Album Review: Dimmu Borgir - Grand Serpent Rising
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Unquestionably forged in the same early-nineties inferno which spat forth the likes of fellow Norwegians Mayhem, Gorgoroth and Darkthrone, Dimmu Borgir’s path was always closer to Emperor and Satyricon and as time wore on and sounds were refined, they would commit the cardinal sin and become mainstream.
Melodic and symphonic elements had been a key part of Dimmu’s sound from the 1995 debut, For All Tid, growing to be a bigger and more prominent feature on follow-up Stormblåst and the associated Devil’s Path EP the next year. By the time of 1997’s masterpiece, Enthroned Darkness Triumphant, the balance had been struck and tunes like Mourning Palaces, Spellbound (By the Devil) and A Succubus In Rapture would define the band’s live shows for the next quarter of a century.
2010’s Abrahadabra and 2018’s Eonian saw Dimmu striped down to a three-piece of vocalist Shagrath and guitarists Galder and Silenoz, using session musicians to fill the rhythm section. In all honesty, I found Eonian to be too over-blown to be an enjoyable listen, despite it having some decent material.
Eight years in the making, new, tenth, record Grand Serpent Rising returns us to the Dimmu tradition of having a three-named album title but finds Glader having exited to focus his energies on Old Man’s Child. Therefore, the songwriting duties fell to Shagrath and Silenoz and, in Grand Serpent Rising, they have shed the skin of the over-wrought previous album to bring us back in line with their noughties output.
That’s not to say this new record is teeming with bombast and classicism, but here it feels as though it serves a purpose, whereas before it seemed to be there for the sake of it. Extended intro/ opening track, Tridentium plays against a downpour, as morose, orchestral strings support a deep, booming narrative voice in the sort of way only Dimmu Borgir can do and keep a straight face.
Second single, Ascent launches with a black metal blast beat and raw vocals; hard-hitting, dirty riffs prove the band might have become refined over the years, but they’re still a bunch of angry kids at heart. Not that it’s devoid of symphonics, they’re just more measured, allowing space for a soaring solo and sibilant hissing vocals, in keeping with the snake-motif of the album title.
While most of Grand Serpent Rising’s song structures follow a similar pattern of bringing symphonic and metallic elements together, Dimmu’s playing with the introductory ideas is what gives the album its interest. Classical acoustics give way to As Seen in the Unseen’s fierce extremity; piano precursors The Gyptfarer’s dark gothic moments, and what sounds like a seventeenth century lute can surely be heard in the opening bars of Repository of Devine Transformation.
The Exonerated feels straight-up second wave black metal, making good use of blasting drums, rapid triplets and strained vocals; Recognizant has Dimmu sounding like Cradle of Filth at times.
Grand Serpent Rising is the first time Dimmu Borgir have written songs in their native Norwegian since Death Cult Armageddon’s Allehelgens Død I Helveds Rike back in 2003, with first single, Ulvgield & Blodsodel’s folk vibes emboldened by a ticking clock and windswept atmospherics. Slik Mynnes en Alklkymist combines those folk elements with the orchestral, alongside rampant blasts and even a singalong chorus, to great effect.
In the early listens for this review, the song that stuck out the most is Phantom of the Nemesis, a dark, slower paced tune, launching from a bleak intro and a demonic voice, it gives itself up slowly and resists the urge to go full-Dimmu, opting instead for an incremental use of those familiar tropes.
Bass duties are shared between songwriters, with percussion being again provided by the returning drummer, Dariusz Brzozowski, who’d previously worked with the band in 2010 and 2018 and knows a thing or to about extreme drumming from his time with Vader. Keys and orchestration come from Geir Bratland, who’s worked with Emperor, God Seed and Satyricon among others.
At almost seventy-minutes Grand Serpent Rising does feel like it could do with a little pruning here and there, but the quality of the music and the crystal-clear production reduced that problem to mere ephemera. Ultimately, you know what you’re getting with a new Dimmu Borgir record and this one delivers on all those fronts.
Do you not proofread before submitting? So many misspelled words. Pathetic really.