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Dimmu Borgir > Enthrone Darkness Triumphant > 1997, CD, Nuclear Blast (Mispress) > Reviews
Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

Before Dimmu hit Hollywood - 84%

Annable Courts, January 3rd, 2024

It may escape the attention of some, but there was actually a time when Dimmu Borgir weren't the sort of bubble gum black metal parody that many would associate with that name. The band became big time in a mainstream way around the start of the new millennium, particularly with the commercial exposure like 2003's 'Progenies' big budget video clip; and although a hot topic among black metal aficionados, this album could very well have fallen under the radar of the unsuspecting metal-head. There's a near progressive edge here and the album possesses more than one string to its bow.

What we get on this, at times, is something like Children of Bodom with the virtuosic keyboards over rapid power metal palm mutes and screamy vocals, only with a genuine wistful poetry and elan to the music as best displayed on 'In Death's Embrace'. At other times, this brings the brutality and voracity of what might best be described as predatory black metal: 'Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh' and its unsettling ominousness and blast-beat bound melody, all drenched in threatening anxiety. The second part of the song is a return to prototypical mid-paced black metal, built around the rudimentary dirge of repeating power chords, followed by some of that winterly minor open chord breeze, a la Satyricon or Mayhem. The very good rapacious vocals deliver a consistently strong performance in the foreground, when honestly bands in this sub-genre can often settle for vocals bordering on or outright lacking in credibility.

The progressive component may best be displayed no further than on Track 1, the eminently alluring 'Mourning Palace'. Of course "prog" is loosely used here, but its three part structure manages to pull off a powerful effect in song-writing, that is to stitch together three distinct sections and still call the track a song. The three main melody themes almost seem like they're intertwined in some lyrical way, like a beacon of the same expression of a heavy heart. This album, as mentioned, knows how to mix things up: just when the audience thinks the melodrama would permanently take over, along comes the song 'Master of Disharmony' - one in sheer sadistic black metal tradition.

Now, there are generic parts that'll make an appearance intermittently, but the whole of this is consistent enough to constitute a genuinely cohesive and enjoyable ride. The emotional climax in dark gothic beauty in one song won't be reached on every single track but, for most of the way, there's a steady distribution of wealth (and enough of it) to go around. Even towards the twilight of this journey, in the second half of Track 9 'Prudence's Fall' the piano starts; in solo before the guitars join in; a wondrous and complex melody of a rare acumen; followed by another strong outro between epic and passionately melancholic. Track 10 'A Succubus in Rapture' will likely keep the listener connected even past 3/4 of an hour into the album, with another main theme wrought in an elegantly complex chord progression.

Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant - 100%

Orbitball, June 10th, 2020
Written based on this version: 1997, CD, Nuclear Blast

This is by far the best Dimmu Borgir album that I've ever heard! Every song on here is amazing! The music, the guitars, the synthesizers, the keyboards, the vocals all innovative and amazing! This is a pretty symphonic album, but the riffs and aura is totally unique. I wish they didn't take a path for the worst in the black metal community. The rhythms on here are simply amazing! I've not heard such amazing riffs especially on "Mourning Palace", that one is an amazing track. But all of the tracks are equally good! The synthesizers go well with the music. They actually compliment it. Careful orchestration!

The music itself is the best to talk about here. Just the distortion filled guitars make every track just amazing. They just knew what they were doing on here. They carefully paved the way for many bands to follow in their foot-steps and with this in existence there's still time for the band to improve. It seems as though with the newer material they've abandoned their creative roots and lost a lot of fans, including me. But I'll always be a fan of some certain albums. Maybe 4 or more of their albums. But this one is insuperable. I don't know how they went from such an interesting band to making what they now make. It happens.

The production quality was a little raw, but still awesome that you can hear everything going on and it just all fits. I don't have any complaints with this release. They went from slowly progressing in the old albums to this one then started regressing. It's sad. I wish that some day that they'd create something like this one again. But it's just wishful thinking. We'll let this one alone in a category of its own. Their music on here just slays. I like the guitar riffs and vocals the most. And I hate to say it but the synthesizers as well. They weren't annoying at all. They made the album more atmospheric.

If you're new to this band, this is a good start! They're at their best on here and the riffs just tear your speakers apart! Amazing album and interesting band but caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) with the albums. This one is a good one to start with, the previous are too raw. That's my opinion at least. This one is raw but the music steals the audience, absolutely! You need to hear this release it's so epic and dominates on so many different levels! I'd just buy the CD. Show the band that fans are still interested especially those not exposed to the older material!

Breakthrough - 80%

Felix 1666, May 20th, 2020
Written based on this version: 1997, CD, Nuclear Blast (Digipak)

Everybody knows that “Enthone Darkness Triumphant” marked the breakthrough for Dimmu Borgir. Of course, a financially strong company like Nuclear Blast made it easier to catch the attention of the scene. A clever advertising strategy, a well-developed distribution network and a flawless production were important pillars for the success of the album. Well, honestly speaking, I thought it is a flawless production at the time of the output’s release. Today, the 56 minutes sound pretty polished to me, overloaded by keyboard sounds and without the necessary meanness each and every black metal album, even a symphonic one, should have. This does not mean that I do not like the mix. It scores with its full, warm and profound sound, but I would not call it flawless anymore.

However, a solvent company alone does not guarantee a classic, but “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” is definitely an album that deserves this commendation. So what were the further factors that catapulted Dimmu Borgir at the top of the black metal scene? Well, they came from Norway, the genre’s new epicentre (doubtlessly an advantage back in 1997), they had the finger on the pulse of the times and, last but not least, they had forged impressive songs. Unfortunately, exactly the opener does not belong to my favourites, although it generally enjoys a high reputation. From my point of view, “Mourning Palace” is pretty lame, consensus black metal that fails to uncover the grim face of the subgenre. The flickering keyboards are slightly annoying, great melodies are missing and only the instrumental part in the second half features more or less vigorous guitars. Yet there are also tracks that still make my blood run faster. The band reaches its absolute climax with “Tormentor of Christian Souls”. This song combines gloomy keyboards with aggressive, fast and straight rhythms, the guitars do not fall by the wayside and the vocals show the adequate degree of diabolic vibes. Every second of this number fascinates me. The infernal aura is perfectly combined with metallic belligerence and the track shines with pure energy and dynamic. The similarly constructed and equally demonic “Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh” also shows the formation in top form, not only in view of its maelstrom-like rapid sections.

Nevertheless, broad parts of the full-length put the emphasis on mid-harsh, melancholic, more or less gloomy parts. I would not call them romantic, even though abrupt, relatively soft breaks like one in “Prudence’s Fall” faintly point into this direction while revitalizing the aesthetics that gave “Stormblåst” its face. Dimmu Borgir love to wallow in pain and desperation, but they do not do it in a kitschy way. The (regular) closer “A Succubus in Rapture” bundles the strengths of the band. It connects attacking mid-tempo parts with softer yet licentious sequences. I would not say that every single note hits the nail on the head, but Dimmu Borgir had style, class and a clear musical vision. It is therefore no surprise that the bonus track on the eleventh position of the here reviewed edition keeps the quality level. Moreover, Raabjørn speller draugheimes skodde” adds a little portion of local colour, presented by a band that was definitely in a process of internationalisation.

Under the bottom line, there can be no serious doubt that the song material was the main reason for the impact the album made. By the way, did I already mention the grandeur and power of the galloping “In Death’s Embrace”? Okay, some brilliant moments, for example the spooky beginning of “Spellbound (By the Devil)” with its overwhelming melody, do not generate equally brilliant but “only” very good songs. Yet there are almost no fillers to find and even the less strong pieces mirror the tremendous potential of Dimmu Borgir in 1997 – the guys just were not always able to transform it into fantastic tracks. However, “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” was strong enough to establish the Norwegians on an increasingly controversial yet very prominent position in the black metal universe. Then came “Abrahadabra”. Is this a synonym for downfall? Either way, that’s another story.

Neo-Romanticism or Silliness Incarnate? - 85%

we hope you die, December 29th, 2018

Old days are passing into younger days. In the late 1990s, with the millennium on the horizon, black metal was established enough, and ubiquitous enough, to have a ‘typical’ version of itself. Variations abound. But by this time there was now such a thing as a ‘standard’ black metal riff, usually made up of minor chords, open strings, tremolo strummed. But like any form of art that reaches this stage in its evolution, some variants are decidedly shitter than others. Raw black metal’s greatest crime in the mid-1990s was to be boring. But the symphonic leaning that developed around the same time was guilty of a far graver sin. It became black metal’s answer to pop music, and it invoked disgust and revulsion as a result.

For a lot of metal fans, Dimmu Borgir are synonymous with shit. And it is true that from 2000 onwards they played up to the overblown, corpse-paint-cabaret, self-parody vibe with ever increasing gusto. But there is worth in their earlier works. Their debut, 1995’s ‘For all Tid’, was a low-fi offering that still managed to drip with charming melodrama and sorrow. It also began their proud tradition of shoving three unrelated words together to name their albums. Follow-up ‘Stormblast’ was more focused and mature, but lacked in creativity. Then in 1998 ‘Enthrone Darkness Triumphant’ dropped. For whatever sins this release has in the twinkly, camp department it makes up for in sheer charisma.

This is a focused unified release that does nothing more than be very good at poppy, melodic black metal laced with rich keyboards. It does not offer a reinvention of the wheel, nor does it pretend to new levels of northern obscurity. The production is fatter than previous releases. The guitar tone would be at home on a Swedish death metal album, and the flatness that made ‘Stormblast’ so boring has been filled out with more dynamics in the rhythm section and a more creative keyboard player (one who does not rip their ideas from prog rock and video games). The drums are frantic but exist to serve transitions from one passage to the next, never overstepping their bounds for music that already boasts its fair share of instrumentation.

Vocals are of the mid-range black metal distortion variety, but each lyric is perfectly audible. The riffs themselves would be more at home on a melodic death metal album. Gone is the ethereal tremolo strumming, in are power chords and palm-muting. Keyboards are put front and centre in as a lead instrument, offering up arpeggios, harmonies, and melodies, as well as filling out the sound with deep synth strings. When looking at EDT in the light of follow up releases it comes across as a work of restraint compared to the excessive ear candy that Dimmu Borgir would later indulge in. But love them or loath them, Dimmu Borgir did exactly what they set out to do on this release, and good music was the result, even if it left many furious.

