Dimmu Borgir Albums Ranked

Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means “dark cities” or “dark castles/fortresses” in Icelandic, Faroese, and Old Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalist Shagrath and rhythm guitarist Silenoz are the only original members who still remain, with lead guitarist Galder being a longstanding member. Dimmu Borgir’s older releases (since 1994 to 1999) are, according to AllMusic journalist Bradley Torreano, strongly influenced by Darkthrone, Mayhem, Bathory, Emperor, Celtic Frost, Immortal, Venom, and Iron Maiden.^[1] The band became more progressive and symphonic through the years; many black metal purists consider the band’s second album, Stormblåst, to be “the act’s last true contribution to black metal” Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, Dimmu Borgir’s third album, “distinguished itself in two important areas, firstly forgoing their native language for English and secondly for its dramatic increase in synthesizer content.” Significant experimentation began with 1999’s Spiritual Black Dimensions (due to the addition of Vortex’s clean vocals, and the variety of musical ideas from then-new member Mustis), as well as Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia due to the addition of influences from composers such as Antonín Dvořák, Enya, Richard Wagner, and Frédéric Chopin. As the music strongly differed from the older, rawer black metal style, Jon “Metalion” Kristiansen called Spiritual Black Dimensions “a fine case of melodic, over-produced symphonic metal. If you like this melodic style I can’t really think of anyone doing it better […]. No, I wouldn’t call this black metal. Read the interview with Funeral Mist for the right definition of black metal.” Here are all of Dimmu Borgir’s albums ranked.

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10. Stormblåst MMV (2005)

“The album’s slightly different than the old one, Sorgens Kammer is different, as the old one was “borrowed” from an Amiga game and it adds a new track Avmaktslave. The vocalist has matured quite clearly over the years, and it shows on the vocals. The new guitarwork and drumming, overall does a better job.”

9. For All Tid (1995)

“Dimmu Borgir’s trademark is that they drown out anything resembling black metal with a hideous keyboard sound that is far too prominent in the mix. What the keyboardist does to his instrument verges on rape. The songs are very malformed and amateurish and it makes me wonder why these musicians have even chosen to attempt to play black metal in the first place. It’s a shame because the guitarist and drummer aren’t too bad on this release, which is proven on the one listenable song on the album, “Glittertind”, the majority of which is only instrumental featuring no keyboards and just guitar and drums.”

8. Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (2001)

“”Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia” is another one of Dimmu’s masterpieces. It’s also the beginning of their new approach to Black Metal that many purists hate. I think Dimmu fully developed their potential with this album and created their own melodic style of Black Metal.”

See more: Poison Songs Ranked

7. Eonian (2018)

“Eonian forgoes the orchestral approach of Abrahadabra in favour of more synths, which is a refreshing backdrop for the ten songs. The black metal throwbacks, especially the associated riffs, tend to have a sinister feeling to them, but the synths add a whole other dimension, making the atmosphere positively mysterious.”

6. In Sorte Diaboli (2007)

“Probably their most relentless album to date. It’s very fast and has memorable features such as great synths that add to the empyreal theme. It is the last album with Vortex’s genius vocals in which he again proved that Symphonic Black Metal is better with clean vocals.”

5. Abrahadabra (2010)

“Everything is so tight and so well recorded. The massive orchestra is never ‘muddy’ or forced in to the background. The over-all ‘feel’ of the album is mysterious, dark, and downright ‘creepy’ at times. The different voices used for various characters make this album a must-listen. Any given track has more changes than most albums I’ve heard this year, without negating quality. As a musician, I can appreciate that.”

See more: Neal Schon Songs Ranked

4. Stormblåst (1996)

“A super well rounded album. So much that it doesn’t bother me that the production is squeaky clean. A lot of bands would have totally skimmed over the cool little things they do with their cymbals, swapping motifs mid track. The insane attention to detail and control on display here lends this music the intensity it deserves because of such tight and varied musicianship.”

3. Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (1997)

“This is the blueprint for the symphonic, melodic black metal style, no doubt about that. It might also be Dimmu Borgir’s finest hour and definitely their most influential. The swirling and dominant keyboards, the nicely flowing riffing combined with Shagrath’s understandable voice, this is all very well done.”

2. Spiritual Black Dimensions (1999)

“Dimmu Borgir adds new elements to their style with this album. The music is very keyboard heavy and each song is packed with different riffs. For the first couple of listens, I was overwhelmed with the bombardment of different keyboards and guitars all at once, but with some more listens things started to come together.”

1. Death Cult Armageddon (2003)

“Death Cult Armageddon continues where Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia left off. The band still has the same members and in general the music still has that symphonic element to it, balanced with some heavy and aggressive riffs. The first obvious element to the music is the presence of an orchestra (Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to be exact). Songs like “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse” and “Eradication Instincts Defined” use the orchestra heavily, and the songs have a very grand sound.”