Band:	Immortal
Album:	Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	1992
Guest review by:	Oaken

01. [untitled]
02. The Call Of The Wintermoon
03. Unholy Forces Of Evil
04. Cryptic Winterstorms
05. Cold Winds Of Funeral Dust
06. Blacker Than Darkness
07. A Perfect Vision Of The Rising Northland

Since 1991, Immortal did a great job proving that they were amongst the best black metallers out there. Starting with their "frostbitten" formula and then exposing a thrashier side, they never failed to amaze us. Battles In The North, At The Heart Of Winter, and all of their grim efforts across the years were always satisfying, strong and at times mind boggling. Now, let us go back in time, and revisit the event that sparked this chain of awesomeness, the album that brought to birth one of the most noteworthy black metal acts on earth: Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism.

Back in the year 1991, when many bands were still grasping the concept of black metal, Immortal were writing some solid black metal. Despite their young age, they succeed in delivering a mature-sounding work. Demonaz's riffing is very tight, and not usually breaking the evil-sounding tremolo rule. The chainsaw-like riffs are fast, angry and relentless. The low frequencies are very masterfully covered by Abbath's heavy bass lines. This is one of those old black metal albums where the bass keeps rumbling all the time. The drumming, on the other hand, is very typical for a black metal album, but Diabolical was released in 1991, so it is quite normal for the drumming to consist of nothing but constant blasting. On the top of the well-performed instrumentals come the vocals, which are less croaky than our usual Abbath vocals, but loads more scary and disturbing, especially that screech in "Unholy Forces Of Evil".

In overall, the instrumentation and the vocals blend well enough, creating some decent soundscapes. The atmosphere as a whole is sinister and punishing; it should be so when it is the result of furious riffing, hellish blasting and some out-of-this-world screams. However, this doesn't mean that the atmosphere lacks beauty, grandeur and majesty. Acoustic guitars are frequently used, and keyboards dominate near the end of "A Perfect Vision Of The Rising Northland", but what makes the experience of Diabolical unforgettable is the devilish guitar solos and leads here and there. It seems that Demonaz wrote some typical solos, changed some notes, twisted the overall sound and added some warped craze in order to create those solos of his. Mind blowing stuff.

Production-wise, Diabolical sticks to the tr00 kvlt raw recording type, which isn't a bad thing, as this is raw black metal, and the production contributes to the atmosphere in a great way. The tracks are all balanced and good. The standouts are the mighty "The Call Of The Wintermoon" and "Unholy Forces Of Evil".

Final verdict: This is an underrated raw black metal jewel, and it is often overlooked by the fans of the genre. If you like black metal, grab this as soon as possible. The evil, harsh atmosphere will undeniably be to your immense liking.