'Between Two Worlds' is the first album by Norwegian super group I which is made up of members of Immortal, Enslaved, Sahg, Gorgoroth and more. I have been looking forward to hearing this ever since I found out about I some months ago. So...does it live up to my expectations? I have to admit that whilst it’s a technically accomplished album, I’m a little disappointed by it. It kind of fills the gap that Immortal has left but it’s still not quite what I had hoped for.

The album successfully combines the sound and style of Immortal, Bathory and more traditional Heavy Metal. You can’t mistake the ongoing influence of Immortal in this band although it’s a nice change to recognise other influences in the mix, namely Bathory - just listen to the title track and you’ll see what I mean. There is a distinct layer of Frost era Enslaved style guitar work in 'Batalions' which helps to add more variety.

The pace of most of the album is relatively slow (for a Black Metal band) and I think more tracks could have been filled out with some heavier guitar work or additional drum parts to add a little more variety. 'Days of North Winds' is my favourite track on this album. It has the same pace but the guitars seem to be more rounded, like there are more layers. If I keep this sound in their future recordings I will certainly be buying more of their albums. The album as a whole has a haunting feel to it and it makes me think of giant ice caverns.

I can’t help feeling that something quite essential is missing from this but I can’t put my finger on it. The way the guitars are paced and fade in and out are very similar to the sort of tracks you would find at the end of Immortal albums and I think this is part of the problem I’m having in really getting into 'Between Two Worlds'. The main issue I have with this album is that the vocals don’t seem to be quite up to scratch, or rather, they aren’t as 'scratchy' as I would have hoped although this is mainly where Abbath is 'singing' - and by that I mean making a longer and more melodic noise. He just seems to struggle slightly and this is a shame as I’m a fan of his Immortal vocal work. I just can’t help being reminded of the moment when Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) decided he was going to try and sing - stick with the growls and snarls.

Dammit! I really want to like this album so it’s really hard for me to admit to not being very impressed with it, especially as I’m a really big Immortal fan. I think I was expecting more of a departure from the old Immortal rather than a continuation that doesn‘t quite hit the mark.

***½

Review by Viv

Band website