The band, IMMORTAL, is practically synonymous with the phrase, "true Norwegian black metal," so I naturally jumped at the opportunity to review "War Against All," their tenth full-length album. Before I get into the meat of this review I feel that it is important to provide some context for this album and fill you in on what was going on in the background during its production. IMMORTAL has had many lineup changes and breakups over its tenure, but the standard-bearers have always been Abbath, Demonaz, and Horgh. There are a couple of albums without Horgh, but it would be a disservice to leave him out. In 2016, Abbath released his first solo album after cutting ties with the other two members. From 2020-2022 Demonaz and Horgh became embroiled in a legal dispute over who owned the rights to the band's name. Demonaz insisted that, since he was the only remaining founding member, he could claim ownership. Horgh felt that the name should be shared between both parties. The official ruling was that the name belonged to the band as a whole, not its members. "War Against All" was being made during this legal battle, with Demonaz as the sole permanent member.

The album's two lead releases, "War Against All" and "Wargod" are the best tracks on the album. They both have catchy riffs and explosive presentations. "War Against All" serves as a black metal rallying cry, uniting the fans in the ongoing war against false metal. "Wargod" is more dynamic, with an early thrash-inspired introduction before a catchy hook that gets your head bobbing. The song speaks of  Blashyrkh, the mythical realm where all of IMMORTAL's songs take place. It is a frozen wasteland akin to "the north" from George R.R. Martin's "A Song Of Ice And Fire" novel series. After "Wargod," things take a turn. "No Sun" has more of the same bouncy, infectious riffing as the album's previous three songs, but by now, they're wearing thin. The clunky lyrics that will go on to plague the album begin with this song's chorus. It's about life on the side of a mountain so large that it blots out the sun and the lyrics offer precious little details about that setting. Then, after a sudden musical deviation, the song just stops with zero warning.

Just past the album's halfway point is the instrumental track, "Nordlandhir." At just over seven minutes, this is the longest track on "War Against All." As a fan of well-developed long-form metal, I had high hopes for this one. Instead, it feels less like a quality instrumental and more like an ordinary song without lyrics. There are very few significant dynamic shifts and several of the lead guitar lines went nowhere. I was over it before the four-minute mark. The closer, "Blashyrkh My Throne" could be the de-facto national anthem of an imaginary land, resulting in the biggest IMMORTAL cliches possible. With generic lines like, "under the cold wintermoon" and "dead warriors rise from their battleground" the song becomes a parody of itself. Also, the same uninspired bouncing guitar riffs that permeate the album have to make an appearance.

The entire album that is "War Against All" comes off as what would have to be included if ChatGPT was writing an IMMORTAL release. There are plenty of mentions of Blashyrkh, requisite blast beats, a handful of clean guitar parts, raspy vocals, and a surprisingly low amount of lead guitar solos. Also, the production is too polished. The instrumentation sounds squeaky clean and the vocals aren't raw enough for black metal. I believe that either Demonaz was just phoning this one in, or that his legal troubles have forever tainted what could have been an album that is up to the standards of IMMORTAL. Either way, this is a disappointing effort. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.