Immortal - Damned in Black

2000 release from Norwegian black metal band on the Osmoselabel. 7 tracks including 'Triumph', 'Wrath From Above' & 'My Dimension'. Digipak. Album Description

Riff Fest

"Damned in Black" falls in between two of Immortal's best albums "At the Heart of Winter" and "Sons of Northern Darkness." Though often overshadowed by the rest of Immortal's catalogue, "Damned in Black" is an excellent display of Immortal's signature thrashy black metal. Blast beats and riffs aplenty, Immortal definately delivers on "Damned in Black." If you are an Immortal fan already you will not be disappointed by this album. Those new to Immortal should try "Sons of Northern Darkness" first.

Favorite track: Damned in Black March 18, 2008

utterly satanic to the last drop

one reviewer mentioned a "wall of sound" style recording on this cd, and I must agree. I put this album on a processing program on my computer that actually shows the song in "peaks" which is what the song "looks" like. most metal bands that I put in look like a bunch of waves and peaks, but this one was just a solid block the whole way accross the screen( i hope people will understand this) anyway as far as the music goes it is only second to "at the heart of winter". or as I like to call it in strong nordic accent "at veenters hart!" see my review for at the heart of winter to get the idea of what this album is capable of. take note of THE MOST SATANIC MOMENT IN MUSIC which is the first 5 seconds of track no. 5 this is no joke folks, just take into account the fact that us black metal fans don't write reviews unless it is from the heart(aww:) and certainly take into account that us black metal fans do not like doing long reviews, because it takes time away from our godly music October 7, 2005

I like my metal like I like my coffee.... Black and ICE COLD

With this album Immortal tips their hat to their former "wall of sound" approach to creating music. It would be nigh impossible to find any holes in the constant blast of sound that emanates when this album is played. It seems that with every Immortal release, we are treated to a different spin on the traditional "black metal" approach. This CD is indeed black metal, but a tr00 or kvlt BM fan would rather die than be caught with a CD like this. Screw them, they are to focused on purchasing the same sounding album over and over again to impress their "inner circle" friends. Damn in Black mixes thrash with black metal to form a very unique and punishing record.

A learned listener would be able to pick up on the nuances from past albums that have been worked into this one. The opening song Triumph seems to be a hybrid of Battles in the North and Blizzard Beasts. (Drools) The tracks are overall less technical than At the Heart of Winter, but make up for it with a constant driving beat from hell. (Provided by our hefty friend Horgh)

I highly recommend getting this CD if you are a fan of Immortals (duh!) or enjoy the heavier aspects of metal at all. It is definitely worth your money despite the fact that the CD clocks in at 36:40. That's almost 37 minutes of pure metal madness at its finest!

Standout Tracks: Darkness That Embrace Me, Damned In Black

*I highly agree with Chris Andersons review of this CD as well*

"Our black eyes sparkle, celebrating death" July 25, 2005

Damned I may be for liking this...

But it would be worth getting damned for enjoying this!!! Ok, at first when i got this, i thought it was kind of missing something, but i still liked it right away...does that make sense? So, since i still liked it instantly, i still jammed it all the time. But now, after listening to it for about a year now, i think it's definitley another Immortal masterpiece. I agree with another reviewer that said this album has some of the most tightest playing ever recorded! I think at first i was a little put off by the keyboard use in some of the songs on here, cause i usually hate keyboards unless it's like a morbid angel instrumental, you know something along those lines. Now though, i think they fit perfectly with the songs!

This amazing album kicks off with the ass kicking songs of Triumph and Wrath From Above...listen to Horgh's drumming, that's perfection! Next up is Against The Tide, i love this song, something about the bass lines and the riffs and lyrics and just...everything rules about this song! Next up is yet again, another ass kicking pair of evil grimness that only Immortal can make! My Dimension and The Darkness That Embraces Me simply rule! To close things out the title track makes you feel Damned In Black!! All the songs on this cd rule! This is truely another Immortal masterpiece! Buy or Die! 13 out of 5 stars! December 2, 2004

The Darkness that Embraces Immortal

`Damned in Black', Immortal's 6th studio album and follow-up to 1999's monumental `At the Heart of Winter', is a stellar release full of some of the most memorable riffs and tightest playing imaginable.

`At the Heart of Winter' saw Immortal moving in a different direction from their previous efforts. With Demonaz leaving the band as guitarist due to injury, we saw Abbath taking over and leading Immortal to a slicker, more mid-tempo sound. `Damned in Black' follows in `At the Heart of Winter's footsteps although it has been described as its angry older brother. I agree completely. It is faster, more aggressive, yet it still has very much the same feel.

Abbath's vocals are slightly different on this release, a little rougher, slightly less troll-like than on previous releases. I liked how they sounded on `At the Heart of Winter', but they are even better here. Let's just say that Popeye is in the house!

The guitar on this album has a nice, thick thrashy sound. It is a lot warmer than the razor-wire insanity that was their sound on older releases. Here it has more definition and makes the outstanding riffs stand out even more. Revel in the pompous majestic opening riff of the title track `Damned in Black'. Check out the first four riffs from `Against the Tide (In the Arctic World)', they are all absolutely brilliant! But the best riffs of the album, coupled with a headbang-worthy tempo change, are the first two of `Wrath From Above'. This is why metal is king!

The drum work also stands out very much on this release. Horgue gets a chance to show his stuff with many complex rhythms and loads blast beats. I'm not saying that this is a fast album, a lot of it is mid-paced (by black metal standards, anyway) but there are definitely some chaotic `Blizzard Beasts'-style sub-zero riffs present on this album.

As for keyboards, they are virtually nonexistent. They are so low in the mix that you can barely hear them. Not that this is a bad thing, they poke through when important and they still contribute to the overall feel of the album.

Overall this is an excellent release from Immortal. Don't be put off by the short running time of this album. Every track kills. Quality over quantity here. Would you have passed on `Reign in Blood' because it's only 30 minutes long? I don't think so. If you did go buy it immediately! `Damned in Black' came out very soon after `At the Heart of Winter' was released and it could have been just a more-of-the-same album But Immortal has taken their new sound and frozen it with elements their old, resulting in seven very strong tracks of black metal mayhem. January 24, 2002

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