by Marc van der Pol

While black metal has certainly become clichéd, there are artists out there who manage to salvage the integrity of the genre. Immortal is one of these bands. On Pure Holocaust, dark, technically advanced, powerful, and challenging riffs propel the songs forward through a myriad of blasting drumbeats. Yet surprisingly, the album also conveys a gentler ambience in sections, without the use of a trite "gothic" aesthetic. The ambiguous emotional quality, unique style, and heart-pumping rhythms are all reasons to purchase this.