Demonaz – March of the Norse (2011)

Immortal’s ex-guitarist and lyricist Demonaz finally delivers his debut ‘solo’ album with “March of the Norse”. In this release we have mixed impressions since it sounds like an Immortal album with clean vocals (for the most parts). This gives the release a Black Metal sound combined with Folk/Viking/Pagan Metal elements.

With all the hype behind this release, we are somewhat disappointed by the lack of creativity behind this release. However, the music is quite catchy and enjoyable and this release will surely be in the top 10 lists of many publications, but not ours.

Demonaz handles the vocals in this album, Ice Dale (Enslaved) handles the guitars, and Armaggeda (ex-Immortal, I) takes over the drums. The line-up sounds pretty impressive and delivers a solid album with memorable riffs and catchy vocal melodies. Since the opening “Northern Hymn” we get a bit of an epic Nordic feeling to this release, and this is greatly confirmed by songs like “March of the Norse” and “Over the Mountains”.

“All Blackened Sky” quickly opens with powerful guitars and a huge resemblance to mid-period Immortal releases sans the Popeye-sounding vocals from Abbath. The epic choirs are pretty effective and raise your spirits very nicely. Demonaz clean vocals are so-so and while not completely bad, they could have been better.

“March of the Norse” again gives the Immortal signature sound and with the very ‘eloquent’ chorus section left us bored after a few repetitions of the ‘March of the Norse” bit. The following songs keep a very one-dimensional approach and while they are pretty solid, they get dull after a while. The atmospheric passage of “Where Gods Once Rode” is very effective and a nice change of pace for the listener.

Our favorite song of the album comes with the name of “Over the Mountains”. This is mostly due to the catchy guitar work and ‘slower’ pace. Closing the album we have “Legends of Fire and Ice” and another very catchy chorus section that will stick to your head like glue.

In overall, we think that while Demonaz is a solid lyricist for Immortal, he does not have much creativity when it comes to crafting songs. Even if he manages to shake off the Immortal sound-a-like elements, the tracks presented are very one dimensional and get dull very easily. Ice Dale provides excellent guitar skills, but is clearly evident why he mostly handles rhythm guitars in Enslaved. If you are an Immortal fan and what to listen to them with some minor adjustments (mainly on the vocal aspect) this is the album for you.

Release: April 1st, 2011 (Europe) / May 17th, 2011 (USA)

Country: Norway