Immortal - All Shall Fall (2009)

Immortal returns! Sad to say it, this album PALES in comparison to their previous effort, and is sadly a return to the open chorded guitar style of their earlier albums. I miss the galloping Bathory-inspired riffage of "Sons of Northern Darkness", Damned in Black" and "At the Heart of Winter". The galloping, syncopated staccato riffing is sadly lacking on this record, and in my mind, was one of the things that set them apart from everyone else. Maybe Abbath has developed some tendinitis of carpal tunnel that prevents him from playing in the same style he used to. Maybe he suffered an injury like Demonaz did. Did Abbath even play guitar on this? Don't know. Not to say this is a bad record, it isn't. Quite the contrary. It's damn great. The reversion to the old (more typical) BM guitar technique is a tad counter-intuitive and disappointing. I thought they'd carry on the "Sons" canon, but whatever. Abbath is still the best BM vocalist ever. 3.666 out of 5 shitty ass B.C. Rich guitars