Dimmu Borgir - Death Cult Armageddon review
| Band: | Dimmu Borgir |
| Album: | Death Cult Armageddon |
| Style: | Symphonic black metal |
| Release date: | 2003 |
| Guest review by: | Spyroid |
Disc I
01. Allegiance
02. Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse
03. Lepers Among Us
04. Vredesbyrd
05. For The World To Dictate Our Death
06. Blood Hunger Doctrine
07. Allehelgens Død I Helveds Rike
08. Cataclysm Children
09. Eradication Instincts Defined
10. Unorthodox Manifesto
11. Heavenly Perverse
12. Satan My Master [Bathory cover] [bonus]
13. Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse [Orchestral version] [bonus]
14. Eradication Instincts Defined [Orchestral version] [bonus]
Disc II [Ozzfest Edition Bonus]
01. Satan My Master [Bathory cover]
02. Burn In Hell [Twisted Sister cover]
03. Devil's Path [2000 Version]
04. Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse [Orchestral version]
05. Eradication Instincts Defined [Orchestral version]
06. Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse [video]
Disc III [DVD Audio Surronded 5.1]
01. Allegiance
02. Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse
03. Lepers Among Us
04. Vredesbyrd
05. For The World To Dictate Our Death
06. Blood Hunger Doctrine
07. Allehelgens Død I Helveds Rike
08. Cataclysm Children
09. Eradication Instincts Defined
10. Unorthodox Manifesto
11. Heavenly Perverse
12. Satan My Master [Bathory cover] [bonus]
13. Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse [Orchestral version] [bonus]
14. Eradication Instincts Defined [Orchestral version] [bonus]
+ Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse [video]
+ Photogallery
I am not a great fan of black metal, especially not fairly well-produced "raw"/"brutal"/"intense" black metal. I listen to some atmospheric stuff, but that's all. I am not a great fan of symphonic metal either, in my opinion not many bands succeed to create symphonic metal with enough quality. Rhapsody of Fire is one band that manages to do it, and Therion as well even if their symphonic arrangements are more in the background in some way. But with this album, the band Dimmu Borgir has managed to create my favourite symphonic metal album, and probably also my favourite black metal album ever. It's also definitely my favourite Dimmu Borgir album, and I know a lot of people will disagree here...
The musicianship are really great. I love Shagrath's voice on this album, it fits perfectly with the music and the majestic doomsday atmosphere. Guitars are also great; simplistic, but they provide their part great. The insane man behind the battery, Nicholas Barker, is also a real madman! There's probably many blasters out there that can do the same but I simply love the way he plays on this album. Bass guitars don't feel very important but Simon is singing and also providing a lot material for the songs so I'm not blaming him for anything. But the real virtous master in this album must be keyboard player Mustis because all orchestral arrangements are just so extremely well done! I'm not anyone to speak about this, but for me it could as well have been Beethoven! Also, the crystal clear production provides a lot, of course. I can feel that all instruments have precisely the tune and volume that they should have to fit in perfectly.
If I'd like to describe this album with just a short piece from the CD I would use the part in "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" after the calm part with clean vocals. Nicholas starts to blast, the guitars go "rrrrrr" and Shagrath lets out a scream from the abyss - while Mustis plays something that sounds like a piano concert. It gives me goose bumbs! This album is a must have for every fan of majestic, symphonic metal!
My hard-to-pick favourite tracks: "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse," "Blood Hunger Doctrine," "Eradication Instincts Defined," and the bonus tracks - orchestral versions of "Progenies..." and "Eradications..."
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Spyroid | 08.03.2007
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
8.0
8.0
|
Rating: 8.0 |
After Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia it is arduous for any musician to repeat something to that level, but Dimmu Borgir got really close to it. As a normalcy, the album starts with a symphonic part, but the riffs in track 1 are not something distinctive. The orchestral part is really trying hard to help this track look exceptional but sadly unsuccessful in my opinion. "Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse" is the ooze of Mustis's talent; Vortex's clean vocals rule, and that sudden blast after the clean part when all of them are riding their instruments like a wild horse is terrific. The piano plays a huge part in this section, which is really noteworthy. Read more ›› |
Guest review by
Justin
Justin
Rating:
8.5
8.5
|
Rating: 8.5 |
Although the last couple of years have seen Norway's leading elite melodic black metal act Dimmu Borgir release a mini live E.P. "Alive In Torment" [2001] and the C.D./D.V.D. set "World Misanthropy" [2002], it's the studio follow up to 2001's "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" that fans have been really waiting for with high anticipation. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 10
Visited by: 112 users
| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018  |
Ahh, I agree with you man, this is a damn great album, full of majestic evil atmospheres and furious parts... It's not a masterpiece as "Puritanical..." but this kicks asses too!
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023  |
Written by Katatronik on 08.03.2007 at 15:09 Puritanical... is also great, but I think this album feels more like a soundtrack; a concept album or something while Puritanical is more a collection of great songs. Dimmu rules, anyway 
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| Bitch Boy Posts: 1353  |
This is my favorite Dimmu Borgir album, your review is excellent. Congrats.
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023 |
Written by Bitch Boy on 08.03.2007 at 22:31 Thanks a lot!
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| FreddeSwede Posts: 126  |
Written by Bitch Boy on 08.03.2007 at 22:31 In my opinion the new album is as good. In Sorte Diaboli will elevate this band even higher throughout the world. A truly great band with their own sound.
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| +{Jonas}+ I R Serious Cat Posts: 4955  |
Great review, and great album too. Deffinitely Dimmu's best.
---- "Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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| Spyroid Rosetta Stoned Posts: 1023 |
Written by +{Jonas}+ on 13.02.2008 at 16:35 Thanks a lot, I agree! 
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| +{Jonas}+ I R Serious Cat Posts: 4955 |
Written by Spyroid on 13.02.2008 at 17:39 Well the symphonicc elements in this album make it completely amazing. In the very intro of "Progenies", and thh piano sections, whoa. *shivers* 9.7/10 for me.
---- "Nobody wants to be the weird kid, you just end up being the weird kid. You don't know how you ended up getting there" - Rob Zombie http://jonas-bs.deviantart.com My dA, mainly photography, go check it out!
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
The four first tracks of this album are almost perfect. ''Allegiance'', ''Progenies of the Great Apocalypse'', ''Leper Among Us'' and ''Vredesbyrd'' open the disc in a exellent way. The symbiosis between the orchestra and the band is simply fantastic, one of the best in metal bands. Good rythm also. Too bad that the last tracks (despite being very good) kinda variate between exellent and some less inspired moments. Anyway this album deserves the high rate.
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| SatyriconChick Posts: 248  |
This is honestly my least favorite Dimmu album, but that's because of the horrible production. Still, I love "Progenies" and "Blood Hunger Doctrine."
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