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Dimmu Borgir - In Sorte Diaboli review



Reviewer:
8.3

942 users:
7.74
Band: Dimmu Borgir
Album: In Sorte Diaboli
Release date: April 2007


Disc I
01. The Serpentine Offering
02. The Chosen Legacy
03. The Conspiracy Unfolds
04. The Ancestral Fever [European bonus]
05. The Sacrilegious Scorn
06. The Fallen Arise
07. The Heretic Hammer [North American bonus]
08. The Sinister Awakening
09. The Fundamental Alienation
10. The Invaluable Darkness
11. The Foreshadowing Furnace
12. Black Metal [Venom cover] [Japanese bonus]

Disc II [DVD]
01. The Serpentine Offering [video]
02. Making Of The Album With Dimmu Borgir (Studio Report)
03. Making Of "The Serpentine Offering"
+ Photogallery

A Black Metal concept album? Yes, you read that right. Dimmu Borgir has once again found a way to stand out by taking an unconventional path. The Norwegian superstars are back with "In Sorte Diaboli", following mostly raw reviews on their re-release of "Stormblåst". Needless to say that their concept better stand the test if Dimmu Borgir wants to stay on top, seeing that their latest notable work was released in 2003. Remember "Death Cult Armageddon"?

First, I won't get into the details of the story behind the music. You probably already read all about it someplace else anyway. Some classic religion / dark side / priest story, as it could be expected. This concept won't score very high on the originality scale. On the other hand, the production is majestic - as usual - as it comes from internationally acclaimed producer Fredrik Nordström.

Musically, the biggest change on this album is obviously the return of Jan Axel von Blomberg better known as Hellhammer. The master is being the drum-kit, and if you can't notice, you better just give up on music altogether. Apart from that, the usual elements are in place, which is both a positive and negative thing. Positive because the quality is there but negative because I don't really hear any kind of evolution from "Death Cult Armageddon". The exact same recipe was applied here, to the level that I'm beginning to wonder if those songs were recorded recently or during some leftover of 2002/2003 sessions.

What upsets me most is that, frankly, the ethereal vocals of ICS Vortex are starting to smell like mildew. That's old stuff. I would love to hear Galder take a greater role on vocals. If you've ever heard Old Man's Child, you know he could bring something new and powerful to Dimmu Borgir tired vocal formula.

I also hate the whole 'bonus tracks' setting of this album. Basically, you could end up with only 9 out of 11 tracks recorded for "In Sorte Diaboli", which runs for a meager 42 minutes. This is probably one of the shortest concept albums I know of. I know Hellhammer is a fast drummer, but Dimmu Borgir is not playing Grindcore yet. Moreover, when I buy the album, I expect to get the full thing, not having to do some research in order to avoid being ripped off.

The report card is in. Great musicianship, solid album, incredible drumming, but man, I wish something special would completely separate the Dimmu Borgir of 2003 with the 2007 version. Clearly, "In Sorte Diaboli" won't change your view on the band as it scarcely separate itself from "Death Cult Armageddon". Still, it ends up being an interesting listen and will probably remain on 2007 list of Nuclear Blast bestsellers.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 10





Written on 17.06.2007 by Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as:

"A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?"

I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math.

Guest review by
Arian Totalis
Rating:
8.4
So here it is, "In Sorte Diaboli", the long awaited new Dimmu Borgir concept album. It truly is a testament to the spirit of black metal, at least in it's message. The story is set in medieval england, and the concept that the album follows is that a man who is a priest's assistant realizes how corrupt the church is, and then in turn gets in touch with his dark side. Silenoz is the one who created the story and concept of the album, and I must say I apreciate him for that, I have been looking for an album dedicated to the message of corruption in organized religion. I would like all reading this review to prepare themselves to come into direct contact with Satan, prepare yourselves for "In Sorte Diaboli."

Read more ››
published 09.09.2007 | Comments (25)

Guest review by
Ekim Reklaw
Rating:
9.8
Dimmu Borgir made quite the accomplishment with the album, In Sorte Diaboli. This 2007 release to me is one of their best, if not the best. In Sorte Diaboli (ISD) was the very first Dimmu Borgir album I bought, but it was also the very first black metal, or for you technical people out there, symphonic black metal albums that I bought.

Read more ››
published 11.07.2012 | Comments (12)

Guest review by
TheH2K
Rating:
8.4
Dimmu Borgir's eighth effort was sadly synchronized with the last appearance of ICS Vortex and Mustis, due to their dismissal from the band. The last record from their third wave, the band released a concept album for the first time in their career, which is quite attractive both in illustration terms and lyric-wise.

Read more ››
published 03.06.2020 | Comments (0)


Comments page 2 / 2

Comments: 39   Visited by: 209 users
30.03.2008 - 18:47
W-Lash
Metal Master
May I say this is crap? Yeah, this is nothing more - really average and boring album.
I really don't understand why people tell fucking dumb stories about this "unique and awesome album"...how brilliant it is, how much fresh ideas can be found there and so on...
Actually it isn't nothing special. If it would be performed by less known band it would drown somewhere veeery deep.
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28.04.2008 - 05:26
Rating: 6
Plaguebearer

im not much of a black metal listener (only immortal before this, who rule by the way) but i can't see whats so great about it. I guess its alright, i can listen to it, but i just don't enjoy dimmu borgir the way everyone else seems to be.
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19.06.2008 - 21:51
Macedonia
Account deleted
ICS Vortex voice is simply fantasatic, I love the his part in The Sacrilegious Scorn when he sings "a language spoken with spit of different tongues".
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30.06.2008 - 10:43
Rating: 8
Hamird
Lieutenant
Although I never liked this band, but this album is very nice!! I enjoyed this album. and view to this band has changed since this album!
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17.07.2008 - 07:26
Rating: 8
Umideath

I Like the 04 - The Sacrilegious Scorn the album:cool:
----
My Top 90 Metal Albums Of 2023 - Part 2 >> https://youtu.be/6Yi7zV9Xo58 - Part 1
https://youtu.be/8F0E_CAfmMM
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17.07.2008 - 08:04
Southern Wind
Account deleted
This is by far the worst Dimmu album... I listened to it a lot of times when it was released, trying to find something interesting on it but truly couldn't... I like a lot most of Dimmu Borgir's discography, thinking that some of their albums like Stormblast and Puritanical are no less than masterpieces, but this was boring, soulless crap.
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19.07.2008 - 18:53
armageddon

Written by Deadsoulman on 26.06.2007 at 21:30

Looks like I'm almost the only one to think that, but I find this one way better than DCA. I still don't understand how DCA can be considered like a good album...

This one has better songwriting and they finally got back to not using over-the-top orchestras like on DCA. And I like the vocals as well. Anyway, fine album IMO.



I agree
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"Whenever you're pissed off, just remember that it's better than being pissed on"
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19.07.2008 - 21:14
Conservationist

They've made the same album since they got into COF in 1998 or so...
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09.12.2008 - 04:21
Rating: 8
Land Of Doom

An Excelent Album From the band

Very Wonderful Vocal

And Especially The First Song:
The Serpentine Offering Trve
I like It Very Much
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We Only Fear What Comes
And Smell Death Every Day
Search For The Answers That Lie Beyond
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