Immortal's Early Years

As we enter the 1990s, the legendary Norwegian scene takes center stage.  After his stints in both Old Funeral and Amputation, Abbath went on to form IMMORTAL in 1990 (along with Demonaz).  They were initially a death metal band, as is evident on the 1991 self titled demo.  It wasn't until the Immortal 7" EP (also released in 1991) that they changed their style to black metal.

"The Cold Winds of Funeral Frost" is off of the self-titled 7-inch

Immortal's sound clearly owed a small debt to the sound of late 1980s and early 1990s Mayhem, but at the same time, it was a unique style.  Elements of Bathory (think Under the Sign of the Black Mark) also being present, Immortal went on the release a full-length album in 1992.  Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is one of the best early 1990s Norwegian black metal albums.  Immortal set themselves apart from the hordes of other black metal bands because they incorporated winter-themed lyrics.  Winter, cold, frost, and other climatic elements made perfect sense given Norway's harsh and unforgiving weather.

"Call of the Wintermoon" is one of Immortal's best known early songs

The big shift for Immortal in these earlier years was with the release of 1993's Pure Holocaust.  This album continued some of the stylistic elements of the material from Diabolical and the self-titled 7-inch, but at the same time, Immortal began to push the black metal style forward.  Blastbeats were featured prominently, and the overall speed was ratcheted up a notch unlike almost any other black metal band before this time.

This is "Storming Through Red Clouds and Holocaustwinds"

When Immortal released this album on the world, it truly changed the black metal landscape forever.  There had been fast black metal before (think Sarcofago, for example), but no one had put blastbeats into black metal to such a degree before.  Pure Holocaust stands, in my mind, as one of the highlights of all Norwegian black metal--indeed, of all black metal PERIOD.

With Pure Holocaust, Immortal entered a new phase in their sound.  This phase will be explored at a later time....

Discography of Immortal's Early Years:

Immortal (demo) (1991)

Immortal 7" (1991)

Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (full-length) (1992)

Pure Holocaust (full-length) (1993)

Next time: MARDUK: The Beginning