Seven years after their last album, IMMORTAL return with All Shall Fall. And yes, seven years is a long time but it seems that IMMORTAL's songwriting and overall song delivery has not changed, even a bit. Having heard some people saying that they were disappointed by the band's last work as they thought they were listening to Sons Of Northern Darkness being repeated in All Shall Fall. I don't wish to play the devil's advocate so I will try and analyze All Shall Fall as objectively as I can, leaving aside my love for the band that admittedly is one of the milestones of Black Metal itself.
First, the technical part: Yes, All Shall Fall has many similarities with its predecessor. There is not much difference in song writing and I could say that there are moments in this album which remind me of Abbath's project group, I. That is inevitable of course as Abbath's guitar playing style and timbre of his voice is what sounds familiar. The production is great and surprisingly the listener can clearly define all the instruments, as the 'old school' production noise is gone. The guitar playing is similar with that of the previous album. Abbath's harsh riffs and characteristic tremolos continue , interspersing with melodic parts as well as some acoustic passages  throughout the album. There are also brief characteristic guitar solos and tapping along with blasting which 'screams' the name of IMMORTAL.
The riffs are mainly consisted of simple ideas, which is a very clever thing as the riffs and melodies become memorable. The band manages for once more to depict the frostbitten landscapes of the north and draw the listener inside the maelstrom. The songs are epic and IMMORTAL lures the listener to majestic battles in the northern lands. Among the highlights of the album is the opener and title track All Shall Fall which gives the feeling of a storm that has just burst on us. After that comes The Rise Of Darkness and what comes into my mind with the intro of this song is the northern riders on their black, galloping horses, rushing headlong to the battle. Norden On Fire with the acoustic arpeggio intro sets the mood of a fire that slowly starts until it grows strong enough to burn the place to cinders. Unearthly Kingdom which is the ending track starts symphonic with voices coming from the back and catchy guitar riffs that lure the listener to a kingdom in a land out of this world.
All Shall Fall is released in simple jewel or limited edition digipak and for the more hardcore fans of the band in 180g Vinyl as well as in limited edition Picture Disk. At last there is also the mailorder boxset edition which includes limited digipak album, the album on four picture 7 EPs, the poster flag of the album's cover, a patch and a button and it is strictly limited to 1.000 numbered copies.
All the songs in this album all well-played and I would not refer to them as fillers in the classic sense of the term as every song is great and memorable. As for the ones that say the songs are the same I could only partially agree, and only in terms of the monotony of some of the songs, though I think it is intentional. Whatever the case, it has been a long time indeed and I believe that every fan of the band should at least give a listen to All Shall Fall...