Dimmu Borgir's 'Eonian' - Album Review

Regular readers of this blog will notice that I do not review many new extreme metal releases. Despite considerable effort on my part over the years to gain an appreciation for the much heavier end of the metal spectrum, true enjoyment of the majority of black and death metal bands continues to elude me. Occasionally however, a new album comes along by one of the big hitters in extreme metal that I find myself enjoying. Morbid Angel's most recent effort Kingdoms Disdained (which I reviewed here) was the last extreme metal album to really grab my attention with it's uncompromising aural assault. That album was released back in December of 2017, but five months on from that album's release I have found a new extreme metal opus to enjoy. That album is Eonian, the latest album from Norwegian black metal titans Dimmu Borgir - a band I have been a casual fan of for some time. My first real encounter with the band was picking up their 2007 release In Sorte Diaboli at a local second-hand CD shop around ten years ago. While it is not an album that I listen to very often, it is probably the first black metal album that I ever bought. By this point in their career however, calling Dimmu Borgir a simple black metal band seems a little crass. Their early 1990s genesis saw the band revelling in that raw, scratchy sound that defines black metal, but by the time In Sorte Diaboli was conceived, and in fact for a few years prior to this, Dimmu Borgir's sound had become much more polished and symphonic. While frontman Shagrath's vocals still contain the trademark black metal rasp, the band's two guitarists regularly employ tremolo picking for that chaotic black metal sound, the Dimmu Borgir of 2007 (and indeed now) is a much more sophisticated beast. 2010's Abrahadabra pushed the band further into the realms of symphonic metal, but it proved to be a divisive release. It certainly helped the band to reach a wider audience with its strong progressive and symphonic tendencies, but many hardcore extreme metal fans were turned off by the overt melodies found within. Abrahadabra turned out to be the band's last album for eight years, until the release of Eonian last month. With Eonian Dimmu Borgir have continued the strong symphonic path forged on Abrahadabra, but with a greater focus once again on the heavier end of their sound. Eonian certainly feels more like a black metal album than Abrahadabra, and could draw back some older fans of the band that where alienated by the latter. In many ways however, Eonian feels like the natural successor to the band's previous album, and sees the band's core three members (Shagrath along with guitarists Galder and Silenoz) creating more epic music. The three have handled the bass guitar parts between them on this album, with the keyboards and drums once again handled by long-time sideman Gerlioz and Daray respectively.

The album opens with The Unveiling - a feast of dense symphonic arrangements, gothic choirs, and heavy riffs. After a slightly industrial opening, the piece takes off with a lumbering riff backed by wordless choral vocals, before a tremolo-picked riff crashes in atop Daray's fast footwork. The song is a perfect representation of the modern Dimmu Borgir sound, and mixes the band's heavy black metal core with dense atmospheric soundscapes for a captivating. Gerlioz' piano dominates the verses, while Shagrath's crackling vocals add shade to the song's overall light. There are moments of true heaviness, such as the aforementioned black metal riffing, but large portions of the song feel more like a part of a film soundtrack than anything else. There are lengthy sections that see the choirs taking the lead vocally, with a gorgeous symphonic arrangement to back them up - all with minimal intervention from the band apart from to provide a basic rhythm. In this respect the song can feel like an elongated intro piece, but with moments of harsh black metal thrown in to set the listener up for what is to come. Lead single Interdimensional Summit is a true symphonic metal piece, complete with epic melodies and dramatic string stabs. There are parts of the song that would not sound out of place on one of Nightwish's more recent albums, but with Shagrath's snarls replacing the female operatic vocals. It works well however, and shows how far Dimmu Borgir have come since their raw early 1990s roots. The chorus once again sees the choirs take the lead for an epic delivery that would not feel out of place in the grandest of cathedrals. Despite how great this sounds, it is a shame that much of the album's first two songs have been handed over to choirs vocally, diminishing Shagrath's role in the delivery. I would have liked to hear his voice mixed in with the choirs to add some overall grit and darkness. Ætheric ups the heaviness however and feels like the first true black metal piece on the album with a lightning-fast opening riff that shows of the guitarists' picking speed as well as drummer Daray's chops. Despite this opening salvo, the song mostly proceeds at more of a mid pace, with Shagrath spitting out the verse lyrics with real venom over a muscular riff. The song does not follow a conventional structure however, with lots happening in a relatively short space of time. There is a lot more of the choir to be found, but here they mostly back Shagrath which gives the band's frontman a lot more time in the spotlight. The mix of the classical singers and Shagrath's black metal rasps is a great contrast, and helps to the song to become one of the album's highlights.

