Band:	Dimmu Borgir
Album:	For All Tid
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	1995
Guest review by:	TheH2K

01. Det Nye Riket
02. Under Korpens Vinger
03. Over Bleknede Blåner Till Dommedag
04. Stien
05. Glittertind
06. For All Tid
07. Hunnerkongens Sorgsvarte Ferd Over Steppene
08. Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde
09. Den Gjemte Sannhets Hersker

[re-release bonuses taken from Inn I Evighetens Mørke EP, 1994]
10. Inn I Evighetens Morke Part 1
11. Inn I Evighetens Morke Part 2

For All Tid is Dimmu Borgir's first studio album, which was released in 1995. As most of us know, the 90s can be mentioned as the climax of Scandinavian extreme metal, so competing in this field with other giants, especially Swedish and Norwegian bands, was no mean feat at the first sight; however, I assume they somehow were successful in their debut album to make it.

For All Tid starts with "Det Nye Riket", which I call a masterpiece and one of the best piano/synth works of metal music, hiding gloomy lyrics inside it. Keyboard sounds are tangible during the record and sheets for keyboards are good enough for a debut album.

As strange as it may seem, drum sounds are unclear and not well-produced, which to me is a weak point of this package. Not only the drum sounds carry this point, but other instruments are not set in a standard level; guitars are too sharp and raw, and vocals are so echoic (I don't have any real problem with this feature of the vocal parts but technically it is due to a lack of engineering technique).

What we have in this album is Dimmu's 90s special riff style that remained with them up to the late 90s but faded away in their more symphonic records. "Over Bleknede Blåner Till Dommedag" is the song that attracts the most attention from this album, whilst "Raabjørn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde" is another one to mention, an epic one with that melodic intro and so on.

One point to mention is the image that this record creates, full of darkness and coldness in the middle of Northern nature. The second half of the album, however, is not as good as the first half and the production gets really annoying, especially in "Hunnerkongens Sorgsvarte Ferd Over Steppene", where the listener gets confused by the horrible cacophonous mixture of the instruments, not because they are badly performed but because they are poorly produced.

To sum up, this record is nice and melodious and a good one for a debut, and shows the band songwriter's ambition despite the poor production.