Abrahadabra

When it comes to the infamous for being famous Dimmu Borgir, I have a bit of a different opinion than most people, especially fans of black metal. I enjoy most of what Dimmu Borgir has offered us from 1994, beginning with the EP "Inn i evighetens mørke" all the way up to "In Sorte Diaboli" from 2007. Even after the band "sold out", as many would say" I still enjoyed their more mainstream offerings more than a lot of people. Sure, "their 1990s outputs are far better than anything they've done in the 21st century, but they've always been solid musicians and have remained competent throughout the year. I was excited for "Abrahadabra" to be released. I had just entered my sophomore year in high school and had been listening to these guys for about a year at that point. I was aware ICS Vortex had left the band and we wouldn't be getting the same operatic vocals but nevertheless, I was still excited. Damn, this album was a huge disappointment!

Musically, it sounds similar in some concepts to what they have been doing since "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia". At the same time, however, it's a bit different. It sounds stagnant and uninspired most of the time, leaving the listener with a feeling of disappointment and thoughts of "what the hell did I just listen to?". This album sounds fairly incomplete and, surprise! Overproduced. This album is the perfect example of taking a stinking turd and polishing it until it becomes so shiny, just listening to it would make you go blind. There is no organic feeling in this music and the atmosphere sounds almost completely nonexistent. The guitars don't stand out hardly at all and these are some of the most boring riffs I have ever heard on a Dimmu Borgir album. Hell, there is little to no black metal influence in them anymore. We still have tremolo picked riffs, but they just lack that evil sounding darkness this band once stood for. They are also polished to the point where they sound fake. This takes away a lot of the atmosphere. The song "Gateways", which was the album's single, is pretty much the same thing you are going to hear throughout the entire album, and we all know how terrible that song is.

Speaking of "Gateways", that damn female vocalist was one highly appalling aspect surrounding this album. Also appearing on "Endings and Continuations", Agnete Kjølsrud ruined a lot of these songs for me. Her high-pitched, nasally, almost witch-sounding vocals are extremely bad. Hell, all of the clean vocal sections on this album are terrible, Maybe this is because Vortex was booted and these singers just couldn't hold a candle to him, but it's the damn truth. Shagrath's vocals don't sound too much different than they've ever sounded, but he really seems to be getting tired at this point, and his performance is left flat and lacking.

For this album, Dimmu Borgir enlisted the help of Daray to provide the drums. I am not too familiar with his other work, although I know he drummed for Vader for a bit. His performance is adequate and really doesn't sound too much different than Nick Barker did. However, seeing as the legendary Hellhammer drummed on the band's previous offering, he does pale in comparison. I'm not sure why these guys did not ask Hellhammer to drum for this album again, but really, a better drum performance would not have saved this album. The drums are probably the most dynamic aspect of the music as it is. I would have loved to hear more of a usage of blast beats, but the double bass is still pretty impressive.

Aside from the drumming, I really can't say too much in favor of this steaming pile of goat excrement. It's extremely bad and lacking in so many ways. I really hope the next album isn't this bad. Hell, this has been out for about five and a half years at this point. Who knows what these guys will pull out of their asses next?