Album Review:Dimmu Borgir : The Grand Serpent Rising
Words by Anselm Anderson
Following an eight-year break, the Norwegian metal band Dimmu Borgir returns with "Grand Serpent Rising." This album is an important milestone for the band, celebrating their return after more than thirty years in the music scene.
The title symbolises the Year of the Snake, marking the album's completion last February. The serpent represents change and growth, showing the band evolving with confidence. While the band is known for taking time on albums, eight years is taking the biscuit. Since their last release, 2018's Eonian, guitarist Galder rejoined his previous band. And since then, they have focused on "Grand Serpent Rising," an hour of intense Black Metal with orchestral elements. Co-founders "Silenoz" and "Shagrath" collaborated to create a masterpiece, featuring dynamic choir and string arrangements alongside their signature snarls.
A Return to their roots
Produced by longtime collaborator Fredrik Nordström, the album harkens back to the 90s black metal scene with long, ominous passages and spine-tingling riffs. The album is diverse with a mixture of influences, as the band seems intent on returning to their roots.
The album kicks off with the dark intro "Tridentium" and builds in intensity with the heavy track "Ascent." The band introduces gothic sounds with the acoustic pieces "As Seen in the Unseen" and "Repository of Divine Transmutation." It then has an eerie feel, like the soundtrack of an HP Lovecraft story, especially in the track "Phantom of the Nemesis."
The band's dynamics mix between melancholic symphonies and vocals with a sinister edge. The drums are pulsating, the riffs are maniacal, and the vocalists sound like they are in constant sorrow, all set against the backdrop of cascading riffs and sardonic keys that evoke a sense of coming of age.
Dimmu Borgir returns with a new sense of purpose in this gothic opus, which feels like a tribute to themselves.
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