Send "Immortal " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Like it or not, when it comes to Immortal, their image has always preceded them. Most metal fans speak of the Norwegian band with reverence, and deservedly so, but to those nowhere near as well schooled in the history of black metal, Immortal is more commonly known as the panda-faced, axe-wielding fellas from one of the more whimsical Photoshop memes to ever hit the internet. While the pure hilarity of animated gifs of Abbath and Demonaz fighting over a Tootsie Pop is undeniable (even metal fans fully acknowledge how silly their genre can get at times), the actual music the band has produced since the early 1990s cannot be ignored. While nowhere near as innovative as Burzum, as complex as Emperor, as experimental as Ulver, or as primitive as Darkthrone, Immortal has stubbornly stuck to the template set by such albums as Pure Holocaust and Battles in the North, to the point now where extreme metal has advanced so much that their deceptively straightforward approach can sound passé in comparison.But there’s something to be said about the old metal guard, the reliable standbys we can count on for familiar sounding records. Like Motörhead, Napalm Death, and Cannibal Corpse, we know exactly what to expect from Immortal, and although their groundbreaking years are well behind them, the promise of yet another slab of grim, frostbitten tales from the fictional realm of Blashyrkh was impossible for many worldwide to resist when it was announced that the band would be putting out its first studio album in seven years. And if familiarity is what you want, All Shall Fall will not disappoint....full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| When one first listens to All Shall Fall for the first time, it strikes uncanny resemblances to Immortal’s previous full-length album Sons Of Northern Darkness. So it seems that over the course of seven years since Sons… was released that our friends Abbath and Horgh haven’t really progressed at all, instead going for a sound which all of their fans are comfortable with, a sound which really hasn’t changed at all since their most famous album Pure Holocaust. While the songwriting hasn’t progressed, it has been tightened up and cleaned around the edges. The melodies feel more epic, the drums are produced with a heavier low-end, the lyrics are even more grim and frostbitten, and Immortal is still, well, the same old goofy Immortal. If you have heard 2002’s Sons Of Northern Darkness, than you have already heard All Shall Fall. The formula of success for Immortal once again shines through with lengthy, similar-sounding tracks which embrace some of the clichés of the genre while casting others aside. Overall, the production of the album is solid as a rock, every instrument (including bass) is clearly audible at all times, which is a welcome relief from the tendency for black metal bands nowadays to bring progression to a halt in favor of the same raw, intentionally under produced sound of the early 1990’s. The theatrics of Abbath and Horgh are also back with the addition of bassist Apollyon, this time not in the form of an embarrassing album cover featuring the band in awkward poses, but in the familiar pretentious song titles and lyrics which convey all that is black metal (namely winter, the north, and battles long ago)....full text |
| Metalstorm |
| Immortal have risen from the white ashes to reclaim their throne as kings of black metal. Not many bands have been as important to a genre of music than Immortal have been to black metal over the years. Now the band are back with their first album in seven years, All Shall Fall. The album carries on exactly where Sons Of Northern Darkness finished. Stylistically All Shall Fall is extremely similar, the guitars are very melodic and as a whole the album stays at the same familiar pressing pace without going overboard. The frostbitten trio show no signs of cobwebs, but there is also no apparent attempt to create something truly spectacular. All Shall Fall, although a brilliant come-back album, is a bit too steady and safe to be hailed as one of the band's greatest works. Seven years is an extremely long time and it is perhaps unrealistic to have expected anything to the standard of At The Heart Of Winter or any of the band's other classics. All Shall Fall almost seems like the band are just firing up the engine, and it is the future we have to wait for to experience Immortal at their most devastating. With this said, All Shall Fall is still a remarkably enjoyable album to listen to and is very much an album suited for the times. The opening title track sounds like the soundtrack to a bleak and icy armageddon and "The Rise Of Darkness" follows bringing forth the rhythmic march of the northern tyrants. Melodic plodder "Norden On Fire" brings down the pace, but "Arctic Swarm" soon whips up another blizzard being the most forceful and unrelenting storm on the album....full text |
Immortal lyrics
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