DIMMU BORGIR – Grand Serpent Rising
Nuclear Blast
Took me a while to get round to this one. It’s been out for, literally, months. But I’m getting on a bit. Memories not what it used to be. Hadn’t even noticed that Galder had left, after 25 years. Only really leaves Silenoz and Shagrath. Assuming Shagrath hasn’t left again, by the time I finish typing this.
Part of the reason that I’d forgotten about this record is due to Silenoz claiming it would be out soon. In 2020. FFS. So what are you getting. Well, less symphonic, more black. To be honest, they’ve been slipping for a long time now, and I don’t think “Grand Serpent Rising” is going to push them back up the slope. Don’t get me wrong, though. I enjoyed this.
But did it push me back in chair going “Holy Hell, what is happening, send the fire brigade, now!” Not really. I did enjoy the synth work, which drenches the album in atmospherics, even though the none more metal approach of ye olden tymes, seems far, far away. The really good stuff is really good. ‘At the Precipice of Convergence’ is a proper Dimmu Borgir banger, and the single (in old money), ‘Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel’ has a great riff, whilst remaining oddly melodic.
Shame the middle of the record is a bit middling. They could easily have chopped a couple of tracks out of the 70 minutes to make a leaner album. Then milked the faithful with a ‘Special Edition’. But the album sounds, reassuringly BIG, as befits a Dimmu Borgir release. It’s probably their best record since “In Sorte Diaboli”, almost twenty years back, so I’m counting that as a win.
Buy at the Evil Empire
Watch yourself, careful now, stay safe;
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