So, to the horror of the purists, I'm going to give Dimmu Borgir’s ‘Enthrone Darkness Triumphant’ a pass. Don’t get me wrong, this artist would never release a worthwhile album again, although ‘Death Cult Armageddon’ has its moments in an excessively ridiculous way. At least their worst excesses still invoke a reaction in people, even if it is extremely negative. But on EDT they managed to walk the line of silly, poppy black metal bolstered up with enough imaginative riffcraft and musicianship to get away with it.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Where the legend really began - 100%

The Clansman 95, August 14th, 2018

Dimmu Borgir. Probably the most famous and successful black metal band in the world. Their origin dates back to 1993, in the city of Oslo, Norway. The name comes from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland; the name of this formation means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. In Icelandic folklore, Dimmuborgir is said to connect earth with the infernal realm. The Nordic Christian lore also states that Dimmuborgir is the place where Satan landed when he was cast down from the heavens by God, and there he created the apparent "Helvetes katakomber", which in Norwegian language means "The Catacombs of Hell". The six guys from Oslo really couldn't have chosen a more evocative name for their newborn band, one which fitted their music so well.

After releasing "For All Tid" and the widely praised "Stormblast", the band drew attention to Nuclear Blast Records, which became their label since the release of the legendary "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant", an album which is by many considered a real milestone in the history of black metal, and which is praised by fans and critics alike as one of the best (if not the absolute best) opus by the renowned black-metallers.

This is the album where we start to appreciate the transition from the melodic black metal style of the previous two releases, to what will become the actual symphonic black metal sound the band is widely known for. This is a turning point, and probably that's what it makes "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" so varied and interesting, as the two souls of the band's musical conception converge and blend together, giving birth to an absolute classic.

The increased use of synthesizers marks a shift from the band's previous musical style; the romantic music influenced keyboard scales and melodies provided by Stian Aarstad perfectly complement the rather technical guitar riffing offered by Silenoz and Shagrath (who, at the time, handled both vocal and guitar duties). The riffing is quite fast and relentless, mediumly technical, relying mainly on power chord progressions and tremolo picking, although in certain songs ("Entrance" and "A Succubus In Rapture", to name a few) the pace slows down to put a stress on the dark, gloomy, mystical atmosphere. The guitars, which are extremely distorted, sounding evil and haunting, and the keyboards, thanks to the wonderful arrangements (consisting mainly on scales making up lead sessions, or chords that set up for the general atmosphere), combine to craft the perfect combination of instruments where Shagrath's (who, from this album on, finally found what would be his trademark style) demonic screams and growls can shine. The drumming isn't as mindblowing as would be in later albums, but it still makes up for an excellent performance, fitting the music more than well and providing some interesting solutions. The bass is unfortunately almost impossible to hear.

The CD's production is absolutely top-notch, exquisite, as the album sounds dark, evil, haunting and not overproduced, retaining the characteristic core of the black metal sound, but not making it unlistenable or making it seem "potato produced". Nuclear Blast Really did an excellent job here. The song's lyrics deal with the themes of satanism, sorrow, pain, occultism: they are indeed really well-crafted, exquisitely written, somehow cryptic and full of arcane references. It is noteworthy that they are written entirely in english, for the first time, and the band would continue following this trend with later outputs, save the occasional song in Norwegian language.

The songs are all among the best stuff of the band's catalogue: the band performed the album in its entirety more and more times, due to the quality of the material present in it. Immortal classics from "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" include: the legendary, unforgettable album opener "Mourning Palace" (featuring an unmistakable keyboard intro, fantastic kayboard scales, an interesting time signature change from 6/8 to 4/4, a passionate performance by Shagrath, instantly recognizable and memorable riffing and vocals, a fantastic crescendo towards the end of the song, an alternation between furious and aggressive sessions and slower, gloomy, more evocative and atmospheric ones: really, this might be the best song the band has ever written), "Spellbound (By The Devil)" (again, great guitar work, fantastic keyboard intro and melodies, a great chorus and demonic vocals make up for another instant classic), "In Death's Embrace" (starting with a lighspeed combination of keyboard scales and guitar riffs that seem almost like chasing each other, leading to a few sung lines and then to a piano-dominated session), the furious "Relinquisment of Spirit and Flesh" and "Master of Disharmony" (the heaviest songs on the record, featuring incredible tremolo picking and furious blast beat sessions, and an extremely elegant solo too in the latter); really, each track would deserve to be mentioned, for each one has something special, unique and unforgettable to offer.

This album had such a success that it propelled black metal almost in the world of "mainstream" music, thanks to its outstanding quality in terms of songwriting, inspiration and musicianship, to a strong promotional effort by Nuclear Blast, and to some characteristics that made it more approachable even for those who weren't into this genre of extreme music (english-written lyrics, a great production, melodic elements granted by the keyboards, even the fact that the band logo was changed and was now fully legible). "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" is an instant classic, a milestone for an entire genre, an obliged listen to any fan of extreme music (or metal in general), and it's probably the best thing Dimmu Borgir has ever done: don't miss it for any reason, and give it a spin if you haven't already done that, even if you're not a fan of the band's newer material: you'll love it.

Who cares if it’s kvlt? - 83%

Myrkrarfar, May 9th, 2017
Written based on this version: 1997, CD, Nuclear Blast (Digipak)

Together with Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir is the most scorned band in all of black metal. Some even question whether they play black metal at all. Dimmu’s bombastic, orchestral and accessible sound has garnered lots and lots of shit in their bathtub, and it all started with 1997’s “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant”.

This album was a clear watershed for the Norwegians, manifested in many concrete ways. Compared to the two preceding albums (“For all tid” (1994) and “Stormblåst” (1996)) “EDT” sports a lot of divergent qualities, like lyrics written in English instead of Norwegian, a more polished and punchy (un-nekro) production courtesy of Abyss Studios & Peter Tägtgren, the album was released on Nuclear Blast (one of the largest metal labels) instead of Cacophonous (a small, more underground label), more death metal-oriented riffage with palm mutes etc. All of these things are considered less trve and kvlt, because they are allegedly proof of commercial motives and loss of integrity. I say, eloquently: fuck that shit, this album rocks like a motherfucker. If someone wishes to go mainstream, gain media attention and make a lot of money on their music, black metal with a professional production and English lyrics is, for fuck’s sake, not the way to go. Writing songs for pop artists or doing after-ski gigs with cover bands seems like a more reasonable way of cashing in.

Anyway, “ETD” starts off with what has probably become Dimmu Borgir’s biggest hit: “Mourning Palace”. The simple yet symphonic synth riff that starts off the track has reached iconic status, and showcases in a matter of seconds one of the main fortes of this album: catchy, simple ideas with clever arrangements that really pop out. More examples? Sure. “In Death’s Embrace” has a memorable triplet-feel piano lick; “Tormentor of Christian Souls” sports an über-simple thrash riff that drives the momentum forward; “Master of Disharmony” has clever vocal arrangements throughout the track; hell, all songs have their strong hooks, and that is what sets this album apart from the rest of DB’s discography. The songs are memorable, strong, well-arranged and still feel fresh 20 years later. With the arrival of Mustis and Nick Barker in ’98 and ’99, respectively, the material became more complex and lost its immediacy, and for me, this is clearly the best album Shagrath & co have released thus far.

The name of the game here is symphonic and accessible black metal with tints of death, thrash and heavy metal. Aggressive blasts, energetic two-beats, epic mid-tempos and some highly effective heavy stomping riffage give the songs good variation. Shagrath’s vocals are his trademark screams that suit the songs and blasphemous lyrics well. Tjodalv’s drumming is very matter-of-fact and no-frills, he doesn’t stray very far from his assigned beats and plays only generic fills. This kind of “unpersonal” drumming lays down a working foundation for the songs and moves the focal point to the riffs and vocals. Too much can easily become too much, and this kind of streamlining is what makes the guitar, synth and vocal hooks pop to the forefront. Effective arranging is what it’s called, or possibly a “kill your darlings” mindset.

Emperor’s “In the Nightside Eclipse” was the forefather, the album that created the blueprint for symphonic black metal with synths in a major role, and “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” is one of the crown princes carrying on the legacy and taking another step in the style’s evolution. That it became such a commercial success is, in my opinion, the result of both luck and skill. Luck, in that the timing was perfect: the second wave black metal boom that exploded following the exploits of Mayhem, Burzum etc peaked, the internet started to infest every household and the more polished and synth-heavy sound was probably more accessible than the a-goat-screaming-and-stomping-hooves-on-top-of-some-snake-hissing production of Burzum and Darkthrone (which is of course awesome, don’t get me wrong), making this album the one to promote to your newly found online friends that share your fascination with the music that comes from the minds of church burners in the land of ice and snow. And skill, as in songwriting, arranging and performing skills.

Well, no matter if you like this album or not, you can’t deny its impact on the black metal scene – for good or for bad. It became a flagship for the genre in the media, exposing the ideology etc for thousands of new people, and for a scene that prides itself in weeding out the weak that can only be a good thing, right? Whether you agree or not, you can still enjoy this album for what it is – a high-quality black metal album with lots of energy, good arrangements and strong hooks. Who cares if it’s kvlt? Grow up already.

Anthems to the Times Before the Nightside Eclipse - 80%

Subrick, April 27th, 2017

Or something to that degree.

Despite being one of the most famous and influential bands in all of black metal, the quality of Dimmu Borgir's music has not necessarily been the most consistent throughout their two decade plus career. They've run the gamut from woefully underproduced, somewhat-lazily-performed-but-still-kinda-hypnotically-interesting melodic black metal on For All Tid and Stormblast, to overly grandiose, often ridiculously overproduced symphonic black metal on later releases like In Sorte Diaboli. A couple times we've even had those two avenues intersect on albums like Spiritual Black Dimensions and Abrahadabra, featuring crappy production and, in the latter's case, crappy music to boot. When Dimmu get it right though, then oh Satan do they ever get it right. An album like Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is the prime example of such a sentiment, as out of everything the band has ever done, all the great cuts like Allehelgens Død I Helveds Rike and Sympozium to the not so great ones like The Sacrilegious Scorn and The Demiurge Molecule, this is one of three albums by them, aside from Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and Death Cult Armageddon, where they get it pretty much correct all the way through. Where this is surpassed by PEM and DCA, however, is that at least those albums have personalities all of their own. EDT, for all the enjoyable music found within, can't really make that same claim.

