DIMMU BORGIR
The End Times Pick Best Album of 2001
Oh man, am I ever at a loss for words. First off, yes, that is a 10 rating they're getting and yes, that is the second 10 rating I've given this year to a Metal album. If you've read most of my reviews you know that those kinds of ratings don't come easy and their have been a couple of years that have gone without an album rating that high at all. Only those releases that enter into the real of perfection rate the highest of all numbers around here. Now, before I dive into this review let me just say that thus far, 2001 has been an utterly amazing year for Metal. Considering we are only 4 months into it, that's cause to believe it may be one of the greatest years ever for the scene.
Now, old DIMMU BORGIR. How shall we praise thee? Allow me to first shit on those who berate the band for migrating (maturing in my opinion) away from their "true Norwegian Black Metal roots". From the bottom of my black heart - this so-called genre sucks the big one and I congratulate DIMMU for distancing themselves from it. The band still claim Black Metal affiliation and that's fine because they're the ones re-writing the books on the entire style. This is what the genre should have sounded like from the very beginning.
Puritanical Euphoric whatch-ma-callit is stunningly arrogant. Yes, it is. Its so damn good it has good reason to. I certainly won't argue because the chemistry that makes this album as efficiently flawless as it is is something exotic and up till now, yet to be put to good use. Here we have an immense hybrid of Death/Black/ Thrash Metal that is lacquered over with symphonic classiness like I've never heard. If you haven't heard by now, the band somehow managed to recruit members of the Gothenburg (yes I've been spelling this wrong for a long time now, I know) Opera Orchestra; presumably a bunch of middle-aged, balding, corpulent men with violins and cellos jamming with Norway's finest! The very thought sends a collective shiver down my spine! God I love it. Never have I heard such effective usage of Classical instrumentation in Metal music - never. The meshing process is simply flawless.
The opening Classical piece, written by the band's keyboardist, is something right out of a major motion picture. Unbelievable. I can't wait to play it for my father in fact; a real Classical freak he is. The band rudely interject however and once the blasting starts there is no turning back. DIMMU BORGIR have created the most epic piece of Death/Black/Thrash music ever! I mean that sincerely. There is more balance here than on all the world's tight ropes and the weaving of all the aforementioned styles, coupled with the momentous sounds of the orchestra creates a shroud of ominous darkness, doom and suffocating chaos around the listener. There truly is no escape. Every time I listen to this album, which is always these days (seriously, ever since I got the advance not a day has passed without me hearing it), I am floored by the unyielding perfection and left scratching my head and asking, "How'd they do it"?
The band made essentially no mistakes whatsoever during the recording and production of this album. WIth their all-star cast of musicians I expected only the best compositions on this album and somehow got more in the end. From spine-tingling and despairing Black/Death chillers to face-ripping Thrash blitzkriegs, its a harrowing journey through the darkest corners of Metal's most intriguing minds. Whether they're firing away on all cylinders or slowly grinding the bones of the listener into dust (even crossing into the realm of Industrial experimentation at one point), DIMMU BORGIR hold the essence of evil music in the palms of their hands. Puritanical... (I don't feel like spelling the whole thing out!) is majestic power and genius songwriting to the core. One released version contains a cover cut of TWISTED SISTER's "Burn In Hell" which, while done very well, really can't hold a black candle to the rest of album; by this time so great it does nothing to lessen it's impact. It just hasn't gotten better than this yet (give DIMMU BORGIR another try and they might get it done!). Just immerse yourself in one of the greatest albums of the past 15 years. Its still early but I am confident that this is the finest release of 2001 (Apologies to OPETH who I was sure had it in the bag).
