Dimmu Borgir - Stormblåst MMV review
| Band: | Dimmu Borgir |
| Album: | Stormblåst MMV |
| Style: | Symphonic black metal |
| Release date: | November 11, 2005 |
| Guest review by: | TheH2K |
Disc I
01. Alt Lys Er Svunnet Hen
02. Broderskapets Ring
03. Når Sjelen Hentes Til Helvete
04. Sorgens Kammer - Del II [bonus]
05. Da Den Kristne Satte Livet Til
06. Stormblåst
07. Dødsferd
08. Antikrist
09. Vinder Fra En Ensom Grav
10. Guds Fortapelse - Åpenbaring Av Dommedag
11. Avmaktslave [bonus]
Disc II [Bonus DVD - Live At Ozzfest 2004]
01. Spellbound (By The Devil)
02. Vredesbyrd
03. Kings Of The Carnival Creation
04. Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse
05. Mourning Palace
This time Dimmu Borgir made an effort to remake a masterpiece by mixing their first and third wave. Let's see whether it is a real failure as most people say or not.
They definitely nurtured the record, yet the nature is gone. What I mean is the sound quality has been amazingly enhanced, which can be really thrilling but the atmosphere is completely gone. "Alt Lys Er Svunnet Hen"'s intro has been removed due to copyright issues, which is a deal-breaker to me. "Broderskapets Ring" and "Når Sjelen Hentes Til Helvete" are unnecessarily accelerated, which I cannot understand why. The "Stormblast" track is the best remake on this album, but is only acceptable and nothing exceptional.
Two new tracks were added. "Sorgens Kammer Del II" is not that bad, but it is not "Sorgens Kammer" anymore. They could have added more elements of the previous track in a way that wouldn't get it into copyright problems (I know they could but didn't try their best!!!). "Avmaktslave", however, is striking and really epic; best of this record. The symphonic samples are interestingly similar to their Abrahadabra era.
The bass lines can be heard, similar to the original version and unlike their 2000s style. The keyboard lines are really awesome and maybe the only forte of this album, really epic and staggering. Drums are better performed but some parts are omitted, for which there is no excuse. Guitars are only OK and not anything outstanding. Allegedly, vocal parts tried to mix their 90s style with their 2000s; unsuccessful indeed.
If only I hadn't heard the first record, then I'm sure I would have enjoyed this record far more. If I were them, I would create something with the essence of their 90s and the new style like they did in "Sorgens Kammer Dell II" or "Avmaktslave". I assume fans hardly have any problem with these two tracks. So it seems that it is not a complete failure, but a huge step backwards.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | 2 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by TheH2K | 03.06.2020
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:
4.0
4.0
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Rating: 4.0 |
It's 1996 and a band from Norway named Dimmu Borgir manages to release their second effort, "Stormblast". The expectations from the black metal audience must had been quite big and Dimmu Borgir didn't prove these expectations wrong, on the contrary, they offered a really inspired piece of majestic black metal to the world. What someone could notice from "Stormblast" was an intense will for a lyrical atmosphere, having an epic feeling at times or a more melancholic approach at others. And thus "Stormblast" remained a classic release to the eyes of many black metal fans, up to an extent. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 3
Visited by: 21 users
| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002  |
Many digitally remastered albums lose atmosfete and magic touch
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| EloZ Posts: 73  |
Stormblast is one of my favourite album of all times. The dark atmosphere on that album is something that I loved at first listen back in 1996. I didn't care about the production...in the first wave of black metal, Darkthrone, Immortal, Mayhem, Gehenna, Ancient, Bathory...they weren't perfect...but they had a certain atmosphere. Stormblast MMV is emotionless, that is my feeling when I listen to it. Is a commercial maneuver, a good album but nothing compared to the old one. That's my opinion...
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| brimarsh Posts: 73  |
Dimmu Borgir was one of my pathways into the extreme metal scene. I started with Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, which remains in a near-tie with the original Stormblast for my favorite Dimmu Borgir albums. I wasn't as vexed as some when they made their transition into their hyper-polished approach. Spiritual Black Dimensions was obviously weaker than its predecessor, but if you take it objectively rather than comparatively, it holds a fair amount of merit. Puritanical was a fantastic effort as well. Deathcult, I'll admit, felt a bit gimmicky; but, it was still a wholly enjoyable listen. Stormblast MMV is something I had a lot of trouble with. It's hard not letting our predilections cloud our ability to think objectively, but I could not shake the feeling that it was a marketing ploy... and I was convinced upon listening. It felt like a cheap tactic to capitalize on both sides of their polarized fanbase. OG fans and their estranged counterparts were tempted by the notion of a re-recorded version of one of their strongest works while their more modern fanbase who didn't quite jive with their more primitively produced work could potentially hear Stormblast the way THEY wanted to hear it?in highly polished and sterile fashion. I won't speak to how anyone else feels about it, but I thought it was a cheap money-grab and the re-recordings held none of the charm found on the original release. The atmosphere was severed and I didn't feel as though a polished production was a flattering dress for the compositions.
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