The best way to describe Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is that it's an album that technically works on most levels and contains some great songs and performances, but it perpetually reminds you of better albums from better bands. The albums that specifically come to mind in this instance are Emperor's legendary 1994 debut In the Nightside Eclipse, as well as their seminal 1997 release Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (which ironically came out slightly over a month after EDT, and Covenant's 1995 debut In Times Before the Light, which was helmed by contemporary Dimmu bassist Nagash and remains one of the most criminally underrated black metal albums of its day. You may be wondering why I'm not including Cradle of Filth's magnum opus Dusk... and Her Embrace in this list, and that's because outside of both bands playing symphonic black metal, neither band had much of anything musically in common at this point in their history. A convergence of sounds would occur later on down the line, but here, the most EDT and Dusk are alike is that both albums have keyboards, black metal riffs, some thrown-in guitar solos, and green album covers. As a whole, EDT plays like a toned down Anthems, with significant In Times and Nightside influences in the guitar and keyboard work. Much like Anthems was to Nightside, EDT shifts the primary focus of the music from the spacious atmosphere of the prior albums to dizzying guitar work (in theory, but not necessarily in execution, which I'll elaborate on later), only not quite as chaotic and retaining just a hair more of the vibe of the previous releases. The violence and chaos is still there, but it's a little more controlled, and thus, lacking some of the impact had the band just gone full bore into crazy riffing madness, which was rectified on the albums Dimmu released into the start of the new millennium. Songs like Mourning Palace, Entrance, and The Night Masquerade (which is so Covenant sounding that it might as well have been a track on In Times Before the Light) are more focused on the atmospheric side of the equation, with the more savage side of the band being unleashed throughout tracks such as Tormentor of Christian Souls, Master of Disharmony, and Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh. It's about an even mixture right down the line, but I can't help but feel that the album would have been just that much better if they had stopped focusing on the "melodic" part of their genre label and paid a little bit more attention to the "black metal" aspect of things. As is, none of the songs really reach the heights they are reaching for. Nothing's less than good, per se, but it's just not as good as it wants to be.

The side effect, however, of holding the guitars back from going full on crazy rifftacular madness is that the keyboards pretty much force their way to the front of the stage and make you pay attention to them the most. Those with less sensibilities towards keyboards in extreme metal might be greatly annoyed by this, but as a sucker for music like this, I find the keyboard work on this album to be among the best in all of melodic/symphonic black metal. The real triumph of EDT is the imaginative, evocative, often beautifully haunting collection of soundscapes created by Stian Aarstad on every single song on the album. The man is a real master at knowing exactly what to play at the exactly right time, with the exactly correct sound for the part. Much like Ihsahn's key work in Emperor, he tends to stick to string synths most of the time, but he often varies it up with piano and dark choir, and while it isn't as varied in terms of instrument sounds used as something like Dusk and Her Embrace is, it is just the right combination of sounds mixed with Aarstad's technical flair for these particular songs on this particular album to work perfectly as is. The one issue here in that respect is that the keyboard work is so fantastic that it makes every other instrument feel lesser in comparison. Bass is audible but not really doing anything special, often just following along with whatever the guitars are doing, and while the drums are impressive in their bursts of blasting and double bass that are pretty much required for extreme metal, they aren't really doing anything that hasn't been heard on every other black metal album you've ever heard in your life. It would take another album for Tjodalv to put out a truly masterful performance on his instrument of choice. In the vocal department, this is the absolute best Shagrath has ever sounded, snarling, shrieking, and screaming with every bit of rage, hate, and anger you'd expect from a mid-to-late 90s black metal release. Former vocalist Silenoz focuses 100% on guitar here, the sole exception being the re-recording of Raabjørn speiler draugheimens skodde from the debut For All Tid, and he sounds great on there as well. Later albums from the band would see a sharp, significant decline in vocal quality, but for at least one album (and the album after it), the vocals were fantastic.

Enthrone Darkness Triumphant as a whole, while still entertaining in many respects and every song being equally enjoyable and engrossing, is greatly bogged down by existing too much in the shadows of the similar sounding, superior albums released in the months and years before and after it. Listening through the album again, it primarily reminded me of and made me want to listen to the three albums I referenced in the review title, which no piece of digestible media should ever do if it wants to stand out on its own. It's good in short spurts, but not in the context of an entire album where you're going "Hmm, it's fine, and not technically wrong at all, but I just want to listen to Anthems again". As a stepping stone to the future, however, it serves much more effectively. As the band would later come into their own in the early 2000s with the fantastic Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and Death Cult Armageddon, the musical successes of those albums would only further serve to highlight that EDT, while wanting to be a legendary black metal album musically, just isn't that. It's still really good, don't get me wrong, and the music found within served as a foundation for the triumphs the band would put forth just a few years later, but it's just not as good as it could have been, or as good as its contemporaries and the albums that came after it. But it is the album that brought Dimmu Borgir to the dance, and it must always be recognized as that.

FLIRTING WITH GENRES... - 60%

prometeus, October 26th, 2014
Written based on this version: 1998, Cassette, Moon Records

I am amazed by how many positive reviews this album has, even though is flawed like hell. In fact, the only point of view I agree upon regards the somewhat balanced style of compositions it has as a whole, which provides a pleasant sound effect for the ears. The problem is that, if you take each track individually, you will find that they are weaker than the later tunes of the band. I can blame it either on the part of the band's limited technical abilities or their incoherent vision regarding their desired objectives. At the end of the listening experience, I am still wondering, just like many years ago, what they were trying to achieve, besides putting out an album.

The first observation that a novice in Dimmu Borgir's discography may have is the limited time they had between the releases of Stormblast and Enthroned Darkness Triumphant, like never before or after, meaning one year. One must question the reasons of the presumed rush and what were the effects of such a decision. Then, there were the lyrical transformation, opting for English instead of Norwegian, and the incorporation of various musical influences, such as from traditional heavy metal, speed metal, gothic rock/metal, dark ambient, death/thrash metal, of course, and some classical music, but very little to none. Finally, the end result was the recording of 12 songs, two re-recordings in Norwegian (one of them making it only on Godless Savage Garden MCD), one re-recording from Devil's Path, and the rest of them, novelties. I forgot to mention the fact that in the process of the making of the album, keyboard/piano player Stian Aarstad was frequently unavailable due to commitments in the Norwegian Army, Brynjard Tristan was replaced by Nagash, and Shagrath, besides being in Ragnarok and Nocturnal Breed (with Silenoz), was main vocalist, lead guitarist and keyboard player, so the band was not really very focused.

OK, having filled the context of the creation of EDT, I want to say something about the instrumental part. First, the rhythm section is very tight, with Tjodalv handling the drums with confidence, albeit with limited techniques. He compensated though, with creative fills and convincing percussion passages or military-like snare hits (see tracks 4, 7 and 10, respectively). The other half of the rhythm, the bass, is audible and has some interesting moments where it shines or at least is somewhat independent of the guitars, such as in track 1, 4 and 5. I think that, for a bassist, Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh must be the highlight of the album.

The guitars are, like the vocals, pretty straight-forward and technically limited to one-two chords per measure, except for the moment the players decide to play some sort of heavy/gothic metal, with black metal vocals and a tendency to create an aura of suspense (tracks 2 & 7), but without the dramatic or intense effect that the blackened genre is known. In addition, some solos are provided by Shagrath, who is really not impressive with the strings, but his aim was to add some variety and consistency to the album. And while the end result was the one desired, it does not make the whole effort much better. I think they realized that, as far as their black metal edge was concerned, they reached their potential with Stormblast, so they compensated their lack of dexterity and vision with their versatility and open-minded musical tastes.

I left the keyboards and the vocals last and will treat them in the same paragraph, because they have one huge thing in common: they are filled with cheap effects which kind of puts me off. Tracks 1, 3, 9 and 10 are quite dominated by the piano passages, reminding of some power, speed and gothic metal, while more tracks (some just mentioned) are suffocated by cheap choirs, which can remind some of the newer listeners of Stormblast MMV, but with shittier keyboard effects and compositions (I guess we all know who really took care of the 'choirs' on the 2005 record, do we now?). I guess I can only admire Shagrath's ambitions, even if he chewed more than he could bit at that time. The same goes with his vocals, which are impressive when left without the help of crappy, unimaginative effects (double or low-tuned/'monster' screams/growls); otherwise, they are just noisy and kind of childish.

In the end, I don't want to leave the reader with the impression that I think EDT sucks. There are two points I want to enforce: first, it is more developed and personal than Stormblast was, by taking into account the incorporation of the members' musical tastes in a... compromising project like a once one-genre band (forget the classical trained Stian Aarstad and his really limited input for a second), even if the softness of the keys and the non-extreme metal guitar riffs and solos can be off-putting. Second, I don't see it as a masterpiece, since Emperor was the first second-wave black metal band which deviated from the purer form of the genre, and Dissection and their similar sounding peers were experimenting quite a bit with Iron Maiden type of melodies. It is a very flawed album, with limited vision and coherence, with limited budget concerning the keyboard and vocal effects, and not to mention the skills of the players, beginning with Tjodalv and ending with Shagrath and Silenoz.

This diabolical beauty takes possession of me! - 96%

JosephPeratalo, September 17th, 2014
Written based on this version: 1997, CD, Nuclear Blast (Mispress)

The sound on this album is amazing. The mixing and production is perfect. The guitarists used a Maxon OD808 tube overdrive pedal alongside a Mesa Dual Rectifier to get a deep warm tone. They aren't the first to use this setup, but it lends itself perfectly to the music. The drum kit was a Pearl Masters set, which has excellent tone and gives the music so much power. Double bass is used to add to the atmosphere, and blast beats are played, with awesome accents on the cymbals (5:03 in ''Mourning Palace'' for example). The keyboards are also very good on this album. ''Entrance'' has the cool sounding chords all the way through it, ''In Death's Embrace'' and ''Prudence's Fall'' have great piano parts and across most of the album choir voices are used. All of this comes together to create an unforgettable, incredibly powerful atmosphere.

