arcane-beautiful For those who don't know, Dimmu Borgir are pretty much the biggest black metal band on the planet. Now...they aren't the most important or ground breaking, in fact many see them as betrayers of “true kvlt black metal” side., but...I do see Dimmu at least to be one of the more enjoyable black metal bands, and one of their reasons being their ability to take their dark sounds to more contemporary heights. Now, I don't think they'll be getting Timbaland to produce any of their albums any time soon, but these guys are pretty much expanding their sound further than their black metal roots.

After releasing their last album “In Sorte Diaboli”, which saw the band strip back their sound and put a hold on orchestras on choirs (yet still make insanely bombastic music), the band saw a rather dramatic change, with members Mustis and ICS Vortex leaving the band (and new drummer Hellhammer leaving the band earlier due to a foot injury). This was a giant change, with Mustis being a musical genius who composed a lot of the band's orchestral arrangements and ICS Vortex adding a new dimension to the band in the late 90s, with the addition of clean and operatic vocals to the bands sound. So, with Shagrath, Silenoz and Galder left, the band decided to create a new album, with no addition of new members. So, taking what they had, the band decided to get a good bit of outside help. With the help on an orchestra and choir on their side again, along with the help of a few guest musicians and vocalists, the band have been reborn.

Some of the arguments and criticisms I've seen for this album have been rather odd. One of the biggest criticisms was the use of the orchestra, which is funny, because these guys have been using orchestras for the past 10 years. Criticisms can be so silly.

Musically the band have seemed to have adopted a more melodic side to their sound. Now, these guys have flirted with more melodic sounds on previous albums, but this one has a lot more melodic sounds heard. Now, I should warn you, a lot of the songs on this album are still very dark and disturbing, and incredibly heavy. Lyrically the band have also seen a bit of a change, with a more defined direction to their Satanist side, with some embellishments of Crowley and Lovecraftian vibes.

The album kicks off with “Born Treacherous”, which is definitely one of Dimmu's most unique and oddest album openers. With some rather odd twists and turns and some pretty cool embellishments from the orchestra and choir, it really adds an epic feel to the song.

The album's first single “Gateways” did come with a slight touch of controversy. With the helpings of vocal talents from Agnete Kjølsrud, this song received a bit of criticism, with people saying her vocals just didn't fit in the song, and that she even sounded like a crazy witch. The orchestral arrangements had also been described as making the music sound like something from a Disney soundtrack. In my opinion, I think both Agnete's vocals and the insane Disney soundtrack sounds bodes the song a lot of strength. Of course its something very different, but for some odd reason, it just works and makes the track even better. The music video is also worth a watch, for some pretty cool visual effects and dark imagery.

A song where the orchestra really shines is on “Chess With The Abyss.” With a brilliant choir and orchestra ensemble, the song excels in heights of epicness. The interesting vocals from Snow Shaw don't go unnoticed either.

Like many classic acts before them, it is always good to have a song named after yourself. “Dimmu Borgir” I think would be then bands song to their fans. With a rather melodic take, the song is very much an anthem.

“Ritualist” is probably one of the bands catchiest songs I have heard to date. In fact, I'm surprised this one wasn't released as a single. But...beggars can't be choosers.

One of my persona favourite tracks has to be “Renewal.” With some insane black metal music moments with some insane vocals from Shagrath, this is definitely a highlight on the album. The riffs on this song also pack a mighty punch.

The album's closer, “Endings & Continuations” is a pretty epic closer as well. With some very odd vocals from Ulver frontman Garm, the albums chorus is anthemic as hell. Great ending to a pretty magnificent album.

In conclusion, I really don't see why people have been complaining about this album. I know this isn't Dimmu's best album, but it has to be up there with their best. And if not, this will probably be one of my personal favourites. If anyone tells you this is an album to avoid, don't listen to them and give this one a listen. A hidden gem if I must say so...or “A Jewel Traced Through Coal” (bit too far...I know).

8.7/10

UMUR "Abrahadabra" is the 9th full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal act Dimmu Borgir. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in September 2010. While the band are mostly known for their synth driven symphonic black metal, they´ve opted to include an ensemble orchestra, the "Kringkastingsorkestret" (the Norwegian Radio Orchestra), as well as the "Schola Cantorum choir" on "Abrahadabra".

While that choice gives the album a slightly more organic sound than it´s direct predecessors, the overall music style is reminiscent of "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (2001)" and "Death Cult Armageddon (2003)". That means symphonic, epic, neo-classical influenced, multi-layered and at times pompeous black metal. The band are very skilled musicians and everything is delivered with militant clinical precision. The sound production is clear and powerful. From the opening notes of the classical intro piece "Xibir" to the closing notes of "Endings and Continuations", Dimmu Borgir deliver one well thought out symphonic black metal track after another. It´s no wonder they are often refered to as kings of the genre. The quality of everything they do is simply so high that any competition is blown to pieces.

While all of the above are certainly positives I´m still listening for the really memorable riffs, but that´s more or less been the case since day one when we´re talking Dimmu Borgir. The overall musical concept comes first. Considering that fact that "Abrahadabra" is a black metal album, it´s awfully polished and even though the band blast away and lead vocalist Shagrath sings his raw and raspy vocals the best he has learned, I still think the music lacks real bite. It´s almost too artsy for it´s own good. I know legions of fans disagree with me and while "Abrahadabra" might not make my blood boil, I of course awknowledge a quality release when I hear one and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is warranted.

Warthur Dimmu Borgir's sound is a fragile thing; when it's good, it's great, but it only needs to be nudged a tad out of place for it to leave me completely cold. That's the case with Abrahadabra, which comes across as a symphonic black metal by the numbers album with the inclusion of an orchestra serving little purpose beyond padding out the album a little. The lukewarm material and business-as-usual sound masks the broadening lyrical basis of the songs, which develop beyond the usual blah blah Satan blah black metal rants of past albums; it's just a shame that this hasn't been accompanied by a similar level of musical growth.

Time Signature A jewel traced through metal...

Genre: symphonic black metal

Wow! I was positively surprised by this one. I'd heard "Gateways" before, and I thought that was a really interesting track because it was relatively complex and, with the symphonic approach, also kind of artsy, and what I really liked was the way in which the band successfully manage to combine the bambasticness of symphonic metal with black metal darkness and bleakness. The part of the tracks that really sold me was when they inserted a black metal style really evil sounding blast beat section in the middle of this otherwise symphonic and more gothic song.

I liked it, so I decided to take a chance and buy the album, and the positive surprise was this: the whole album is like that. It's symphonic, and at times almost avant-garde, and this is combined seamlessly with black metal blasting and other elements from black metal and other types of extreme metal (there are some thrashy parts, too). And it works brilliantly!

This is recommended to fans of extreme metal and ymphonic metal. I think that fans of gothic metal and those fans of black metal who don't operate with the concept of raw black metal being true black metal will like it too.