've been talking about. His percussive drums sound pretty cool too.

At The Heart of Winter is a perfect addition to any black metal collection, and probably should be in everyone's. Plus, it's a great starter CD for new black metal fan, because it isn't an all out attack on the senses, which many black metal bands try to do.

A new fan of the almighty Sons Of Northern Darkness!.......2002-05-13

The first music I heard from Immortal was the latest release "Sons Of Northern Darkness", and I was instantly hooked! I promptly picked up "At The Heart Of Winter", and, after hearing others in their catalog, regard this as their second greatest release. The music is varied and interesting to listen to (unlike Battles In The North...sorry guys!) with awesome riffs all over the place! It's been a while since I've been this excited about a band and am in awe of the power they incorporate into their playing. Although there are only 6 tracks, there is not a single bad song on here. You don't have to be a fan of so-called "Black Metal" (I'm not!) to love this album. I'm sure it will be one of my favorite CD's that I bought this year (and I buy a lot of music). Great artwork too! A must-have for the collection of any fan of real metal!

An Immense Norwegian Masterpiece.......2002-03-06

Speaking specifically of Norway, there are so many classic and vital Black Metal acts that dominated the field throughout the 90's - Dark Throne, Emperor, Satyricon, Mayhem, and of course Immortal. There's no denying that Immortal has been around practically since the beginning of Black Metal's cold-hearted Scandinavian reign, and despite being a source of endless debate over their lyrics, they've remained uncompromising and unwavering on their wintry path to domination.
But more important than all that is how Immortal transformed themselves into more of a profound Black Metal force than they ever were - especially with the release of "At The Heart Of Winter", and strangely doing so with musical elements that were not typically associated with Norwegian Black Metal. As it seems, just prior to the new millennium, many of the genre's high profile acts were looking for outside inspiration to inject new life into what they were considering a stale environment. Most fans discovered that Satyricon, Emperor, Mayhem, Tormentor, and a few others added surprising elements to their trademark formulas - some with good results, and others... well... ahem. But, when the almighty Immortal found themselves progressing, it was simply brilliant.
First off, to ease disciples of true Black Metal, Immortal's core sound is still here. The discordant minor-key guitars are still emanating pure evil and still give the listener mental images of northern mountains, icy fjords, haunted forests, and heathen ruins. But carefully intertwined within most of the tracks are riffs that, if it would not be for the tremendous pace of Horgh's drums, would be considered extremely creative Heavy Metal masterworks. There are even excerpts of lush and melodic guitar flourishes that go even further to transport the listener to the majestic icy northland, especially in "Withstand The Fall Of Time" and "Solarfall", where Iscariah's bass takes flight from the riffs to create melodically haunting and intense dynamics. The only thing that the hardcore Black Metal fiend will likely disprove of is the slower pace of some of the tracks, although on these occasions it works wonders to accentuate the mysterious atmosphere they've created. Despite how far Immortal took their sound on this album, their music and image still has "a special, individual identity and feeling" as they have said themselves. No matter where they've taken their sound, their main inspirations of Bathory, Possessed and Celtic Frost are still eminent as their lifeblood.
Another breath-taking aspect of the album is the amazing cover. The band was given a budget to commission a painting for the album, which was a twist because Immortal are notorious for posing on their covers themselves. The final product came out beautifully and was the perfect imagery to complement Immortal's music.
Much has been inferred concerning this album's direction since it was Immortal's first without Demonaz. Much of those criticisms are unfounded, as Abbath has made it clear that Demonaz is still very much a member of Immortal, albeit a "ghost member" due to his diminished role (he still contributes lyrics and serves guidance and direction since he can no longer play guitar). And even though Immortal took such a drastic turn with "At The Heart Of Winter" they immediately began infusing more of their older sound back into the mix on "Damned In Black" and beyond.

A music fan from Ca. U.S.A........1999-10-11

This album is truly a masterpiece. Immortal has goneback to their heavy-metal roots. The songs are long and not complex as their previousalbums were. Different direction, not as fast as their older albums, but stillunmistakable Immortal. I trulyrecommend this album.

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