The lyrics are Satanic, yes. They definitely suit the music. Personally I like the lyrics for ''Entrance'' and ''Prudence's Fall'' the most. The lyrics for ''Spellbound (By the Devil)'' are probably the weakest. Shagrath's unique sounding vocals are deeper on this album than they are on the Devil's Path EP. Effects are used in most of the songs to turn his voice into a deep growl. The screamed vocals are also really powerful sounding, especially in the parts where they have recorded two vocal tracks (2:03 in ''Mourning Palace'' - "Feel the gloom of restless spirits, hear the screams from the Mourning Palace"). I think this album is where Shagrath's vocals are at their best, his style changed a lot for Spiritual Black Dimensions and albums after that.

This album was engineered by Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy), and the outcome is a very strong and polished sound. Melodies are everywhere on this album, and the shredding black metal parts show up all the time as well - both really high quality, just about as good as it can get. In fact, this is one of my favourite black metal albums ever. I must also mention the very dark and well done digipak artwork.

One thing that could have been better, however, is that Dimmu Borgir could have attempted to link their epic sound to tracks of a more epic length (the average length is about 5 minutes). Still, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is an album created in the depths of Hell. It doesn't have a raw sound, however, but has left us with a very good taste. Without a doubt, one of the best black metal albums in the genre's history

Ethereal - 100%

Nokturnal_Wrath, March 14th, 2014

Enthrone Darkness Triumphant; Dimmu Borgir’s crowning achievement marks a notable turning point for the band. From the dark and atmospherically brooding works of For All Tid and Stormblast, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant focuses on a much more keyboard centered layout with a higher focus on percussive riffs, thus giving the music a heavier, more rhythmic approach than what the band explored before.

The most noticeable change between Enthrone and the fantastic Stormblast is the use of keyboards. Whereas Stormblast made heavy use of them, they never once lead the music and were utilized more for atmosphere. Unlike said album, Enthrone uses the keyboards as a melodic instrument rather for atmosphere, at times often leading the music in place of the guitars; In Death’s Embrace. Despite the increased keyboard presence the music never once reaches the same bombastic heights as the band has become known for. It’s more grounded than their later works, much less cinematic and still has a focus on atmosphere even if the main point of focus is in the melodies. At times the rest of the music comes to a halt allowing the keyboards to play on their own.

For much of the music the guitars take backstage, and although there’s the odd riff and solo for much of the time, the guitars are mainly centered on creating a rhythmic backdrop to the keyboards. The guitar tone is much brighter than Stormblast, having a more polished and well rounded edge to them although they still retain a fuzzy edge to them. The guitars are kept mainly to simple albeit catchy melodies to compliment the washes of keyboards. They never play anything outwardly complex and some of the melodies get repeated a fair bit, they work really well with their simplistic nature and give the album a very organic and natural feel.

Unlike Dimmu Borgir’s other releases, this is a very flowing, smooth album that never feels rough or awkward. Each song compliments the song that came before and none of the transitions between keyboard sections to more traditional, black metal inspired sections never feel rough or forced. Despite a lot of the criticism hurled at Dimmu Borgir, I’ve always admired the way they can effortlessly mix heavy symphonics with metal, heck they’re probably one of the best bands to do so. There’s a good duality between keyboard use and the guitars giving the album a very well rounded feel. In general the music is quite light and airy, easily the bands most accessible release. Stian Aarstad is possibly the best keyboardist the band has had, there’s no symphonic overkill, just well played melodies that compliment the guitars perfectly. The song Entrance makes great use of keyboards where the winding ethereal melodies work well in unison with the percussive guitars.

Atmosphere might not be something Dimmu Borgir are known for, but I feel I have to point this out; Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is a very atmospheric, even dreamy album that captures the mystic essence of black metal incredibly well. Heck, it’s probably a good album to show a newcomer to black metal as it mixes the dark atmosphere with dreamy and mystical textures and atmospheric keyboards and riffs. It’s not a hard album to digest, but it’s incredibly well done and played. The production is good; often verging on “modern” but it never feels overdone. Vocally this is Shagrath’s crowning achievement, utilizing a style akin to loud roaring, he presents a very powerful and distinctive performance that unfortunately, he has never been able to replicate.

Although Dimmu Borgir have a lot of criticism leveled at them, some of which I agree with, most of which I don’t, I still hold this album to be one of the metal scenes high points. It perfectly mixes the atmospherically brooding nature of the bands early days with a more refined symphonic approach akin to their later works. It’s their most melodic/accessible album and is a black metal classic, no matter what elitists say Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is essential.

A change in the sound, but still epic nonetheless - 95%

DracuLeo, August 14th, 2011

As I stated in my review of Stormblast, Dimmu Borgir changes their sound with Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. From this album they stop sounding like true black metal and become more heavy. Of course, this kills the feeling of sorrow and darkness, but the atmosphere is still there - it's just has a different package. And most of the songs off this album range from enjoyable to masterpieces, as we shall see.

The album opens with Mourning Palace, whose string intro was written by Stian Aarstad. But just as you find yourself enjoying this little piece, the guitars burst in, this time with a heaviness which you wouldn't expect from a band like Dimmu Borgir if you've heard their previous 2 releases first. This song is a fan favorite and found its way through all of this band's live setlists. And on its own right! The guitar riffs are catchy, the keyboard sounds variate from strings and choirs to clever pianos, the drumming is sure to make your head bang faster than a paint mixer and the vocals are fantastic as always (this time Shagrath is performing the vocals with the band's new bassist, Nagash, as backing vocalist). Spellbound (By the Devil) begins with a creepy choir intro which becomes more melodic when the rest of the instruments kick in. Shagrath and Nagash do some terrifying screams in this song, all while the songs progresses. The keyboard offers us some good atmosphere with the church organ in the middle and the bell riff at the ending. And to make it more awesome, they added a guitar solo to follow the bell riff. Pretty clever, I must say.

In Death's Embrace is one of my top favorite Dimmu songs, as it features everything that made me love old Dimmu in this fresh high quality recording. It has a fast-paced piano intro, with almost thrash-like guitars and drums. Then Shagrath and Nagash do some amazing shrieking, and afterwards a slower piano follows. The guitars are pretty distorted in this song, but this makes them more enjoyable. In the middle of the song we have an orchestral string riff which is soon followed by the rest of the instruments and the vocals. Then the slow piano part repeats once more, having the vocals follow, and afterwards the real exciting part of the song comes. A beautiful piano riff is played, all while followed by the vocals, which sing: "Heavenly father is stretching his hand, pathetically begging for mercy/ We spit and piss on his sacred flesh, as we breathe the brerath of the unholy" And to add more to the epicness, they included another guitar solo to follow this beautiful piano. Once the solo finishes, all the instruments stop for a few seconds, only to have the cymbals announcing us that the madness has not ended. Then they repeat the first riffs of the song with Shagrath and Nagash concluding the epic battle between heaven and hell with hell's victory and the proclamation: "We are forever captured by the embrace of Death!". This is truly one of the best songs off the album, and should have been played more in my opinion!

Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh is one of the lesser songs of the album. It has some choir riffs here and there, some shrieking from Shagrath and Nagash, and of course heavy guitar riffing. Sadly, since this song doesn't have much catchiness, I can't comment much on it. The Night Masquerade begins with tremolo picked guitars and synthesized choirs trying to create a nightly atmosphere, thing at which they succeed perfectly. Silenoz even stated in interviews that this song was supposed to be on Stormblast, but it never reached that album. A pity, in my opinion, but it's still awesome. Its ending features female vocals asking a 'beast' to bring them to a realm of lust, sex and sodomy, and Shagrath replying with demonic growls "Blood is life, and it shall be ours!". Pretty creepy, in my opinion. Tormentor of Christian Souls is a true mix of melody and brutality. Starting with a haunting choir, continuing with a brutal guitar, then with even more choirs, this song is sure to make you headbang or scream loud along with the blasphemic lyrics. There is even an awesome fast-paced piano near the end of the song. Good way to add more melody, I must say.

Entrance is where the album continues the melodic part which started with its first 3 songs. This song begins with a choir intro and then the rest of it consists of really catchy bell melodies. The tempo is rather slow, compared to the other songs. But everything fits in very well, and if it were not for the blast beats, this song might have been a black metal ballad. However, another track off this album is the ballad, and an amazing one, as you'll see when we reach it. Master of Disharmony is a re-recording off the band's Devil's Path EP, this time without the ambient intro and with much more heaviness added. The song begins with Shagrath's and Nagash's screams, heaviness, speed and chaos all over, and then continuing with Shagrath reciting his prayer to the Master of Disharmony, and we all know who that is. The only notable things off this song might be the choirs, some of Shagrath's vocals and of course the guitar solo. But that's all I can say about this song. Prudence's Fall begins pretty much like In Death's Embrace, with fast-paced pianos. This song is melodic like hell, the pianos being as catchy as in the 3rd track. Another interesting thing might be the fact that the lyrics make this song the title track of the album. They speak about Lucifer's fall from heaven and add to it some spiritual mysticism and a little elegant satanic flair. And quite opposed to the intro, the ending is pretty slow-paced, the piano adding more emotion and atmosphere than ever.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the ballad of the album and one of the best Dimmu songs of all time. I bring you... A Succubus in Rapture! This song by far is one of the most different Dimmu songs of all time, and I will show you why. First of all, the lyrics are not satanic, like the rest of the album was. They speak about a man being entranced by the spell of a succubus and consequently making love to her until he dies. The pianos are atmospheric and romantic the same time, adding even more elegance than on Prudence's Fall. The drumming is pretty slow, but this fits the song's atmosphere. The guitars at first do not seem as an important element, but near the middle of the song they show what they're capable of, coming up with a beautiful melodic riff. After that, they stop and leave room for the piano, drums, bass and rather clean vocals of Shagrath to prove to us that they're still alive. Then the song repeats some riffs and at 3:46 is where utter perfection begins. A slow piano plays a romantic song and is then joined by the guitars which play an even deeper and romantic riff. And this was just the prelude for the real awesomeness: the guitar solo! No words can describe its beauty and awesomeness, it's something that is sure to get stuck in your head after you hear it. And once the 1 minute guitar solo ends, the song slowly fades away as the guitars repeat the riff from the middle and Shagrath attempts one last shriek, saying: "Her diabolical beauty enchants your bewildered mind!" And he was right, if this song was the Succubus, I was completely enchanted and I would never ever want to leave her trance. Congratulations, Dimmu Borgir, you've written another masterpiece and probably my second or third favorite Dimmu song, after Stormblast. Good job!

