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DIMMU BORGIR
1997 - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant.
1999 - Spiritual Black Dimensions.
more DIMMU BORGIR.
way more Helter Skelter.

May 30, 1997 - 2022: 25 years of: Enthrone Darkness Triumphant.

The gateway for blackmetal's new millennium.

From the not too far boroughs of Oslo, a dark castle stands tall. It's inhabitants, Norway's now superstar blackmetallers DIMMU BORGIR. Following their 1995 For All Tid and '96 Stormblåst CD, its was now time to step to the next level: the main-stage. This 2.0 version now includes a worldwide Nuclear Blast Records deal and the controversial and highly creative multi-instrument / singer Nagash, leader of the all-star super project COVENANT / THE KOVENANT.

The intro and opening-cut of "Mourning Palace" ablaze on cue with it's ultra modern-tones and heavy mid-paced moody riffing. Keyboards also opens the following track, the thrashy "Spellbound (By The Devil)" ...and just like that, DIMMU BORGIR have spear-headed a new late 90s signature vibe.

More beautiful murderous melodies appear on "Relinquishment Of Spirit And Flesh", the sick blast of "Tormentor Of Christian Souls" and the deadly delightful dramatic endings of "A Succubus In Rapture".

With HYPOCRISY's Peter Tägtgren at the production-control, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is the Stonehenge fortress for this new upcoming era in blackmetal sorcery. Leaders of the Second Wave, or Third Wave depending on who you ask, a new epoch in heavymetal's time-line where DIMMU BORGIR's morbid art and sound would be the template for other acts to follow, around the globe.

1998's Godless Savage Garden MCD kept the formula intact, preparing for the ultimate take-over: 1999's trend-pushing symphonic blackness, the Spiritual Black Dimensions monument.

*
Mourning Palace = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vcTRWE2_u8
Enthrone Darkness Triumphant = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9pLV9kG3-s&list=OLAK5uy_nzZinZwxNo6wnB1q9m9HIhBdOZO6kiJP8
Interview in 1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngu7uv7k_ao
Live in Germany in 1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuYaQLQJ1gQ
some band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cm_JqMH8po
some girl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLFaM0_q9_Q

March 1, 1999 - 2024: 25 years of: Spiritual Black Dimensions.

Exiting the Mourning Palace.

Just before the turn of the millennium, the Third Wave Of Black-Metal was the new feared extreme. Led by DIMMU BORGIR, other blasphemers in this hate race included MARDUK, CRADLE OF FILTH ...and the rebirth of MAYHEM ...talk about morbid tales.

Yet some were finally breaking away from the crust and grime of the genre's early recordings. Now top-players such has EMPEROR and SATYRICON wanted a bigger piece of the pie, left vacant from the deathmetal drought.

The primitive "Reptile" breaks The Gates Of Hell wide open into these black dimensions. The track fully features new-comer ICS Vortex's majestic clean-vocals, an asset that brought the band to new heights. The nightmare continues on "Dreamside Dominions", while "The Promised Future Aeons" drives into higher-gear with the keyboard-rhythms and some impressive lead works.

The intensity solidifies in every department on "The Blazing Monoliths Of Defiance". At that point in time, the term epic-blackmetal had not yet been labeled but is clearly displayed on "The Insight And The Catharsis", where the piano-play elevates this fast-paced Armageddon into a powerful symphonic spine-chillin' black monolith.

Hail these tragic serenades.

Riding from the success of 1997's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant CD, this new evil output is a major step-up: a trendsetting blackmetal offering, filled with classical overtone and plenty of aggression to match. Although the pristine-production, courtesy of scene-savior Peter Tägtgren, was criticized for been too polished and too clean ...diametrically, this openness gave room for real darkness to shine throughout this grandiose 54min opus.

1996-to-99's era is a dark sweet-spot for the genre and DIMMU BORGIR left no stones unturned. Now comfortably sitting on blackmetal's Jewel Throne, this macabre theater would dominate the scene again, with 2001's Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia CD.

*
Arcane Liveforce Mysteria = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-_Y-nDt_QQ
Spiritual Black Dimensions = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AvepWnWR7U&list=OLAK5uy_lS31PLhI8aZrbLufB6jPsVEpxn4fRdv0I
Live in Montreal in 1999
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22JohtTeVII
some girl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7hMfX6fQkc

more DIMMU BORGIR:

THE KOVENANT