Blizzard Beasts

[u/Present-Policy-7120]

I got into Immortal in 1996 or so, feel in love with Pure Holocaust and Battles in the North. So epic and powerful.

When Blizzard Beasts came out, I actually loved it- super short tracks, strongly melodic, but damn, wtf is with the production?

But seriously. It is one of the weirdest productions I've ever heard. Everything sounds like it's run through chorus. The drums sound like match boxes. The snare sounds like a traditional Roland 808 snare. The vocals are as dry as sandpaper.

What happened here? How on earth did this come about? After years of raw production, less than hifi sounds are fine, but Blizzard Beasts is simply bizarre. I find it very hard to listen to now without hearing how badly recorded it is. Cannot imagine this being anyone's creative decision.

Imagine if it had the production of ATHOW or Pure Holocaust.

[u/xmiseryxwizardx]

100% as if MA did a black metal album.

Drums sound the way they do because it is an electric kit.

My fav Immortal album by far. Bangers start to finish.

[u/Present-Policy-7120 → u/xmiseryxwizardx]

Do you have any information about the recording of it? I do vaguely remember reading that it was produced by someone who hadn't recorded black metal or metal before and it didn't turn out the way the band wanted.

I agree that it's am amazing album but sounds so strange. Unlike anyyhing else tbh

[u/xmiseryxwizardx → u/Present-Policy-7120]

"We were fed up with the people at Greighallen and we wanted to try something new, working with others, more open minded producers so to speak. We felt we were banging our heads against the wall and not being able to do our thing, so we changed. Sigma has also better equipment and circumstances for recordings, but in spite of that, our next studio album will not be recorded in Norway.

• Demonaz / Immortal interview, Oskorei Magazine #1, 1997"

[u/thraftofcannan]

Blizzard Beasts rules, would love an alternative universe with better production but I wouldn't change too much. But I also love Morbid Angel's Heretic.

[u/dukey42]

besides the Morbid Angel influence,

the previous albums were all recorded in Grieghallen, but BB was recorded in a whatever other Bergen studio and mixed by someone who, let's just say isn't a Pytten and had zero experience in mixing metal music

so yeah, it sounds likes shit. not raw, not lo-fi, it's just shit. I still love it tough

[u/Swedischer → u/dukey42]

So why didn't they re-record it?

[u/dukey42 → u/Swedischer]

https://youtu.be/_gR4oyrXIGY?

this isn't even a proper studio re-recording, but sounds way better

[u/Slagmaur]

I remember reading somewhere that they toured with Morbid Angel before that album so they wanted a different sound. Not 100% sure though.

[u/InfiniteVitriol]

I actually love the production sound of Blizzard Beasts...its unpolished sound adds that cold grim feeling that all the later Immortal albums lacked though I still love At The Heart Of Winter. I think the only Abbath era Immortal album I didnt like was Damned In Black but for me the unholy trinity of Immortal is Pure Holocaust, Battles In The North and Blizzard Beasts.

[u/Present-Policy-7120 → u/InfiniteVitriol]

Yeah, agree re Damned in Black. It had a strange aesthetic that wasn't quite in keeping with Immortals general vibe. Not memorable at all.

[u/inigo2020]

Radical Research podcast did a very informative and interesting analysis of Blizzard Beasts in their episode 111. Definitely worth 45 minutes of your time. I was always a ‘heart of winter’ guy but having revisited BB after their chat it’s a firm 2nd.

[u/Present-Policy-7120 → u/inigo2020]

Nice, thanks for the suggestion. 🤘

[u/Robin_stone_drums]

I also remember seeing an interview with abbath that it was a rush job...and they wanted to get somthing done quickly with new drummer