IMMORTAL — Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (review)

IMMORTAL — Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism album cover Album · 1992 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Warthur
Of all the core bands of the Norwegian black metal scene, Immortal is the one people usually turn to when they want to make the whole affair look silly - and it's usually the Call of the Wintermoon music video people use for that purpose. Whilst writing the band off as goofy LARPers would be a stupid thing to do, it is the case that they seem to be a bit less Serious Business and have a bit more fun with what they do than the likes of, say, Burzum or Mayhem.

Take, for example, Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism, their debut album. From the very beginning, Immortal's lyrical focus is not on screaming about Satan or slamming Christianity or proclaiming that only death is real or being all RRRR I HATE THE WORLD; whilst the lyrics are not all as directly and unambiguously based around their homebrewed fantasy world of Blashyrkh, the very Blashyrkh-like themes of cold, winter, sorcery and dark spirits are all present and correct. Musically speaking, the band work in a few acoustic guitar passages here and there to provide a more varied mood than your typical black metal album - and the overall atmosphere of the piece is more like a really brutal fantasy movie soundtrack than a kvlt manifesto against Christianity or whatever.

Sure, maybe by getting in good production and a varied sound on this album (and donning wizard hats in the music video) Immortal weren't playing along with the whole "black metal is serious business" idea which the likes of Euronymous were pushing at the time. But when the results are this fun, I'm more than happy to go along with them.
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