And last, but certainly not least, is the re-recording of Raabjorn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde. Honestly, I prefer the original because it was more raw and atmospheric, but this song is also priceless because of the pianos that Aarstad added on the intro and in the middle. The rest sounds like the original with high quality.

So this is my review of Dimmu's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. It may not have been true black metal, but it was a ride that I'll never forget. It has the catchiness of old Dimmu mixed with some mainstream metal elements, and over all, is a truly enjoyable release.

Favorite tracks: Mourning Palace, Spellbound (By the Devil), In Death's Embrace, Entrance, A Succubus in Rapture

A pretty substantial change. - 82%

hells_unicorn, May 13th, 2009

This is regarded as a transitional period for Dimmu Borgir, not only in the sense that this is where a lot of the band’s success started to take hold, but also because the character of their sound became a bit more subdued. Right in neighboring Sweden there was a booming melodic death metal scene taking hold and making inroads even in the alternative rock dominated USA, spearheaded by the consonant musical underpinnings of Dark Tranquillity and In Flames in spite of the harsh vocal work, and also the emergence of a faster and more riff happy, power metal-like alternative via Finland’s Children Of Bodom. Whether or not Dimmu was aware of all these bands when they began constructing the songs for this album, the end result is something that blends both of those approaches to melodic extreme metal with this band’s already established symphonic sound as pioneered by Emperor.

In two respects there was a huge leap away from the character that kept “For All Tid” and “Stormblast” within the same essential paradigm that defined Norwegian black metal. The first and most obvious is the radical change in the production, which has left the distant, raw sounding aura of coldness and despair for a much more polished and tight arrangement that has every dimension clearly defined. A good analogy would be the radical contrast between the nebulous imagery of impressionist art where figures seem to fade in and out of each other, versus the clear cut and defined dimensions of a Renaissance or Romantic era painting. I’ve personally come to see both approaches to production as having their own charms, but I tend to prefer the older approach to black metal albums as it has a very unique character, separating it not only from modern practices but also from all other styles both before and after it. The other and not quite as obvious change is the beginning of a stricter approach to song structure that is a bit closer to the one that Immortal had adopted at around this time as well. But while said black metal pioneers poised their music a little closer to a melodic variant on death/thrash, Dimmu seems to be a bit closer to a keyboard heavy yet not as strictly defined variant on Swedish melodeath.

This is not to suggest that this is in the same style as Dark Tranquillity, but more that the lines between black metal and that style have been blurred a bit here, mostly by putting a greater emphasis on hook driven riffs. Certain songs such as “Mourning Place” and “Entrance” take on a tiny bit of a catchy power metal character with keyboard ambiences that are strikingly similar to what would be heard out of the likes of Kalmah and Skyfire just a few years later. “In Death’s Embrace” all but completely embraces that epic style of galloping power chords and bombastic keyboards that would be exploited by Kalmah and contrasts it with a series of somber piano lines that have a gothic, almost Nightwish character to them. There is a general sense of blackness that is maintained in the guitar presentation, but these three particular songs definitely seem to be flirting with something very different with where this band started out. Even Shagrath’s vocal delivery seeks to be a bit more subdued and intelligible during these songs, though they don’t come quite to the point of being obvious in their enunciations and are still fairly garbled.

The band doesn’t forget their roots completely here, and do offer up a few really nice slices of Emperor oriented, ice blasting majesty. “Relinquishment Of Spirit And Flesh” has sort of a weird keyboard intro that almost sounds like it was borrowed from Darkthrone’s “Soulside Journey”, but afterward it’s a beautiful barrage of blurring blasts and rapid guitar riffs trading blows with mysterious sounding buildup sections with coldness bleeding from every note. “Tormentor Of Christian Souls” has a similar mix of nebulous speed and darkened atmospheres, but with a little bit more of a Thrash character at most junctures. “Master Of Disharmony” and “Prudence’s Fall” are also excellent examples of the band translating a slightly simpler version of “In The Nightside Eclipse” into the medium of a clearer, crisper production character that will be a bit easier for non-2nd wave fans to grasp.

It’s difficult to truly nail this album down into one particular category, as it seems to be a perfectly blended half-breed of old and new practices, but it could be argued that this had a level of influence upon some of the later, more animated and power/thrash oriented melodic death bands that came a bit later after the Gothenburg scene came into prominence. It’s basically a solid release, though some of the songs seem to run together a bit, and is definitely something that would be worth checking out unless your deeply entrenched within the traditional raw style that first typified this music.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on May 13, 2009.

Dimmu's finest moment - 98%

deatmetaljunkie, November 3rd, 2008

Dimmu Borgir have been at the forefront of the Norwegian black metal scene for quite some time. Their popularity has exploded since they signed to Nuclear Blast, toured the United States on Ozzfest, and produced big budget albums like Death Cult Armageddon. This newfound popularity has had mixed results from fans and critics alike. Some have accused them of selling out while others see them bringing black metal to the mainstream as a good thing, but enough about that, for today we’re looking at Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, arguably the band’s greatest work.

Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, whether you like the album or not, has been considered Dimmu’s breakthrough album and one of the most highly regarded symphonic black metal albums for many reasons. This was Dimmu Borgir’s first album for Nuclear Blast and was the first album to feature English vocals (their two previous albums were sung only in Norwegian). The album also gathered a good amount of controversy around the time of its release regarding its highly anti-Christian themes and lyrics (more on that later). As a whole, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant sees Dimmu Borgir reaching a level of majesty and cohesiveness that they have never been able to touch even ten years later.

Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was recorded at Abyss Studios and features the sterile and big production of Hypocrisy main man and studio owner Peter Tagtrgen. The guitars are as clear as glass and pack quite a punch. The drums sound appropriately triggered and the ominous keyboards sound rich and dark.

Dimmu kick of Enthrone with their very popular song “Mourning Palace”. This mid paced tune features a very dark, brooding synth section under Shagrath’s possessed screams. Shagrath’s vocal style is different here than on successive releases but his genuinely spirited performance has never been matched. As opposed to the average sounding croaks featured on later releases, Shagrath is howling like a spawn of Lucifer would. His demonic screaming is still unsettling to me at times and is a highlight of the album. The song is very strong and provides an accurate representation of the material at hand. The last minute and a half of “Mourning Palace” is simply breathtaking. The melodic tremolo picked guitars are backed by fast double bass and a majestic and intricate synth part. The song ends with the same melodic riff, but this time is joined by Shagrath and the now blasting drums.

The next song “Spellbound (By the Devil)” is another standout track. Like the previous track, “Spellbound” starts off with the brooding synth section. The track in all its evil glory marches along for the first minute until a brief shift in tempo occurs, which contains another album highlight. Shagrath comes in, spewing the lyrics “By the Devil!” in such an agonizing way that he has never topped since. The blasting drums come in, augmenting Shagrath’s intense scream. The track continues along in its evil marching pace until the bridge. The entire band drops outs, leaving the keyboards to create a delicate yet sorrowful melody. The rest of the band comes in, with complimentary guitar melodies backed by driving double bass before fading away.

We then come to Dimmu Borgir’s most infamous track “Tormentor of Christian Souls”. While being another excellent track from a musical standpoint, the lyrics of this song in particular have been a source of controversy for the band. Nuclear Blast refused to (and still does to my knowledge) print the lyrics to this song because of its very anti-Christian and sadistic nature, not that it does much since Shagrath’s pronunciation is very clear and most don’t need a lyric sheet to understand the lyrics. Musically, this is the most aggressive track on Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. The song kicks off with a lengthy blasting intro (by Dimmu standards) that is augmented by the keyboards. After the intro the band continues along at a thrash pace as Shagrath spews his evil liturgy. The band slows down in the middle and lets the keyboards create a sinister atmosphere. Shagrath enters again with some more depraved lyrics before returning to blasting speeds.

The rest of the songs are equally excellent and powerful, with each having a unique strength and character to it. There is a good mix of the faster, more aggressive tracks with the brooding, slow, atmospheric tracks. There are no filler or even average tracks to be found here, just metal of the highest quality.

With Enthrone Darkness Triumphant Dimmu Borgir have cemented themselves among symphonic black metal’s elite. The album as a whole contains the strongest collection of songs on any Dimmu records, including many of their live staples and fan favorites. The symphonic element found here may not feature full orchestras and choirs like later releases, but is able to attain the same majestic effect through rich and powerful keyboard lines. Shagrath gives his best performance on this record also, sounding genuinely evil rather than his more typical performances on recent releases. The songwriting is very strong, and while for the most part I like all of their albums, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is the only Dimmu Borgir album that I can listen to all the way through. The band seemed to have a real fire to make an outstanding album all across the board that is lacking on later releases, where I really like a few songs but find the rest to be average and uninspired. I’m fine with that, because Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is unparalleled in the symphonic black metal genre, with an exception being Emperor. You should give this album a spin if you’re into well composed and executed symphonic metal, because you will find few albums in the genre of equal or better quality.

Possessed by their search for utter darkness. - 80%

Diamhea, October 28th, 2008

The final album featuring the vintage Dimmu Borgir lineup; Enthrone Darkness Triumphant boasts melodic black metal in near-perfect form. All of the trademark characteristics of the band's early sound is present: A mid-paced tempo, modestly technical guitarwork, a strong, atmospheric keyboard presence, and powerful vocals. Perhaps the most momentous deviation from their preceding release "Stormblåst" is the departure from the classical piano sections that defined said album. Stian Aarstad's more reserved contribution here lays the groundwork for the dense atmosphere present on classics such as "Spellbound" and "Mourning Palace". The rhythm-centric guitar playing of the Silenoz/Shagrath tandem rarely deviates enough to stand out, yet helps add another layer to the driving, slower tempo that remains constant on this album. The solos, however, are incredibly apt. Tjodalv's unique playing style continues to improve, laying down a concrete backbone to the sound. Shagrath's vocals are freakishly good here; easily one of his best outings. His present decline to a vocoder-dependent croak sickens me to the core.

