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Track Listing: Northern Hymn All Blackened Sky March Of The Norse A Son Of The Sword Where Gods Once Rode Under The Great Fires Over The Mountains Ode To Battle Legends Of Fire And Ice Dying Sun (bonus track)

"March of the Norse" is the debut solo album from black metal legend Demonaz. The album kicks off with the introductory track, "Northern Hymn," a short acoustic number, with really nice choral vocals in the background; a perfect way to start off an epic album.

"Northern Hymn" transitions into "All Blackened Sky," which is immediately reminiscent of Immortal's "Pure Holocaust" album. The riffs, written by Demonaz and performed by Ice Dale, are rich with substance and diversity. The drums seem to be pretty standard, and the bass is just barely there, but those two minor issues are barely noticeable when Demonaz begins to sing. His vocals are top notch, although he sounds a bit like Abbath. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic track.

From the get-go, the next track, "March of the Norse" is a thousand times better than "All Blackened Sky." Demonaz steered away from his typical songwriting and went in a far more original direction on this track. The riffs are slowed down a bit, but the drums seem to fill the speed void quite nicely. Demonaz seemed to keep away from his Abbath-esque vocals for this song, opting for his own vocal style, which suits the music perfectly. Ice Dale's playing on this track is wonderful, although the riffs are a bit too repetitive.

Aside from "All Blackened Sky," Demonaz seemed to drop his typical style of songwriting and has really created something interesting. Tracks like "Over the Mountain" and "Where Gods Once Rode" really keep Demonaz in touch with his roots, while tracks like "Legends of Fire and Ice" and "A Son of the Sword" give Demonaz new sounds to play around with.

The one really bothersome thing about this album is that, while the music is fantastic, it all seems to run together if you actually sit and listen to the album from start to finish. The guitars all seem to be in the same key for every song, and the riff patterns never seem to change. Which leaves me to ask "Can Demonaz write for anyone but Immortal?" The answer, of course, is yes. For a debut solo effort, "March of the Norse" is fantastic, but Demonaz still has a way to go in terms of finding his own style of black metal, and shedding his Immortal skin.

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