HARDWARES

These ears have never understood why bands break up in their prime only to reunite a mere several years later: it’s always just struck as an absurd waste of hard-earned momentum. Then again, the anticipation that surrounds the reunion record is usually feverish in pitch, and you can’t buy that sort of hype… can all those in-their-prime flame-outs just be wry marketing moves? That thought aside, Immortal’s comeback album All Shall Fall is a triumph of both resolve and winter, Immortal icing together what is one of its top moments (no small feat given the magnitude of All Shall Fall’s direct predecessor, ‘02’s record of the year Sons Of Northern Darkness) and an album that is, amazingly, the sum total of all of Immortal’s component catalogue parts. Incorporating its early black metal hate campaign along with the latter-day melodic sweeps that characterized At The Heart Of Winter especially, Abbath and cohorts have fashioned an inspiring ode to metal and its seasonal cohabitation partner - winter, no doubt - that is going to be continually analyzed for relevance a long, long time from the current day. That last line might seem like hyperbole, but when you manage to encapsulate an almost 20 year career span into a single record and still have it sound relevant, inspired, malevolent and, above all, affirming, well then, you’re deserving of attention and continued thought.