Abrahadabra

I've always said that Dimmu Borgir is one black metal band that I can tolerate because they are just melodic enough to keep me interested. Well, with their newest album here, with the addition of a full orchestra and choir, I can say that this album is really fun to listen to. Sure ICX Vortex is gone, but so what? The choir backing vocals more than make up for Vortex's clean vocals on prior albums. There is a fuller sound here with the orchestra and choir. And even Shagrath's vocals blend much more smoothly into the music that you don't hardly hear them, which to my ears is a good thing, as I view vocals as just another instrument in a band's over-all sound. Vocals usually suck when they stand out so much from the rest of the music that they drown out what would ordinarily be good music. One such band is Manticora. A progressive metal band that plays wonderful music, but their vocalist just sings over the music with no harmony whatsoever, thus ruining what would otherwise be awesome music.Anyway, if you're a Dimmu fan, and have liked or even tolerated their last few albums, give this new one as shot. You might like it. I did. And like I alluded to above, black metal is not one of my favorite genres. Never understood what draw rapid fire blast beats, low growling vocals and piss poor production had amongst its fans, but whatever. Dimmu is branching out to the symphonic black metal realm and I'm liking it.

That's all I can say, Dimmu Borgir have evolved to a level their old fans just could not grasp. They obviously have done something right, you don't lose 60-80% of your old fan base and gain ten times that number in new fans for no reason. I love their old work, and this album is a fine addition to their vast and masterful catalogue. and to thy nay sayers; let's see you put a band together and do what Dimmu has done. I garuntee your result's will not be so great. then again, the next great symphonic metal group may be waiting in the shadows, hungering for blood...

This album is much more symphonic than previous albums. However, this album feels like Dimmu is exactly where they want to be. The Demiurge Molecule is a secret gem, the last few minutes of the song is epic. All in all this is a worthy edition to any metalheads collection.

Dimmu Borgir has lost the talents of ICS Vortex and Mustis in this outing, instead relying on session artists to complete the tracks. The remaining trio does have the (dark) energy to keep the band moving, but this does seem a little too accessible to the masses, and perhaps a little redundant in places as well. This is not what I would call an "accessible" band due to their lyrical content and the fact that you can barely make out what is being said most of the time. Hopefully this is more of a bump in the road due to the band's losses and not some new direction they are taking in order to try to garner more of a fan base. If you've read any interviews of the band, it is not exactly a secret that these guys are not out to please anyone and will do whatever they feel like doing, but I fear the lure of cash may have taken hold.I still give this 4 stars simply because of who they are and the type of music they play, but this is the first time I've rated a Dimmu album at anything less than 5 stars.The first few tracks are actually not bad at all, making excellent use of the choir and orchestra, but as the tracks tick upward you start to wonder if the CD restarted and you're still listening to the same tracks. Ritualist and Born Treacherous are almost interchangable at times, and then it seems like the last group of songs are using the same orchestra and choir tracks in a predictable pattern. This is not to say the tracks are bad, but it feels like the creativity started to decline through the recording journey.

Superb. Has a cross folding concept. Great pictorials. Awesome band from Oslo, Norway. I like the reel image on the label side of the disc. Be using it for personal consumption. DB really rocks. Good for newcomers too. 👍👹👍

This album is over the top with fluff and unholy lace. If you're looking for something to set the mood for your next Dungeons and Dragons Ravenloft campaign, or you're just level grinding away while playing World of Warcraft and you need something epic to set the mood, this is your album. It's a fantastic display of fusing orchestration and metal. A beautiful album.

Dimmu Borgir's best yet, awesome symphonic presentation, alongside some of the tightest metal riffs you ever dared to listen to. Epic and boisterous, I can't stop listening to this and it has found a permanent home in my cd changer

Great album, and well worth the price I paid for it. I was also very impressed with the condition it arrived in, being that I ordered it new. From order to arrival at my house was very quick also.