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Dimmu Borgir - Spiritual Black Dimensions



8.1 | 643 votes |
Release date: 2 March 1999
Style: Black metal

Owners:

851 have it
22 want it
1 trades it


01. Reptile
02. Behind The Curtains Of Night-Phantasmagoria
03. Dreamside Dominions
04. United In Unhallowed Grace
05. The Promised Future Aeons
06. The Blazing Monoliths Of Defiance
07. The Insight And The Catharsis
08. Grotesquery Conceiled (Within Measureless Magic)
09. Arcane Lifeforce Mysteria
10. Masses For The New Messiah [bonus]
11. Stormblast [live] [bonus]
12. Master Of Disharmony [live] [bonus]
13. In Death's Embrace [live] [bonus]

Staff review by
Dream Taster
Rating:
9.2
Honestly, I missed out the Dimmu Borgir phenomenon and I am just now catching up with it. But man, is that ever worth it! While 'Stormblast' is considered as the cornerstone of the Norwegian band discography, 'Spiritual Black Dimensions' has to be regarded as another important album for them.

Fist of all, this is their first album with such a good production, which might have offended Black Metal purists but made Dimmu Borgir more popular than they ever were. But the main enhancement on "Spiritual Black Dimensions" is the dynamics that reign with an iron fist on the music. It's an ever-challenged atmosphere, with blasting drums, enthralling keys and grinding guitar riffs. And what about Shagrath's vocals? They are simply like another instrument, adding a layer of complexity to the compositions.

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published 04.11.2006 | Comments (22)

Guest review by
thewaytonever
Rating:
9.7
When I was 14 I was given this album by a German foreign exchange student. On first listen I considered it to be just a load of noise as all other music she had given me. I was a young American who had not yet learned to appreciate non-mainstream, well produced, MTV-loved "metal." A few years later I popped this album in to reminisce the old high school days and what came out of my radio surprised me. My ear was trained on picking up the murkiness of the likes of Darkthorne and other early black metal. Though this album is in no way as murky in its production quality as the early black metal albums were, it still had an overload of sound that needed to be listened to in each individual instrument's sector.

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published 27.01.2012 | Comments (4)

Guest review by
TheH2K
Rating:
8.1
A new experiment on the way of Dimmu Borgir, this record is a bridge that joins Enthrone Darkness Triumphant to their 2000s style. Although it has a lot of magnificent tracks, something in this album sounds annoying and doesn't let you consider it as your favorite Dimmu Borgir record.

This was the first album to feature Mustis the genius and ICS Vortex, which led Dimmu Borgir to a more symphonic and progressive format. Keyboard parts are heavenly brilliant, especially in "The Insight And The Catharsis" and some keyboard lead pads in other tracks as well.

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published 02.06.2020 | Comments (0)

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Comments

Comments: 7   Visited by: 685 users
11.10.2011 - 10:17
Rating: 9
JÄY
Metal slave
Yeah the synths have become overgrown, but the structures and riffs are still great...This release has a slightly lower rating than their next one, proy cause its a transitional album, but it's the last DB release I can really enjoy
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11.10.2011 - 10:32
Rating: 6
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by JÄY on 11.10.2011 at 10:17
its a transitional album

I can get on board with that. I'd say it's a pretty decent one at that, although I've come to appreciate both modern and old DB - whether it be the more "classic" black metal on their debut, their early ventures into symphonic black metal, or the recent symphonic stuff with a decreased black metal influence.

I used to have a hate on for DB because I was butthurt about them "selling out", but then I decided to shut the fuck up and listen to the music without that prejudice and decide for myself. One of the first bands I did that with and it's helped me appreciate music in an entirely new way, so props to DB (and more particularly, this album) for helping me in that respect.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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27.02.2012 - 00:06
Rating: 9
musicalkaratekid

I actually prefer this to 'Enthrone...' for some reason. I particularly like how the production has been used to make the whole album sound as grandiose and ambitious as possible, with some seriously vicious riffs intact and a few epic song structures to boot. The difficult 'middle album' syndrome, as it is stuck in between the band's apparent tour de force, and the band's ultimate shift in sound.
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26.11.2012 - 22:07
Rating: 9
Erik M.

Written by musicalkaratekid on 27.02.2012 at 00:06

I actually prefer this to 'Enthrone...' for some reason. I particularly like how the production has been used to make the whole album sound as grandiose and ambitious as possible, with some seriously vicious riffs intact and a few epic song structures to boot. The difficult 'middle album' syndrome, as it is stuck in between the band's apparent tour de force, and the band's ultimate shift in sound.


I agree. This is my favourite album of DB by far and I own most albums. What's all the fuss about Enthrone Darkness Triumphant anyway? Sure, it's a great album, but in my opinion it doesn't even come close to this. I love every song of this album and I can never get enough listening to it, which is pretty rare for me.

On a side note, how is this black metal? I'd say it's symphonic black for sure.
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27.02.2018 - 02:00
Rating: 9
Opethian

Wall to wall praise and the bonus track is ACE!
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13.01.2019 - 15:33
Rating: 3
Maasai Mara

Oh look, it's us Dimmu Boring again. Now let's play a game, turn this on and off and tell us whether you notice any difference.
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You are not metal enough until you visit Kenya. The cradle of mankind, where man learnt first to work with stones and first enjoyed the sounds produced by banging stones which later influenced metal in all its sounds and genres.
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03.11.2021 - 20:54
Neoxx07

The last dimmu album to care about.
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