The triumphant return of Black Metal ambassadors Immortal to the forefront of the extreme music scene has generated a considerable amount of anticipation for more than a year now. Beginning with the announcement that they would mark this return by playing seven dates around the world the band caused an immense stirring amid the underground Metal movement. As fate would have it I was one of the privileged fans to have been witness to this magnificent reemerging when I caught their performance at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood CA on July 15th 2007.

Support was tapped from Los Angeles based Abysmal Dawn and Letum Ascensus for Immortal’s inaugural comeback at the Avalon and with a sold out crowd of 1300 fans in attendance the night promised to be a smashing success. After driving around the block a few times to find the cheapest parking I eventually made my way to the club and picked up my credentials but had already missed the opening act. Having never heard the band before I wasn’t to broken up about it however I was very excited to see Abysmal Dawn’s set, being that I’ve been spinning their latest CD From Ashes since its release and have looked forward to seeing them live for sometime. Upon their arrival to the stage I was immediately impressed by the production of their live sound as it rang true to what is heard on their CD. I can’t get over their creative ability to weave elements of black and melodic Death Metal into their traditional thrash/death metal style. For an American band (which I am not usually awed by) they definitely caught my attention. Vocalist/guitarist Charles Elliot has an amazing growl much to my liking and sounds the way a Death Metal vocalist should sound deep and intimidating. Drummer Terry Barajas also stunned me with his lightning quick double bass duty. Overall they were a very fitting addition to the bill and would be well worth seeing again.

After a brief intermission the rather intense vibe coming from the crowd was beginning to reach its limit. The band began their set a few minutes early and thankfully it was just in time, any longer and I think the fans would have torn down the curtain to get to the stage. Covered in the traditional corpse paint and wielding unending Black Metal grimness Immortal cut through their set with great skill and precision. I was astounded at how melodic their music came across. Many of the symphonic Black Metal bands of today use the addition of a second guitarist and or a keyboard to bring out the harmonies that make their music so melodic but these guys, a three piece nonetheless, did not resort to any such incarnations and still managed to deliver one of the most astonishing performances that I’ve ever seen. Now I have to say that I do find the whole corpse paint spandex wearing spikes armband imagery as humorous as most but it works for these guys and actually compliments their musical ingenuity. I also appreciated the humorous side of Abbath’s stage personality. It’s nice to see that they aren’t taking the whole evil incarnate principle to seriously. In fact what was probably the most Satanic element of the night was when Abbath took a Norwegian flag from one audience member and displayed it on the drums as an inverted cross. The bands set consisted of the following songs “The Sun No Longer Rises”, “Withstand the Fall of Time”, “Solarfall, “Sons of Northern Darkness”, “Tyrants”, “One by One”, “Wrath from Above”, “Mountains of Might”, “Unholy Forces of Evil”, “Unsilent Storms in the North Abyss”, “At the Heart of Winter”, “Battles in the North” and “Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)”.

All in all the guys played a nearly two hour long set chalked full of sinisterly wonderful music. What else would you expect from Scandinavia’s ultimate sons of northern darkness? The word is that Immortal are working on a new CD which means if you missed them this time fear not they will return again.

-Priest