DIMMU BORGIR

Reviewed:
- For All Tid (1995)
- Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (1997)


FOR ALL TID          1995         (Nuclear Blast)
- Standouts: 'Under korpens vinder', 'Stien', 'Hunnerkongens sorgsvarte ferd over steppene', 'Raabjørn speiler draugheimens skodde'
If you read my recent 'Blast from the past albums' post about Gorgoroth's Under the Sign of Hell, you'll know that I didn't really get into black metal until I was around 18, and even then I would say I was only really a casual fan of the genre throughout most of my 20s. Dimmu Borgir were one of the first black metal bands I checked out; I remember buying their 2005 album Stormblåst MMV - actually a re-recording of their 1996 album of the same name - and liking it enough to pick up Death Cult Armageddon not long afterwards. And then I didn't buy any other Dimmu Borgir albums for many years... at some point during my 20s I acquired Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia, but it's not until recent years that I really acquired more of their catalogue. Like I said, I was a casual black metal fan for years, so I was only really picking up albums that could be considered "essential" to the genre for a very long time.  

But hey, it's 2026 now and I own most of Dimmu Borgir's major releases, including this 1995 debut of theirs, For All Tid ('For All Time' translated). I haven't really lived with this one very long, but I like it. I'd heard the band's earlier material was much rawer and more in line with the classic second-wave Norwegian black metal sound than what they would evolve into later, but that just means I kinda dig this album by default. It's far from one of the best black metal albums of the time that I can think of; it doesn't hold a candle to Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse, Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas or Immortal's At the Heart of Winter etc., but I still find For All Tid to be an enjoyable romp nonetheless. True, the style of tremolo riffing combined with the rough production is similar to what a lot of the other bands of the scene were doing at the time, but you can still hear plenty of the key ingredients of what makes Dimmu Borgir, well, Dimmu Borgir in here throughout the CD. For starters, this is still melodic black metal with strong symphonic overtones. It's just a much less refined, cruder version of the sort of thing they would record later on down the line.

Technically speaking, the music is more simplistic here than their later works. And thanks to the raw production, the songs have a much harsher feel to them. I won't say heavier, but definitely harsher in that typical lo-fi black metal fashion. Most of the lead vocals were still performed by Silenoz here, rather than Shagrath. And for the most part, he's growling and gargling his way through the songs, save for some usage of clean vocals on 'Over bleknede blåner til dommedag'. His clean vocals are, admittedly, kinda amateurish and borderline amusing, but I can tolerate them. It's a big part of Dimmu Borgir's sound, it's just surprising how Silenoz ended up singing the bulk of the songs when Shagrath is undoubtedly the better vocalist of the 2. Guess he just didn't know it yet?! And while the band's instrumentation would get more technical and impressive further down the line, I wouldn't necessarily call the song structures "basic". They don't sound any less accomplished than a lot of their contemporaries, at least in my opinion. Even if the songs aren't hugely exciting overall, they're not sloppy.

I can't call this my favourite Dimmu Borgir record, but I'm definitely in the ballpark of fans who actually appreciate this album. Review scores and opinions are all over the place online. I agree that it's as basic as the band gets, but I think as a black metal album from 1995, it's really not a bad effort at all. Sure, not much research is required to find better albums from the same era than this one, but you could certainly do a lot worse. The keyboards have been put to good use and bring lots of appropriately mystical and cold atmosphere to the simplistic riffs. It adds that much-needed symphonic layer to some pretty basic black metal, and makes them feel much more grandiose and epic. And that's good of course! Atmosphere is hugely important in this genre, and I think they deliver in this regard. That's probably why I like For All Tid. Again, not a classic of the genre, but a solid start for Dimmu Borgir. 
Adam's rating: 7.4/10


ENTHRONE DARKNESS TRIUMPHANT          1997          (Nuclear Blast)
- Standouts: Whole thing is superb!
I'm fully aware that I'm missing the original version of Stormblåst, which was released in 1996 between For All Tid and this, 1997's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. It seems to sell for an arm and a leg online wherever I look right now, and I'm happy enough to just stick with my copy of the 2005 re-recorded version. But anyway, last October I spent a weekend in Chester with my fiancée and visited a really cool record shop that I'd once been in many years ago (Grey n Pink Records). A lot of their stock is vinyl, but they also have a tasty selection of used CDs. I found my copy of Enthrone Darkness Triumphant for something like £3 or £4, and it rekindled my interest in Dimmu Borgir. The last time I bought a DB album was way back in likely my early 20s (it was Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia). But I've listened to Enthrone Darkness Triumphant a lot in the last 6 months or so, and like I said in my For All Tid review, I've added a few more DB albums to my collection ever since. Also nice is the fact practically all these albums have cost me very little (except for the aforementioned 1996 Stormblåst, where any version of that album is crazy expensive right now!) - I feel like a lot of the bands I like have at least 3 or 4 albums that are out of print and hard to find cheap.

Anyway, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is one classy, dramatic and maybe even operatic slab of black metal. The level of musicianship compared to For All Tid is night and day. Yet they still hadn't quite gotten super popular yet at this point, so the album as a whole feels more like a 100% legit black metal release. I'd like to point out that I personally don't hold any grudges against them getting popular. I guess some fans felt they sold out with their later albums... fair enough, but I still think they had plenty of aces left up their sleeves. They're one of the very few Scandinavian black metal bands with charting albums worldwide! If anything, I admire that!

Back to EDT. The music is much more accomplished of course, but still firmly black metal. Everything's just better now, though. The guitars are still mostly made up of tremolo-picked riff structures, but there's far more going on. You get more odd chords thrown in, and all the riffs flow together effortlessly. Also, you do get the occasional catchy riff here and there (just listen to those more conventional mid-tempo heavy metal riffs in 'Master of Disharmony') - they don't take away from the bleak atmosphere or black metal sound of this album, they just keep things fresh. Meanwhile, the symphonic/keyboardy element of the band is much more impressive and moody, not mention memorable. It's hard to remember some of these tracks purely by the riffs, but I never forget how any of the symphonic/keyboard melodies go, particularly on songs like 'Spellbound (By the Devil)', 'Tormentor of Christian Souls', 'Entrance', 'In Death's Embrace' etc.. They're either epic, dark, brooding or gothic... or all of those things at the same time! I'd also like to add that Tjodalv's drum work is tight as fuck, and throughout the album he's doing all kinds of double-kicks and blast beats; a huge step-up from For All Tid. The music is pretty darn great then, but so are the vocals. Shagrath takes over lead vocals, and even though he's not really "original" in his approach to them, his growls are dark and menacing, yet also clear and audible all things considered. 

There's not really a lot of holes I can pick with this one. The songs are all kind of samey I guess, so if I'm not in a black metal mood, well, tough shit. There aren't any songs that obviously stand out as being different from one another, but this isn't really a bad thing either. Basically, the album never gets boring. Even the production is really good; far more professional than For All Tid, and also a whole lot heavier. I get that some people dig the lo-fi sound of black metal, but I think when you're writing and recording songs with this much depth, a raw mix wouldn't be getting the best out of the tracks. So really, practically everything on this album is a prime example of symphonic black metal done correctly. Dimmu Borgir won't ever top Emperor for me, but Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is no doubt one of the greatest albums of this particular style.
Adam's rating: 9/10