The production is remarkably good for its time, significantly more polished than anything the band had released up to this point. Nagash is, however, robbed of any of the spotlight. The bass is buried in the mix, stereotypical of far too many metal releases. Enthrone Darkness Triumphant's strongest cluster of tracks resides at the beginning; the first three tracks are the best of the bunch. Things slow down afterward yet maintain a very high standard; all of the tracks are incredibly solid, albeit similar. "Entrance" breaks up the monotony a bit, and "Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde" is in one word: Majestic. If there was one point I would have to nitpick it would be the comical "evil" voices utilized on "The Night Masquerade". Not quite sure what the band was thinking of then. Regardless, fans of the band and melodic black metal as a whole will find plenty to feast on here. At the very least, its importance in the grand scope of the black metal scene has to be respected, as the commercilization of the genre owes a lot to Enthrone Darkness Triumphant.

The final offering, the Opus Magnum... - 97%

WilliamAcerfeltd, October 20th, 2007

Oh how the mighty have fallen...

Not all that long ago, Dimmu Borgir were one of the most respected bands to come out of Norway, put on the same level as bands such as Emperor. Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was really the beginning of the end for Dimmu Borgir; it was the last chapter for them, or the final rites if you will, before they started to go downhill. It is therefore appropriate that this album is their finest moment.

Sure, Dimmu's golden days are irretrievably behind them and now they are hated much in the same way Cradle of Filth are. This was probably one of my first symphonic black metal album's I received when I was just 16 and it played a big part in getting me into black metal as a whole. Dimmu Borgir were (and still are) gifted musicians who can play their instruments quite well, the problem is, they now play music not for black metal fans as they were here, but for angsty posers.

The album uses quite nice synths which aren't cheesy unlike what would happen in later cases. Usually the synths will be used twice, then guitars will come in and synths will continue in unison. Like most good symphonic metal bands around, the band is able to combine the synths and the metal parts together well, that is, no part is more dominate than the other.

I think a shout needs to go out to the keyboardist, Stian, although he does look kinda funny he's an excellent keyboardist and in my opinion, his departure from the band is partly to blame for Dimmu going down the drain. He is far better than any keyboardist Dimmu has ever had, listening to songs such as In Death's Embrace will attest to this. Some of the keyboards on this album are very difficult to play, yet he plays them masterfully well and the result is simply stunning.

The riffs on this album are basically written around the synths of the album, which drive the album. Seeing as how the synths are quite good, the riffs are also good because its pretty much impossible to write a band riff based on a good synth. On a completely unrelated note, the drumming is nothing special but it still gets the job done.

The ultimate failing of this album is that is has a low replayability factor. You'll most likely love this album straight away and so you'll keep on playing it, however around about the tenth listen, this album will start to wear thin and it will cease to dazzle you like it used to. This is what happened with me, so I buried it amongst my metal collection. However, if you haven't listened to this in a while spin it, the time apart, may do you some good!

Conclusion: The above is recommended for download or purchase.

Epic melodic black metal done right - 96%

MaDTransilvanian, October 12th, 2007

Dimmu Borgir started getting major commercial attention with the release of this album. Of course, that’s normal for most of us but horrible to elitists. Sacred cow of commercial black metal my ass…they make it melodic and it’s damn good. I personally feel it’s more interesting to have more variation with black metal: some raw old school, some normal and some symphonic. All are good and it would be far more boring if there would be nothing but the raw variety.

This album sees a major change in the band’s sound. First of all the production’s improved tremendously from their first to efforts although it’s still kind of far from the incredibly polished sound of their newer albums starting from Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia up to In Sorte Diaboli.

This album is drenched in keyboards and they’re extremely well-done. To be honest I prefer Stian’s keyboard melodies to Mustis’ although both are very good. This can be heard from the first seconds of the opener, Mourning Palace. This track has one of the most amazing and epic intro’s I’ve heard. You’d think they started with a real orchestra here and not just on Puritanical.

The rest of the album continues in this very symphonic and epic manner. On first listen the rest of the songs probably won’t seem as good as Mourning Palace and will kind of blend together (well they did for me) but after a few listens each track’s uniqueness will stand out very well. The album has a very grandiose feeling to it, and this feeling is further enhanced by what is possibly Dimmu’s best cover art along with For All Tid.

Each band member does quite a good job here, although apart from the keyboards nothing stands out too much. It’s a nice overall mix which makes for a very consistent album. Shagrath’s vocals are good, purer and colder than what he does today although not the best in black metal and both Nagash and Silenoz provide some nice backing vocals too. It’s the last album with them providing backing vocals as Simen Hestnæs (ICS Vortex) joined the band for the making of Spiritual Black Dimensions and did the backing vocals, although they’re clean in his case. Bass is well done, Nagash does a good job here but I believe ICS Vortex to be superior to him on the albums he does bass (after Spiritual Black Dimensions). Silenoz and Astennu’s riffs help create much of the album’s atmosphere as they meld very well with Stian’s keyboard work. Finally on the instrumental side we have Tjodalv on the drums and I must say he has some nice patterns, doing some double bass and blast beats sporadically here helps put the finishing touch to a well-rounded album. While all this is well done it’s not as technical as their newer work, especially on Death Cult Armageddon and Puritanical.

Lyrically nothing really stands out although it’s much better than what’s on the coming albums. It’s the standard stuff about damnation, death, darkness and whores. What an imagination these guys have. Still, it doesn’t affect the music badly. It actually suits it.

This album has one slight flaw though. The last 35 seconds of The Night Masquerade are exceedingly annoying. They have some truly shitty female vocals and some awful "demonic growl" done by computer during the last 5 seconds.

So this is kind of simple…this is an excellent symphonic black metal album, you’ll love it if you accept to listen to it a few times and don’t some phobia towards keyboards. It’s one of Dimmu’s best albums, probably only weaker than the 1996 Stormblåst, it’s very consistent, it’s very enjoyable and it should be in your possession. Highly recommended.

Dimmu's Crowning Achievement. - 97%

woeoftyrants, April 10th, 2007

The first two Dimmu Borgir albums saw the band undertake a primitive but atmospheric niche in metal that received much criticism from the metal community worldwide for not being.... well, as metal as they should be, I suppose. Though Stormblast was a significant step up, it was still a plodding, melodramatic piece of work that had neo-classical influence written all over its underproduced facade. So, upon the band's signing to Nuclear Blast, it was clear that things would change. And they did, for the better. Enthrone Darkness Triumphant sees Dimmu Borgir producing a fully focused, aggressive, and heavy album while maintaining the symphonic flirtations that made them infamous. Not only that, but it also saw the arrival of the band's boisterous new sound, and Shagrath taking over the vocalist spot.

Unlike previous outings, there isn't a hint of hum-drum plodding where riffs are played for the sake of continuing the song. All of the songwriting tendencies have progressed into forward-thinking compositions that maintain the atmospheric, dramatic flair that made Stormblast a stepping stone for the band. The majority of the songs are worlds heavier than what Dimmu ever acheived on their first two albums; galloping drum tempos and blast beats run amok here, exchanged with guitar runs that seem to take more influence from heavy metal than black metal. This works to the band's advantage, though, as its scope seems even more epic and towering than what they were aiming to acheive in the first place. With more interesting, varied, and progressive song structures, Dimmu broke themselves out of a self-created artistic dirge. The tight and highly evolved musicianship adds plenty of ear candy, and makes for Dimmu's most dynamic release. Rippers like "Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh" are perfectly counterbalanced by slower, but equally powerful numbers like "Mourning Palace" and "Entrance," so nothing ever becomes repetitive.

Silenoz's guitar work has grown increasingly complex, but does not reach a point of virtuoso or wankery here. The heavy metal influence I spoke of comes through in spades on the galloping verses of "In Death's Embrace" and the otherworldly splendor of "Entrance," but there is still plenty of heaviness, and a dark, ominus nature that was missing, but is much welcomed. The blast-ridden "Tormenter of Christian Souls" and undeniable staple "Master of Disharmony" feature foreboding, ripping guitars that bring that he.lish feeling to life. The riffs here may very well be the most inspired and creative that Dimmu have written, from the harmonized solos in "A Succubus in Rapture" to the Maiden-esque ending of "Spellbound (By the Devil)." And unlike past releases, the guitars strike out on their own here, and power the songs forward with conviction. The aforementioned "Master of Disharmony" feature blazing tremolo riffs and a great solo, and the ending of the classic "Mourning Palace" features an amazing melodic riff that drives the rest of the song with passion.

Thank God that Shagrath took over the vocal spot, because Silenoz may have damn well ruined this release. Shagrath's vocals here are drastically different here than what he does now; they're not of the lifeless, raspy sort, soaked in studio effects. Rather, they're polished but still fierce and passionate screams. "The Night Masquerade" may very well one of the best tracks he's ever recorded as vocalist, and the slightly more accessible "Entrance" gives the man even more of a chance to show off his gutteral but piercing screams. There's some occasional layering here, which works to create a dense and monstrous feel, especially on the fierce ending of "Tormentor of Christian Souls." Unfortunately, he only went downhill from here, but this is one of his best performances with the band in the studio. There's enough polish in his voice to help keep with the drastic change in sound, but yet he maintains the feeling needed for the lyrics and songs.

Along with the rest of the band, Tjodalv has improved a lot as a drummer. Fast-paced double bass and blast beats are displayed on "Master of Disharmony" and other rippers, while room is left for the pure atmospheric power of "In Death's Embrace" and "Mourning Palace." There is also a progression in fills here, as well; the transitions in passages are consistently smoother, and the fills make the songs all the more interesting.

Once again, Stian proves to be the sweetheart of the band with his synth work. The sound here is still in the background, but adds such a huge, epic sound without coming off as forced or cheesy as before. The clean sound of the choirs that starts off "Spellbound" is nothing short of powerful, and the tumbling pianos on "Prudence's Fall" bring a true classical flair to the band's new ferocious sound. All of the key work creates such an ethereal, almost heavenly feel, but can just as easily switch gears on the pounding "Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh." Before they went overboard with orchestras, Dimmu were genuinely able to create an atmosphere that didn't overpower the music; this album is a prime example.

