Search - Dimmu Borgir :: Death Cult Armageddon

Something old AND something new

A. Stutheit | Denver, CO USA | 09/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For their eighth studio album, Dimmu Borgir got a little more creative. They reached into their bag of tricks and pulled out a 48-piece philharmonic orchestra/choir from Prague. They then blended this orchestra in with their sterile black metal. The result was an album which is considered by most to be their best and most creative work to date. The orchestra, which helps to make "Death Cult Armageddon" sound epic and expansive, is sprinkled on, alongside some female backing vocals. Plus, some keyboards are wisely thrown in.



The orchestra really shines on track two, "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse," where some cool piano playing makes an entrance. This song also balances clean singing (which is a rare occurrence) and snarly vocals well. "Blood Hunger Doctrine" combines more crunchy riffs and keyboards, and it ends with a single, cold note from a piano. And after the blistering guitar work and driving drums are over, "Cataclysm Children" turns to piano playing (which actually sounds rather pretty, here). Finally, track nine, "Eradication Instincts Defined," combines peaceful choir singing with violins and a brass horn of some kind.



But if you're looking for some great, old school black metal, it remains in tact here, as well. "Vredesbyrd" has machine gun riffs which almost bob in places. "For the World..." has more propulsive riffs and fast, all over the place drumming, and "Allehelgens Dod I Helveds Rike" features drumming which is so fast, it sounds like it could be a drum machine.



So, "Death Cult Armageddon" is full of fiery riffs, inhumanly talented drumming, and snarly vocals, but it also has some ear candy. The final sound is very full and explosive. Thus, this album is for all types of Dimmu Borgir fans, because if you're looking for something new, "Death Cult Armageddon" brings some innovation to the table; but it also has plenty of head banging worthy material to please old school fans."

Death Cult Armagedon

Rebecca Lyle | Garland, Texas United States | 09/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own every Dimmu Borgir album to date, and this has got to be my favorate. The 48 piece orchestra really helps add to the music by giving it that epic feel. They really did a great job in combining the orchestrated instruments with the band. Also, the keyboarding in this is fantastic, Mustis really has a good idea as to what he is doing. Mr. Barker is the same monster behind the kit, but I feel like he really took the backseat on this album when compared to Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. Galder and Silenoz come up with some great riffs, some of which are the heaviest Dimmu Borgir has ever done. Vortex is a great bass player with many fills and an epic singer. Vortex does the clean vocals once again and never fails to amaze. Though I would have liked to have heard a little more of Vortex's singing as it is quite limited on this album. Shagrath is a monster. This album holds my favorate performance from Shagrath, who snarls grimey, misanthropic poetry all throughout. Overall, this is an epic masterpiece for any fan of the neo-black metal genre. Highly recommended."

Phenominal

nightlordv | Addison, IL United States | 03/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been a Dimmu Borgir fan for well over four years now, and have seen them live twice. Now, I have a lot of problems with some of these "reviews" on Amazon here.
Some of these problems begin with idiots who who will label anything "nu-metal". It reminds me of the Salem Witch Trials where every other minute people were screaming "WITCH!!" "SHES A WITCH!!" over even the tinniest thing. Dimmu Borgir is NOT, nor ever will be nu-metal. Sold out??? I don't know about other people but i consider selling out a "Metallica story", meaning when you begin to get regular large radio station air play constantly and you tour with "yo yo yo" bands like Linkin Park, that to me, is a sell out from a band who used to be the pioneers of thrash metal (I mean Metallica of course).
Just because Dimmu is trying to evolve their sound without completley alienating their true fan base (IE, In Flames and Soilwork), does not mean they are going to be another Metallica.
Stormblast was a good album, however all the lyrics are in Norwegian, and since I am no Viking, I can't understand them one bit, even though the music is brilliant. So all you hooked on Stormblast and Stormblast alone, if you are not happy with Dimmu's newest offerings, then turn to your redundent over done black metal, like Immortal or Darkthrone or worse, your "something like black metal but not, but it sucks either way" offering in Cradle of Filth.
Now that that is out of the way, onto Dimmu Borgir's latest album entitled "Death Cult Armageddeon"
This latest cd is simply put, awesome. The production as in all of Dimmu's albums, is excellent, you can hear every instrument, and the vocals are audible and not drowned out in anyway. Galder and Silenoz just rip through a guitar onslaught from the beginning track "Allegiance" right down to the last track "Heavenly Perverse". Silenoz's meaty rhythm guitar riffs are great along side Galder's more leading guitar, and even though there are not that many solo's on this album, the harmonies and melodies are none the less excellent. The song structures are beautifully laid out, with Mustis's haunting keyboards leading all the way. The keys are intuned with the rest of the music perfectly, not too over the top, nor too much in the background, just the perfect blend.
Vortex's bass riffs continue to pound and slam into my chest when i listen to this ablum in my car. His clean vocals, although not as much used as in their last album, are none the less great. This guy has a set of pipes on him thats for damn sure, and I was slightly disappointed they were not used more on the rest of the album. You can hear Vortex's clean vocals very well on "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" which is perhaps one of the best tracks on this album.
Nick Barker pounded on the drum kit as he always does, blast beating smoothly one minute to change tempo immdiately to a more slower mid paced beat. Nick Barker however, was "forced out of the band" according to Dimmu on their website, a shame.
Shagrath's vocals are typical rasps, growls, and hisses, and are strong as always, one of my favorite vocalists for sure because he changes the pitch and tone of his voice nicely throughout every song so that he does not sound boring and redundent. Even though he uses a lot of special effects, it just makes his voice all the more perfect with the music.
oh did I mention there is an orchesta on this album? Oh whats that you say? Another Metallica "Symphony" album? HELL NO!! unlike Metallica Dimmu Borgir uses the orchestra sparringly and more as an ambient, atmospheric purpose only. In fact, it is kinda hard to tell when the orchestra is playing they are so much in the background. Even though you can hear it more distinctively on some songs over others, the orchestra is just a nice touch and adds an element on soundtrack like opuses.
I know many people say that Dimmu claim to be anti-religion and their lyrics are about Satanism, but you know what? Its called an image. Like Slayer, Cannible Corpse, Deicide and other such bands who use such things to sell items, merchandise, albums, and to get recognized, Dimmu is the same way. Since they are not going to get any mainstream radio play or barely any mtv video play except for on Headbanger's Ball, they need to rely on something to get themselves known. Yes its cheesy, but I could care less as long as the music is good, and on Death Cult Armageddon, it is almost perfect.
Listen to pummeling tracks such as "Lepers Among Us", "Cataclysm Children", and "Unorthodox Manifesto", and tell me Dimmu Borgir have grown soft. Listen to tracks "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse", "Blood Hunger Doctrine", and "Allehelgns Dod I Helveds Rike" and tell me Dimmu Borgir cannot write music.
These guys have busted their ass to get to where they are today, and they deserve absolutely all the credit they get.
Memorable Tracks: Progenies of the Great Apocalypse, Lepers Among Us, Cataclysm Children, Unorthodox Manifesto"