Immortal: War Against All - Nu-Metal Album Review

So this is it, huh. Blashyrk finally became a children's theme park, with safety nets and elaborate cash grab exit shops. If you thought the mediocre mallcore revival "Northern Chaos Gods" was bad, just listen to this nonsense "War Against All". Even Abbath had to publicly condemn it in an interview, calling Demonaz an "Immortal cover band". This is still to mild to describe the absolute sonic garbage that is this album "War Against All".

How low have the once greats fallen...

Because I am a gentleman warrior straight out of a black metal fanfiction, with a rich pallet of aristocratic leisure activities and a magnificent tolerance for the subpar that borders on pathological equanimity, I decided to plow through this tedious excuse of an album "War Against All" - even the title is stupid! - because it is my firm belief that every band that once produced quality music such as "Pure Holocaust", no matter how low they might have fallen in recent years, deserve an objective second chance. Immortal, while they are nowadays associated with cringe mallcore of the uttermost commercial vacuity, were once a respected and respectable black metal band - even though they were never permitted, by Euronymous himself, to call their music black metal... perhaps he knew, or predicted, something that we didn't. Think about that.

Most mediocre albums make me mad. "War Against All", in all its commercial vapidity, just make me tired. And nu-Immortal fans, who are just the poser scenesters of Arch Enemy with a superficial "black metal" rebranding, all the most tiresome of all. So incredibly tiresome. This album ruined my mood, to say nothing of my respect for the band.

I can't believe how little art, conviction and/or creativity was involved in producing this little puddle of shamelessly quoted vomit and cheap make up.

Have you ever actually felt black metal atmosphere? It's a hard to define experience, but it's wonderful. "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss", "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", "Fenrir Prowling", "Divine Necromancy"... these are albums that can actually create atmosphere, just through the power of passionate and unique riff craft. You know what "War Against All" is telling you from start to finish? "HEY, WE ARE IMMORTAL, WE PLAY BLACK METALCORE, BUY OUR STUFF!!!1" Absolutely pathetic. Everything is delivered the way it is because it is expected to "sound like Immortal". Blashyrk finally became its own copycat band, something Abbath eerily predicted way back in 2015 after he was kicked out of the band by Horgh and Demonaz.

The blasts have no character whatsoever. The riffs are boring and indistinguishable from one another. You can't tell one song from the other... sounds worse than AI generated music, tbh. Where is the atmosphere? How is this black metal? Who likes this album? Pantera fans?

Its actually really horrific to me how little is happening between the two or three boring ideas and stale imitations of old school Bathory and Burzum plastered here and there. "War Against All" is the definition of "image over sound". It's actually quite sad to see Immortal descend to the level of its worst imitators - Watain, Nargaroth and Dork Funeral - as the band, once upon a time, was rightfully regarded as one of black metal's greats alongside Burzum, Mayhem, Darkthrone and Neraines. Now? They are relegated to selling "edgy" merch to Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth fans. A sad end to a messy career, nu-Immortal has really done it this time.

Tracklist (songs) of the album War Against All (2023) by Immortal:

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