”We are Immortal, the band that should not be”

This was how Olve ‘Abbath Doom Occulta’ Eikemo chose to introduce Immortal to the Wacken crowd this year and night, a way highly unusual compared to the more normal; ”Good evening ladies and motherfuckers!” greeting.
Not only the greeting was new however, Abbath also showed off a new wardrobe, sporting a sleeveless leather jacket instead of his normal, topless self. The music and setlist showed no real signs of news though, and the enormous crowd gathered in front of the Black Stage got a ‘business as usual’ gig, no more, no less.

Ok, so Abbath did show signs of a good mood this evening, and the response from the gathered crowd was overwhelming, as could be expected, but honestly, there was nothing gripping about this at all!
I mean, except for a few song-titles like Sons Of Northern Darkness and The Rise Of Darkness (do we see a trend here?) and the humoristically introduced Hordes To War, where Abbath showed off his seldom heard vibrato by shouting “Rayayayayayayade hordes to war!”, I can’t think of one single memorable note from this show.
I can’t say I regret leaving early to see Rotting Christ instead, I only regret not walking away sooner from this northern dark disaster…