666sharon666 Damned in Black sees the Immortal line-up return to a three-piece with the addition of Iscariah on bass, making this the first Immortal album that the instrument wasn't played by frontman Abbath.

Damned in Black sort of continues with the black/thrash metal sound of the previous album At the Heart of Winter but in a more direct manner. The songs are shorter again and running time of the album isn't even a full forty minutes, so it's more like the standard Immortal affair of the first four albums in all but sound. I'd say that the real difference to At the Heart of Winter is that the thrash elements are even more pronounced this time. I'd even go so far as to say that Damned in Black is blackened thrash metal rather than thrash influenced black metal. The album is not as strong overall as either At the Heart of Winter or it's follow-up Sons of the Northern Darkness though, but all in all Damned in Black is another high quality Immortal release, possibly one of the more underrated ones along with Blizzard Beasts. Wrath From Above, Triumph and the title track are all particularly great.

Attribution: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/immortal-damned-in-black-t3701.html

Warthur Recorded hot on the heels of At the Heart of Winter, Damned In Black continues that album's dabbling in thrash metal influences and the evolution of their new blackened thrash sound. To be honest, I can't say I find it as compelling this time around as I did with the preceding album; it comes across as a grab-bag of ideas which were rejected from At the Heart of Winter, and whilst it's an entertaining and engaging listen - really, Immortal don't make outright bad albums - it's probably the Immortal album I return to the least. At the end of the day, it just makes me want to go back and listen to At the Heart of Winter instead.

metalmillennium The first album of the new millennium for Immortal, and after the amazing "At The Heart Of Winter" I am ready to do battle once again with the unholy forces of evil. They have added a bassist, Iscariah, so Abbath can concentrate on all the guitar work, and besides that, the line-up has stayed constant. Demonaz still does all the written lyrical work and handles all of the financial dealings, etc. of the band. (We miss you in the music though Demonaz!)

Anyways, to start things off, I must say that the production on this album is top notch. Everything is recorded almost perfectly. The drums are thunderous to say the least (especially the bass drum), the guitar is low and crunchy and Abbath has a little more bass to his raspy voice. So with all the aspects there as usual, the songs don't lack anything either. Immortal has continued to work with the sound from the last album that projected them to greater heights, but they also use some more brutal sounds as well. Horgh has improved yet again from the last album and his drumming is the best I have ever heard it. His double bass has gotten faster and more precise and he stays locked with the guitar work thoughout the whole album. Abbath's guitar work has improved as well, and plays a little faster riffs on this album. Most of the clean guitar is gone, with the exception of a small part in the song "Damned In Black," but other songs such as "The Darkness That Embrace Me" and "Wraith From Above" make up for it.

Immortal have also used other atmospheric sounds on this album that add to the songs very well and give them more attention. What else can i say? This cd dominates my cd player. They have done it again!