Blizzard Beasts

I really like the style Immortal went for on "Blizzard Beasts" because it has a black metal feel to it, but it sounds like really jerky hyper-thrash similar to early Morbid Angel (Altars of Madness) or Sarcofago (I.N.R.I. or Rotting). By BM standards these songs are terribly short, but at least we don't have to worry about them overstaying their welcome. Each tune makes it's point and then moves on. I've noticed that on some tracks the drums sound thin, shittie and almost fake. You don't really hear the cymbals that much. All you hear much of time is the triggered sounding snare accompanied by the clickety-click-click bass drums. The vocals are a hair too loud on occasion and there are some songs that you can hear the bass and others (most) you can't. These things make the production/mix seem totally half-assed, but none of the problems are severe enough to kill the album's potential. They're just a little annoying and I'm sure most people don't even notice. I like the fact that on some songs (like the title track) the guitars are not panned left and right like most albums. Here they are mainly dead center and that gives them a very mushy sound, but the riffing is accurate enough that it doesn't sound mushy in a bad way, really. I like that kind of sound. It sounds dense. Much of the problem with this album is in the mix, but there are also problems with the performance. The double-bass work is pretty sloppy sometimes and the solos/leads, though sparse, sound poory written/improvised and fall just short of hitting the mark. I know this sounds like there are a lot of problems and that "Blizzard Beasts" must be awful, but it saves itself due to what sounds like inspired and fresh song writing, even if the production is a little frustrating. In short, it may not knock your socks off depending upon how much you analyze it, but coming from a person who's not a huge Immortal fan (I've always found them to be a bit too silly to take seriously) I'd say it's a very cool album. If you don't mind the sloppiness and the ever changing mix you should enjoy the razor sharp riffage and the no-bullshit kind of feel.