A disclaimer might be in order here: when the so-called “second wave” of black metal emerged from Norway in the early 1990s, I couldn’t give two shits about the new sound, as I was going through my elitist music snobbery phase at the time, feeding exclusively on vintage prog classics from the 1970s. Years later, though, what opened my ears to the beauty of the black-metal aesthetics could be pinpointed to a particular few albums, of which DIMMU BORGIR‘s gargantuan, apocalyptically themed endeavor “Death Cult Armageddon” certainly was one. Released on September 9th, 2003, via Nuclear Blast, the band’s sixth studio album condensed the band’s strengths into a coherent whole with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra offering symphonic backup for the journey (except for two tracks). This album also has that one particular track that I have found to be quite appealing even to people who otherwise would dismiss black metal as nonsense altogether: “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse” is a timeless piece of dark and haunting black-metal greatness. This very song was the gateway drug that ignited the spark that would slowly convert me to appreciate the core tenets of black metal: barbed tremolo riffs, relentless blast beats, and those deliciously snarled goblin vocals. Some puritans, obviously, dubbed the album as “Hollywood black metal” straight off the bat because of all those lush orchestrations but, for me, it sure helped me get into the music that the orchestrations, arranged by Gaute Storås, were such a cinematic blast, not only on this track but on the album as a whole. Furthermore, it seems that the process set in motion on “Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia” (2001), that of the band evolving into the “ABBA of black metal” as some wisecracks put it, reached a pinnacle on this particular effort. Say what you will but that legendary Swedish pop quartet always knew how to write catchy songs – and it is a trait that really becomes this extreme Norwegian bunch.
The album starts with a battle hymn of sorts, “Allegiance,” although, juxtaposed against the album title, the war imagery of the lyrics could just as well be taken as though depicting the battlefields of the armies of the dead, rather than those of flesh and blood. For the most part, the tempo is rather feisty, albeit the abrasive riffs and blast-beats are balanced with milder sections to keep things interesting while steamrolling forward like a well-oiled war machine. Nicholas Barker does quite an impressive job behind the drum kit. This was the last DIMMU BORGIR album to feature his magnificent drumming – of note, I take it that he’s a renowned session/tour drummer these days and he has played with bands such as BRUJERIA, LOCK UP, and LIQUID GRAVEYARD in recent years.
I could easily write this whole review about the breath-taking awesomeness of “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse” – the song alone makes this album worth getting – but the album does provide a few more highlights in terms of catchy, symphonic black-metal; nope, that is not a contradiction in terms. First, “Vredensbyrd” rolls out such haunting melodies, paired with delicious symphonic blasts, that it is quite an easy job for the guitar riffs to make a home run. In a way, this sort of metal conduct is not a far cry from the later symphonic efforts of, say, NIGHTWISH, albeit the latter does resonate with the air of Walt Disney fantasy films, whereas DIMMU BORGIR is more akin to the gruesome visions of Guillermo Del Toro.
Another gem on the outing is the track, “Allehelgens Dod I Helveds Rike,” in which bassist ICS Vortex drops some sublime clean vocals, almost foreshadowing the Viking vibes of some later BORKNAGAR efforts. Yeah, the mid-section of the song could not have been further from the traditional black metal aesthetics, but for someone like me who never was into the pioneering bands of the genre, this sort of reckless fusion was exactly what constituted the greatest appeal, to begin with. In fact, the follow-up track, “Cataclysm Children,” might also have confused the true black-metal penguins of the era by flirting with a somewhat mainstream-ish piano ornamentation halfway into the song. (Needless to say, I loved it the moment I heard it!).
“Heavenly Perverse,” closing the album, is a track worth singling out too; while not traversing too far from the straight and narrow black-metal path, the song packs a prominent punch in terms of tight and abrasive guitar riffs and pounding blast-beat breaks. The section starting off at 3:48 sounds particularly haunting with its angelic synths and the 12/8 guitar sequence that does resonate with the air of a good few OPETH strummathons of yesteryear. They say that ULVER, in its embryonic stage, was the PINK FLOYD of black metal; if so, DIMMU BORGIR, at the turn of the millennium, might as well have been the ABBA of the genre – from the ”Arrival” (1976) album era, in particular: unashamedly poppy but, still, a mighty good bang for the buck with their quality songcraft.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Allegiance
- Progenies of the Great Apocalypse
- Lepers Among Us
- Vredesbyrd (Burden of Wrath)
- For the World to Dictate Our Death
- Blood Hunger Doctrine
- Allehelgens Dod I Helveds Rike (The Death of All Saints in the Kingdom of Hell)
- Cataclysm Children
- Eradication Instincts Defined
- Unorthodox Manifesto
- Heavenly Perverse
Lineup
Shagrath – lead vocals
Silenoz – rhythm guitars
Galder – lead guitars
ICS Vortex – bass, clean vocals on tracks 2 & 7
Mustis – grand piano, synths
Nicholas Barker – drums
Label
Nuclear Blast
