Warthur
Dimmu Borgir's debut might lack the confidence and forcefulness of later releases, but I find it an intriguing album if only for the extent to which it sets out a blueprint for the sort of melodic symphonic black metal the band would make their trademark. Embracing the use of synthesisers to a greater extent even than the likes of Emperor, Burzum or Enslaved, who had all prominently included them in their repertoire, Dimmu Borgir chose a path different from each of those other three bands, allowing Stian Aarstad a greater degree of spotlight time than any synthesiser player in black metal at the time.
Indeed, I can't think of any other Norwegian black metal band at the time who had a dedicated keyboard player - the other three bands I've cited above used synthesisers, true, but these were usually played by a band member whose primary focus was one of the other instruments (aside from Burzum, which as a one-man band project found Varg Vikernes spending a fair amount of time on all instruments). And it's true that Stian didn't make it easy for black metal fans to accept the idea of including a synth specialist in a black metal lineup, with his infamous Jack the Ripper stage costume clashing with the classic black metal image. And it's also true that as far as keyboardists go he's competent enough but he's no Rick Wakeman.
However, he didn't need to be. Simply by being present in the band and playing to the extent that he did, Stian's contributions helped Dimmu Borgir stake out an entirely new territory of black metal. And whilst the purists might spurn it, I find it rather addictive myself when it's at its absolute best, as featured on Stormblast (though in itself that would be marred by Stian's plagiarism of video game music).
On For All Tid, however, the combination hasn't quite become ripe. The band haven't quite worked out how to fully integrate the synthesiser into their music yet, and in particular there's a tendency (like the intro) towards overlong synthesiser sections that go nowhere and cry out for being edited back a little. The seeds of their later sound are here, but it's not quite ripe for the harvest yet.