The rich, thick aspects of Abyss studio have always been revered in metal, and it boosts Dimmu's sound incredibly. The sharp, focused drum sound let's Tjodalv's skills truly shine through, while the beefy guitar tone give everything a shot of clarity and heaviness that had long been missing in Dimmu's sound. The slightly reverbed keyboards only accentuate the atmosphere created, and the overall clean, polished production of this album proved to be Dimmu's best.

ETD is without a doubt Dimmu Borgir's landmark release; it showed new steps for them, and may damn well be their best album to date. Its consistency, atmosphere, and genuine passion and ambition that drives the music will definitely strike a chord with listeners.

Forget the elitism it's a brilliant album - 91%

AngelofBreath, January 28th, 2007

So we come to Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, Dimmu’s third full length effort. This was the album that really marked a breakthrough in the band’s work, and with pretty good reason. The production is not only acceptable but is actually brilliant. You can actually here all the instruments properly for once. The band also changed their logo to something which is readable without moving at speed past the emblem in a vertical or (more hopefully) horizontal direction, began singing songs in English instead of the band’s native Norwegian and signed to Nuclear Blast. If you know anything aboot Black Metal fan boys you’ll know that the phrase “sell out album” can’t be too far away.

One of the problems it seems with Black Metal is that, to some, it is a masochistic genre, because as soon as a band who have been doing it for a while get their act together and make an album that is either a bit different from what they’ve been trying, not the stereotypical norm, or even with credible production it seems it gets saddled with the rubbish aboot selling out and going for the money. So it is the case with Satyricon and Emperor, it’s also Dimmu’s lot to be labelled such, in still a quite early stage of their evolution , with much of their more ‘suspicious’ popularist work ahead of them, if you like to think of it that way. The fact that some claim this was aimed at bringing in the cash etc. etc. just shows the sheer idiocy of this position. This, and even their later work is still only going to appeal to a minority. Sweet City Jesus! Get a sense of perspective and get your snobbish heads out of your asses!! Melody and palatability of sound production should not be mistaken with softening up for the sake of getting more money.

The songs are absolutely cracking, good use of keys throughout and a guitar tone that positively gleams compared to the previous release “Stormblast”. This is probably my favourite Dimmu release to date, and I recall that it was this album, much like somebody else on here has said, that prompted my expedition into Black Metal and other forms of extreme metal with greater freedom. This was, in short, the first album that I initially was scared of and then managed to get over that conception we all have when we’re younger that death/black metal vocals are something to shy away from or treat with alarm. There’s a dark beauty to this album and it’s one of Dimmu’s foremost minor masterpieces and contains many of their classic songs. Tracks like “Mourning Palace”, “Spell Bound”, “In Death’s Embrace” and “Succubus In Rapture” are songs you just have to hear. The last of these (“Succubus…”) is a gorgeous climax to the album, where the shining guitar solo almost seems to fall around you like steely rain. Following this is the revamped (thank heavens…or hell) version of “Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde”, which is on as the secret unlisted track 11. Sweet buggery, did this song benefit from the rerecording. Far superior to the original, it is the perfect way to reflect on this album as a step up for Dimmu Borgir in both ability and song writing. It’s at a decent speed, the riffs are played so that they sound crunchier, and it actually sounds as devastatingly epic as it should do.

Aside from all the good things to say aboot this release is the fact that there are definitely things which aren’t great. Some tracks, such as “Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh”, are out of place due to their lack of invention in comparison to some of the finer tracks. As well as this there are tracks towards the end which at times feel like their dragging their feet and could have been cut down, and I’m sure same riff is reused on the songs “Master of Disharmony” and “Prudence’s Fall”.

Cheesiness is also a fact at times, as is likely to happen if you have such a keyboard rich album. Particularly notables is the downright dumb demonic voice at the end of the “Night Masquerade”, which is nigh on laughable. But make no mistake, this is of no real consequence. Metal is by it’s nature a ridiculous genre anyway, that’s one of the things that makes it rule so much. Everything is written large and OTT. You can grow your hair long, get a stupidly big beard, claim other people’s tastes in music are “gay” whilst simultaneously listening to bands that dress in skin tight leather, metal studs and wear make up. Then you can throw the horns at the world and tell it to fuck off because you listen to metal. And after all this, is cheesiness anything to be preoccupied by in metal?

Dimmu Borgir are a band who set out, not work within boundaries but to bust through them and realise their potential, and this album continues their progression towards doing so. They’ve got more skill and ability than to just waste it by letting the narrow confines of one of the most ridiculously elitist sub-genres in metal dictate their principles to them. The defence of this album seems ludicrously unnecessary to me, yet people still spout the same arse-gravy over and over that reminds me of when I was 17 and hated anything that didn’t sound like Slayer. People claim that this is aimed at teenagers in their bed rooms and has no meaning. Yet there is nothing so pitifully teenaged and recluse-living-in-his-room-periodically-venturing-forth-to-ask-his-mum-for-more-Doritos-whilst-he’s-online-playing-RPGs-like as someone who sticks to this immature, arrogant unwritten check list of what makes something sell-outish or untr00 to black metal.

This is a absolutely great CD and was one of my favourite albums for ages. Melodic Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal, Extreme Symphonic Metal, Extreme Symphonic Melodic Black Metal….
Whatever it is, it’s great metal!

Meet the sacred cow of commercial black metal - 25%

Kab, September 15th, 2006

Some would say "Enthrone Triumphant Darkness" is Dimmu Borgir's defining masterpiece, and that they "sold out" after this. I say it's the band taking a giant shit after getting too comfortable, creating an album that attempts to capture the feeling of "Stormblast" and "For All Tid", but ultimately only goes through the routine motions of creating a worthwhile symphonic black metal album. Old Dimmu Borgir was all about bombast. Among the folk interudes and lush keyboard lines, they could have been confused with power metal by the average metal fan until the black metal vocals kicked in. And yet, they also possessed talent, a sense of direction, and an honest artistic sentiment. While "Stormbast" seemed to transport the listener to Medieval Europe, "Enthrone..." is an abortion that forces you in some kind of gothic renaissance fair than sells Invader Zim Merchandise.

This album showcases Dimmu Borgir drenching generic speed metal in irrelevant, fluffy keyboards to chime casually in the background, and contrived chord progressions; cartoonish, slow-burning solos and palm-muted pseudo-thrash riffing. Shagrath is admittedly not too bad of a vocalist at this point, at least, but he's not too great either. Stormblast's "Antikrist" was his most passionate performance, now he atonally bellows stuff like "SICKENING SOULS!!! CRY OUT IN PAIN!!! BWOORGH!!!" Basically, Dimmu Borgir have mastered the art of bullshit. A song greets the listener with warm keyboards, meanders along clumsily in this fashion for several minutes, before a convoluted crescendo in vein of a second-rate Dissection kicks in. This catchy, cut & paste method of songwriting creates the illusion of depth, but leaves much to be desired upon repeated listens.

Overall, this album is to black metal, as Machine Head is to thrash metal: A turgid parody. Not only is there better black metal, there's better metal in general.

The album that got me into Black Metal. - 98%

Chopped_in_Half, July 21st, 2006

Before I heard this album, I wasn't really keen on the Black Metal genre, but I finally decided to swallow my pride, and pick out a Black Metal album, and this was the one, and the first listen I was hooked, seeing what I was missing out on the whole time I ignored the genre.

The production on this album is fantastic, everything is up front and heard, the guitars have a very cool sound to them also, very fitting for the band, the keyboards are in the right place, not overdone at all, Shagraths vocals are top form here, sometimes even sounding like a Death Metal vocalist, evil sounding, and the drumming is very nice, nice fills/grooves ect ect...

Before I had purchased the album, I had heard the song "Mourning Palace" somewhere before, and it's what made me by the album, opening with a slow symphony clip that works it's way into the song, works very well as the guitars follow it, and Shagraths evil/demonic voice comes in, and takes command, this song has a great atmosphere around it, and the riffs/symphonic sounds after the first verse is very cool, this song is a well done blend of melodic meets heavy, and the break has some very cool leads in it, now before I listened to the album after buying it, I was hoping it wasn't just one good song on it, and trust me, it wasn't, "Spellbound (By The Devil)" Is nothing short of amazing, stands right up there with the first track, opening with an evil sounding clip, and very cool riffs and symphony backround, this song has some very nice double bass work in it, Shagrath sounds very good on this one as well, love the keyboard break at about 1:12, and then the chorus finishes, this really does catch you off gaurd, you're not expecting it, love the riff that starts at about 1:52 also, very catchy, "In Death's Embrace" Is a very good song also, with some very nice keyboards surrounding it, they totally fit this song, it's not quite as heavy as Spellbound, but it gets the job done, love the chorus, not much else to say about it though.

"Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh" Opens with yet another cool symphonic sound, and then, all of the sudden...BANG, Shagrath belts out a huge scream that scares you the first time, this song is pretty fast paced throughout, some very nice double bass is found here also, and the riffs are hypnotizing, especially the one at about 1:27 in, very catchy, the break is very heavy too, just like I said, melodic meets heavy, "The Night Masquerade" Is another favorite of mine, opening with some nice fast riffs, and a very nice backround sound, and Shagraths vocals are all over on this one, meaning growling, screaming, adds a nice touch, love the chorus riffs too, very fucking heavy, and then the females voice near the end is actually called "The Whore" and the growling at the very end is called "The Beast" very interesting, "Tormentor of Christian Souls" Does just what it says, this song destroys all in it's path, fast paced, moves right along, catchy riffs, nice keys, and of course Shagraths demonic scream, not much else to say about it though, just another killer song.

"Entrance" This song took a while to grow on me, but it will, and when it does, it's very good, this song is very keyboard driven, more than the rest of the songs, the keys play a big part in this one, they are very nicely done though, and in the right spots, they don't feel out of place, and the riffs just pull you in, this song is the slowest on the album, but it's very good once it grows on you, "Master of Disharmony" Wow, this song starts out fast as fuck, and is catchy too, Shagrath sings alot faster on this song than the others, nice growling parts also, sounds like Satan himself, not too many keys in this song, but it makes it different, and that's a good thing, "Prudence's Fall" Starts out with some more nice double bass work, and keys, this is just another very good song, but it's the same formula as the rest pretty much, nothing that really jumps out at you, it's just a very good song.

