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Abbath and Demonaz returned for the second chapter of the Immortal saga sans original drummer, Armagedda, leaving Abbath to fulfill the percussion duties on this record. (Erik Brødreskift, despite being included in the album’s artwork did not join until after it was recorded) Things couldn’t have turned out better.
Simply put, Pure Holocaust is more than a mastery of black metal. This is an essential listening experience. Each song, in spite of their relatively short duration (around 4-5 minutes on average) is an epic. If you close your eyes while listening to this album, it’s impossible not to imagine a demonic horde sweeping across the rugged Norwegian mountains. Or is that just me?
Where the riffs still burned with a touch of death metal’s fire on the debut, any traces of that have been ‘Frozen By Icewinds’, the guitar of Demonaz evoking a blizzard capable of freezing hell. His lyrics, while not in perfect English, are legible enough to compliment the music perfectly, and only help to add to the atmosphere of what has been tagged ‘Holocaust Metal’.
Abbath shines in all of his roles. As a vocalist, he narrates these tales of winter, war and darkness with a formidable reptilian croak which may be the most evil in metal history. More important is that is sounds utterly credible and is essential to this albums success. As bassist and drummer, he creates a cavernous backdrop which while powerful, allows plenty of room for Demonaz’s riffs to generate this album’s remarkable atmosphere.
It is hard to pick a favourite selection from this tracklist, so I won’t, with the full expectation that you’re already on the way to buy it.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Unsilent storms In The North Abyss |
| 2. A Sign For the Norse Hordes To Ride |
| 3. The Sun No Longer Rises |
| 4. Frozen By Icewinds |
| 5. Storming Through Red Clouds And Holocaustwinds |
| 6. Eternal Years On The Path To The Cemetary Gate |
| 7. As The Eternity Opens |
| 8. Pure Holocaust |
: 33.47
| Buy other Immortal albums |
