Immortal
Battles In The North

Battles In The North is perhaps one of the greatest albums that the Norwegian black metal scene has ever produced.

We are not talking about just any record but a masterpiece that fully deserves a place in the Olympus of great extreme metal records. Even if you might not like this type of metal, and even though the production is truly HORRIBLE (but others have done better, let's randomly mention... Mayhem? Dark Throne? "Burzum-zum"?) as it highlights ONLY the drums played by Abbath. The latter, being a good multi-instrumentalist, also takes on the role of bassist and singer (his screaming is unmistakable).

A couple of days ago, Immortal had disbanded, but Nuclear Blast (their current record label, previously they were with Osmose) said: "What are you doing? You still have to make us lots of money," and so the supposed disbandment of the band magically turned into a "break for reflection" (yesterday came the news of the definitive breakup...).
Poor Immortal.

It's better to remember them when, dressed as proper black metallers, they braved the freezing cold of their mountains (see the splendid cover, Immortal on a snowy white background and beautiful booklet photos) with their classic panda-face painting, dressed as if the climate were that of the Maldives, when everything was more "true" Norwegian black metal and when Immortal were truly the best.
Icy riffs, with the necessary dose of melody to make unforgettable songs like Blashyrk, the title track, or Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms, when due to the production you could hear Abbath's mess-ups on the drums, still devastating, and when they weren't being manipulated by a ruthless record label that led them to ruin.

Poor things, they almost deserve pity.