Council of Wolves and Snakes is another of the album's singles, and opens with a Eastern-tinged snaking guitar riff that slowly builds up over some tribal-esque drumming towards an atmospheric verse that hangs around a ringing bassline. In some respects, the song feels like the musical equivalent of crawling through a dark tunnel, with Shagrath's semi-whispered vocals acting as your guide through the maze. The murky darkness is broken up with occasional bursts of speed, and then beautifully dense sections built around acoustic guitar melodies. Once again there are a lot of moods found throughout, creating a bit of a schizophrenic listen but one that is ultimately satisfying. The Empyrean Phoenix is a bit more of a straight ahead piece, with a soaring main riff that will bury itself in your brain and more focus on the band's traditional metal core. The riffing throughout is strong, and often dominates rather than being buried by the orchestrations - despite a fairly lengthy choral section part-way through. This section aside however, this is probably the most overtly guitar-driven pieces on the album, with playful lead sections mixing in well with dense well-of-sound parts driven by blast beat drumming. Lightbringer is packed full of groove and is built around a mid-paced thrash-esque riff that creeps along menacingly atop a surprisingly simple drum pattern. This is however until the song speeds up with Daray's sudden drumming explosion and Shagrath begins his latest snarling aural assault. There are parts of the song where the keyboards and the orchestrations are almost entirely absent, which allows for the band's paint-stripping black metal more to really shine. There are moments here which sound like the Dimmu Borgir of old - raw and uncompromising - but then another keyboard melody will start and the listener is dragged back into 2018 and the band's modern sound. Vocally, this is a powerful piece and probably allows Shagrath more time singing unhampered than anywhere else on the album. The choral parts are kept to a minimum here, which allows the true heaviness of the song to shine through. I am Sovereign is the album's longest piece at just shy of seven minutes in length, but this does not stop the band going for an all-out metal assault throughout with much of the song operating at a high tempo. Given the length of the piece however, and more progressive approach is inevitable and slower moments are peppered throughout. There is a really heavy section that sounds more like something from an old-school death/doom record than a traditional black metal album, with Shagrath's vocals taking on a much lower and darker tone than usual. This gives the song a different sound to anything else on the album, as Shagrath's usual semi-spoken snarls sound so different to his vocal approach here. It works well however, and adds some weight to a diverse song that sounds like an early Opeth song one minute, and a lighter symphonic piece with floaty guitar leads the next.

Archaic Correspondence is more overtly black metal however, and ups the album's quota of moments of raw power with plenty of abrasive blast beat drumming and harsh guitar melodies that deliberately clash with each other for that classic unsettling black metal vibe. That being said however, there are still moments of light in the darkness. Soloists from the choir take short lead vocal sections which provide a change of pace from Shagrath's snarls and the huge choral onslaught. This helps the song to stand out, and brings back memories of ICS Vortex's time in the band when he would occasional provide sections of clean vocals for contrast. Alpha Aeon Omega definitely sounds like a song that could have appeared on In Sorte Diaboli with the band's core black metal sound dominating. The orchestral elements are more of a supporting piece here, and are often mixed into the background, which allows the band to dominate. There is some of the album's best drumming to be found throughout this song too, with mid-paced groove sections sitting side by side with extremely fast sections to provide a workout for Daray. While there are a few choral sections, this is largely a true metal fest with some of the album's most stripped-back passages - something which ensures the penultimate song stands out. This leads nicely into the album's closing piece, the instrumental Rite of Passage. The sound of rainfall is mixed in with doomy piano chords and clean guitar, which is soon joined by a slow drum beat and an orchestral backing. This lengthy instrumental outro is not a heavy piece at all, despite some punchy drumming throughout, but instead one that makes the most of the soaring orchestrals to create an atmosphere reminiscent of a more laid back version of the rest of the album. It works well to bring a dynamic album to a leisurely close, and somehow seems to link back to how the album opened. Overall, Eonian is a varied and interesting album from one of the true veterans of the extreme metal world. This is not an album that can be appreciated in a single sitting, and time needs to be taken to fully appreciate what Dimmu Borgir have tried to achieve. It is an album that creates a powerful atmosphere throughout, and seems to be a statement from the band as to their intentions for the future.

The album was released on 4th May 2018 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Interdimensional Summit.