This album is nearly impossible to review. The expectations were simply to high for me to praise it given that its been seven years since their last album combined with the sheer amount of awesome that their previous discography has. No matter what they came up with, this album was going to suck. On the other hand, its Immortal, it's produced by Peter Tagtgren, and this is still one of the most anticipated albums of the year. No matter what they came up with, this album was going to rule.
So here we have All Shall Fall. It takes a long time to sink in simply because albums like albums like Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism and At the Heart of Winter are so legendary. So while it'll forever be kept in the shadow of past works, this is still a keeper.
So yes, it's still Immortal and by that I mean it still sounds like Immortal. That's still a good thing since Immortal's sound is hardly dated. But it's also safe. There are so many fewer risks taken on here than there were on a album like Pure Holocaust or Blizzard Beasts and I can't help but feel that Immortal were intentionally playing it safe to avoid alienating their fans. While I'm personally not alienated by this in any way and I'm certain to enjoy the new material in a live setting, it's still somewhat upsetting to hear that they didn't provide much experimentation.
Don't get me wrong. It's still worth buying and definitely grows on you with a few listens. It just isn't the groundbreaking and career defining moment that everyone expected it to be. If a band who wasn't Immortal made the same album, I'd probably rank them higher than I'm doing here. I knew going in that I was going to be let down no matter what but I was still surprised at how good this album is. Is it one of the best albums of the year? No but it is certainly a sold release from one of the greatest black metal bands of all time.
7/10
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