CoC : Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant : Review

Dimmu Borgir - _Enthrone Darkness Triumphant_
(Nuclear Blast, 1997)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9 out of 10)

Dimmu Borgir are back, with the successor to the acclaimed _Stormblast_. Now on German label Nuclear Blast, this Norwegian black metal band will surely benefit from a much wider distribution and promotion, as well as possibly better production facilities; for Nuclear Blast, presenting Dimmu Borgir as sort of the new Cradle of Filth might mean a lot of profit. This new album of theirs shows them in top shape, and the major changes concern perfecting and enhancing their old sound. Like guitarist Erkekjetter Silenoz had told us before [CoC #15], "if we had been feeling good and happy about ourselves inside, we wouldn't have been making this kind of music." That's easy to see by checking out any of the band's albums, and _Enthrone Darkness Triumphant_ is no exception; maybe it doesn't have as much doom as _Stormblast_, but it certainly is a very dark and doomy piece of symphonic melodic black metal. Keyboardist Stian Aarstad is back after _The Devil's Path_ MCD, and thus the band's sound resembles _Stormblast_ in a way, but it's faster now, and much more powerful; in my opinion, clearly better. This album was engineered by Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy), and the outcome is a very strong and polished sound. Melodies are everywhere on this album, and the shredding black metal parts show up all the time as well - both really high quality, just about as good as it can get. In fact, this 9 I'm giving them is -very- close to an even better rating, as this is now one of my favourite black metal albums ever. I must also mention the very dark and well done digi-pak artwork. One thing that could have been better, however, is that Dimmu Borgir could have attempted to link their epic sound to tracks of a more epic length (the average length is about 5 minutes). Still, _EDT_ is one hell of an album and Dimmu Borgir is a name that you'll most certainly hear very often in the future.

(article published 14/7/1997)

CHATS
5/8/2007	J Smit	Dimmu Borgir: Diabolical Masquerades
4/29/2004	P Schwarz	Dimmu Borgir: In Deep With the Deacons of the Dark Castle
8/22/2003	J Smit	Dimmu Borgir: The Death Cult Beckons
5/13/2001	A Bromley	Dimmu Borgir: Majestic Visions, Triumphant Sounds
8/12/1997	S Hoeltzel	Dimmu Borgir: Up From the Underground
11/18/1996	S Hoeltzel	Dimmu Borgir: Storming the Black Castle

ALBUMS
4/20/2007	K Sarampalis	8	Dimmu Borgir - In Sorte Diaboli
11/24/2005	J Smit	7	Dimmu Borgir - Stormblast (2005)
9/21/2003	J Smit	8.5	Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon
3/26/2003	Q Kalis		Dimmu Borgir - World Misanthropy
3/13/2001	C Flaaten	9	Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
3/14/1999	P Schwarz	8	Dimmu Borgir - Spiritual Black Dimensions
11/19/1998	P Schwarz	5	Dimmu Borgir - Godless Savage Garden
4/9/1997	S Hoeltzel	8	Dimmu Borgir - Devil's Path
8/12/1996	S Hoeltzel	8	Dimmu Borgir - Stormblast

GIGS
10/20/2003	J Smit	Dimmu Borgir / Hypocrisy / Norther	One Step Closer to Armageddon
8/12/2001	C Flaaten	Dimmu Borgir / Destruction / Susperia	Puritanical Destructive Predominance
5/13/2001	M Noll	Dimmu Borgir / In Flames / Nevermore	Crimes in the Mourning Palace
5/19/1999	P Azevedo	Dimmu Borgir / Dark Funeral / Dodheimsgard / Evenfall	The Darkest Night of the Year