"A Succubus in Rapture" Opens with a very nice melodic keyboard, and the drums eventually fade in, and Shagraths vocals, this is more like a "Black Metal Ballad", but it's really good, really slow, and draws you in, the keyboards play a big part in this song as well, Shagrath even does some almost clean vocals here, adds a nice touch, overall, a very good closing song for a very good album.

If you're not big on Black Metal, but want to be, I would say get this one to start with, it worked on me, I never thought I'd like Black Metal, but once I heard this all the way through, it left me wanting more...now I love Black Metal, so give it a try.

Really subpar... - 55%

The_Ghoul, May 11th, 2006

Instead of the silky release and starry passion of Stormblaast, or the dramatic flourishes, epic chugging, and viking-themed lyrics of For All Tid, Dimmu Borgir abandon all pretenses of originality and thought in favor of filling up a traditional pop-metal band with cheesy heavy metal riffs and boring keyboard passages, which are now relegated to the background, and pointless blast-fests that add NOTHING to the music and only succeed in creating an unlistenable dichotomy that makes no sense but sounds "cool." Whereas speed works in bands like Marduk, Dark Funeral, and Mayhem, where they use mind blowingly fast, pulsating drums to create an asthaetic of doom, Dimmu Borgir use them to make the music sound "evil" and "hardcore", and only succeed in creating pointless passages that don't advance the music and stall the inevitable crash into the cliche' flourishes that have nothing to do with these speed-fests.

The first 3 songs are successful in blending the dichotomy of speed vs. melody by incorporating melody and actually linking the speedfests and limiting them to the crux of emotion. However, the delaying of the epitome of the songs is filled with heavy metal derivations of the main melody, sort of working its way into a parody of itself, like at the beginning of Spellbound. After that, the songs have clever sounding intros, but with absolutely nothing worthwhile in the middle. The songs become merely poorly written speed metal with black metal vocals. The overlaying pattern appears to be [blast blast blast blast double bass double bass][cliche' melody][blast blast blast...] etc... until the song ends with a clever sounding riff that has nothing to do with the rest of their songs. In an attempt to rob COF of their flaws, they introduce female vocals in the Night Masquerade, which don't fit in the song at all. Instead of trying to create an ambient soundscape that surrounds the listener with music and emotion, they try to get every single thing that they consider "evil" to sound evil enough to get the all important "mallcore" crowd. Instead of using the female vocals in the slow, tender portions (not even the slow, masculine portions) to enhance the music, they used them to sound "vampyric", or something like that, to shock somebody, and inevitably failed at shocking anybody.

The album picks itself up after falling into brambles with a slow interlude, Entrance. While this song is not in any way perfect, it is at least memorable and uses the keyboards in a way they should be used: To push the melody and act as a counterpoint to the guitars, instead of acting as a 3rd guitarist. However, this is a fleeting moment, as Dimmu Borgir's temptation to make poser/wannabe music overcomes them, and they turn the song into a cheese-fest, with failed attempts at being evil. The band tries to be evil without any knowledge of what evil is, and, as a result, sounds off base in this song, as it shows. However, this song is memorable as it follows through with the melody, instead of succumbing to the laziness and giving up on the melodies in favor of pointless speed fests. However, the disease of this CD comes back in full with more of cliche' speed fests. However, at least now they're in the name of melody, and remain more melodic, and at least make some attempt to make good songwriting.

The last two songs (notwithstanding the remake, which was pointless, and an obvious source of "inspiration" for many of the riffs in this album) were better, and were cohesively built, and the ending, A Succubus in Rapture, succeeded in creating a genuinely evil AND epic ending, as all album closers should. However, the goodness of Prudence's Fall and the greatness of A Succubus in Rapture couldn't save this album, and since the first 3 songs had potential, but were halfformed, this album suffered a lack of merit. However, of course it was going to succeed, since most people buy into what the band is pandered as, and what they think is evil, instead of what it actually means, because a passer-by cares naught what something means.

A Classic - 92%

cweed, April 19th, 2005

"Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" by Dimmu Borgir is a black metal classic, despite the fact that it is definitely not classic black metal. Although this album was obviously produced for alot less money than the band's future releases (such as "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" or "Death Cult Armageddon"), I personally believe that this is arguably the band's best album. This is most likely due to the fact that the lineup on this release is almost completely different than the lineup on their future releases, especially since on "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" the keyboardist was Stian Aarsted, not Mustis.
The reason why I believe that this is one of Dimmu Borgir's strongest albums is because everything just seems to be in its right place on this album. Although the production quality is not amazing, every instrument seems to be mixed just right and nothing is drowned out by something else. Yes, the keyboards are pretty hokey, but since it's pretty tough to take Dimmu Borgir seriously, the silly keyboards just make the album more fun (I hate to admit it but I'm a sucker for cheesy synths, and usually anything cheesy in general).
The album opens with what I consider to be the album's best song- "The Mourning Palace." This song, as well as my other favorite, "The Night Masquerade," represent everything that is good about the album and exemplifies specifically what makes this album close to a masterpiece. The catchy melodies, the headbanging rhythms, the precise (and at times, pretty fast) drumming, and of course, the fruity keyboards.
Many people believe that this is where Dimmu Borgir "sold out" and started releasing crap; many people believe that this album is crap; but I say that this album truly is a good album if you give it a chance and enjoy it for what it is, instead of simply dismissing it because it doesn't stay "true to form."

Dimmu Borgir Part 4: The comeback - 85%

Shadow0fDeath, September 5th, 2004

After the poorly flavored and polished release Stormblåst, Dimmu Borgir were starting to fall down the symphonic black metal path in my eyes. It was more flower metal with semi-"harsh" vocals. When hope is lost, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant expands the dimmu borgir sound to higher peaks.

On Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, the Dimmu Borgir unit return to the gleaming sound of their debut album, For All Tid. With the symphonic and orchestrated elements not entirely overdosing the release (there are some moments though) the band has very well mixed their over all sound in the most pleasurable form from any Dimmu Borgir release i have heard.

The guitars are very black metal. Atmospheric themselves even without the synth/keyboards of their symphonic black metal sound. The occasional orchestrated elements add an entire new ingrediant to the Dimmu Borgir unit. Making it more full and strong. As i said: Not intrusive, it also combines with the music perfectly most of the time without filling the sound too far as such in Stormblåst.

The sound is slightly dirtier while keeping a more professional production within the release. Allowing the music to speak for itself under a bit stronger of a black metal production, and keeping the polish on it for good measure. I wouldn't say the production is like Burzum - Filosofem, or Darkthrone - Transilvanian Hunger, but one thing for sure it really helps achive the black metal sound at a very minumum.

The vocals echo through the mix as a dominate element into the overall sound. With the vocals returning to a harsh and grim snarl, Shagrath finally achived a decent sound. The vocals are much better done even compared to Devil's Path, and for all tid.

This release, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, is one of the best Dimmu Borgir releases i have come across thus far. It's very well done combining for all tid and devil's path, leaving the hurling reactions i recieved from Stormblåst away as Dimmu Borgir have returned to their greatest presentation of overall sound!

Catchy, but ultimately lacking... - 60%

webermg, June 27th, 2003

A lot of people consider this to be Dimmu Borgir's "sellout" album, where they dumbed down their sound to appeal to a mass audience. Well, if that was their intent, then they certainly bombed hard. If you want to make big money with your music, metal is not what you should play.

At any rate, though, they certainly did change their style since "Stormblast". Whereas that album concentrated on keyboard melodies, this one concentrates more on blastbeats and guitars. The keyboards are still there, but are relegated more to supporting roles, and adding that "gothic" feel that so many bands strive for for some unknown reason.

The album starts off pretty good, with "Mourning Palace", a midpaced song with a catchy main riff. This one will definitely be going through your head in math class a few times. After that is "Spellbound" and "In Death's Embrace", the two best songs on the album, and the two that are most reminiscent of earlier works, due to the keyboard parts. In any event, these two songs prove that Dimmu had at least some modicum of songwriting talent left in them at this point.

After those three songs, well, the whole thing just becomes dull, like one of those albums that you drift off while listening to, only to come to later and think "Track five!! That's all? I could of swore I've been listening to this thing for an hour." There's lots of blastbeats, so many that you get tired of hearing them pretty quickly, and by the end of the cd you're ready to pop in a Yanni CD just to not have to hear any more drumwork for a while. The fifth song, "The Night Masquerade", features some female vocals, which should have been left out. It also ends with this ridiculous voice that I guess is supposed to sound like satan or something.

Speaking of satan, that's pretty much what all the lyrics are about; hating Christians and loving satan. They're the kind of cookie cutter "shocking" blaspheming lyrics that fail to be shocking at all. It's really not that much of a problem, though, as no one listens to Dimmu for the lyrics anyway (and if you do, you probably think they are the coolest lyrics ever).

So, in the end, this cd is just blah, albeit with a few standouts at the beginning. It's pretty good as an introduction to metal, with it's catchiness, but after a while it loses it's appeal and just becomes another cd that you don't really listen to anymore.

A good album. - 85%

BlackEnergy, May 6th, 2003

Many people will tell you that this is the first album in Dimmu Borgir's transformation into...well, what they are today. And they are right, though that does not at all make for a bad album.

First off, if you are expecting something like Stormblåst, you might as well turn away now, as there is not even a resemblance between that sound and this. That album (their best, in my opinion) was symphonic/melodic while maintaining a traditional sense of harshness associated with black metal, while this album is purely melodic, so much to the point that it's hard to even call it "black".

Which brings me to my next point--if you are looking for something extremely melodic with just a hint of black influence, then this is definitely for you. Shagrath's vocals are more "well-rounded" and smooth, making for a sound very similar to melodic death vocals (In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, etc.). The guitars are much more rhythmic/melodic, making the songs flow to the point of "catchiness". In the past, keyboards/synth was used mainly to create atmosphere...here, it's used as a main, driving instrument.

Anyway, the songs are good. While they do all have the qualities mentioned above, there is a lot of variation throughout the album to keep things fresh. The combined styles (black vocals + more traditional, melodic stlyes of metal), while pulling Dimmu Borgir away from their symphonic black roots, add a nice flavor to the album. This album may have been the catalyst in bringing the band to (in many people's eyes) an undesirable point, but it's a good album nonetheless.

Highlights: The Mourning Palace, Entrance, Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde (reissue only)