Abrahadabra

There are many bands nobody gives a shit about. And then there are bands on whom everybody’s got an opinion. Into the latter category falleth Dimmu Borgir, those crazy Norwegians who, with the release of their third album “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” (1997), became the laughing stock of the trve black metal community when they embraced English-written lyrics, sported a more bombastic production and signed to a major label. No matter how ridiculous that may sound, that is exactly what happened. Totally moronic, I know, especially as the album was (and is) highly enjoyable. In fact, they’ve not been able to top it off since, despite the release of four much-heralded full-lengths. I might actually enjoy the preceding “Stormblåst” (1996) a bit more, but that might be the kvlt talking.

Well, we’re not quittin’, the Borgirians said and fired the “dead weight” in form of bassist/clean vocalist Vortex and keyboardist Mustis from the band, recruited Snowy Shaw, a choir and an orchestra and made a new record. The first track “Xibir” displays the greatest selling point and at the same time both best and worst feature of the album – The Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Yes, a full and professional fucking symphony orchestra that is greatly utilized throughout the record. A little bit too greatly, in fact. More on that later. Anyway, the nice atmospheric intro leads into the first full-fledged song of the album, “Born Treacherous”. This 5-minuter starts off very promising with a sinister and simple guitar riff. The very “thrash” beginning and a nice blast beat section with tremolo guitars lead to a part where the orchestral strings shine with a beautiful obbligato. An epic mid-tempo chorus is heightened by massive choirs and a full-on orchestral assault. More symphonic elements are used in the middle part of the song before a brief blast beat with huge orchestral riffs on top of it lead into a final chorus. This track sets the tone for the rest of the album and presents most of the ingredients found on the disc.

The production is superb. Everything sounds just magnificent. There’s depth, punch, clarity and most importantly, the production fits the music and arrangements. Dimmu Borgir’s music depends on a grandiose production, and that is exactly what we get on “Abrahadabra”. Shagrath’s voice sounds gravelly, just like it should. Shaw’s cleans don’t really blend in as nicely as I would’ve thought, but he’s certainly a huge upgrade from the nasal and plain Hestnæs. It’s a shame they didn’t let him loose more on the “Perfect Strangers” rendition, as he really shines on that stuff. An above average cover, by the way. The snare sound could have been a bit deeper and wider, but Daray (ex-Vader) does his job with percussive eloquence, following the songs instead of showing off. The guitar riffs are a blend of rhythmic chugging and tremolo picking in the Norse fashion (minor scales, straight-forward lines). Nice solo on “Renewal”, whichever painted corpse played that one. I wonder if they wear make-up in the studio as well?

So…what about the orchestra, then? In short – fucking hell. These guys and gals play with great skill, conviction, passion and professionalism, and they were expertly recorded. Same with the choir. So why the negative remarks earlier on? Well… I usually enjoy my metal riff-oriented. The riffs being played by guitars. Sadly, most of the guitar riffs on this album are quite anonymous and usually have some choir/orchestra stuff happening on top of them, which is usually more interesting than the guitars. I’m not saying this is the wrong way to go – as long as you do it well, it doesn’t matter how you do it. “Abrahadabra”, however, doesn’t have strong enough themes and riffs, in either the guitars or orchestra, to become the bombastic beast the Dimmus were going for. There are glimmers of excellence, but they are too far apart to keep my interest all the way through. It's a bit like two accompaniments (chugga-chugga guitars and chordal orchestral arrangements) are being too polite to each other: "You take the lead." "No, you take the lead." Which, of course, means that there are no clear-cut larger-than-life melodies and themes, but only a strong foundation that would support those themes very well. It's like a symphonic black metal karaoke record, on top of which you should insert your own bold anthemic melodies.

Summa summarum: “Abrahadabra” is a good record. It sounds amazing. There’s some classy shit here, especially the recommended tracks “Born Treacherous”, hit single “Gateways” and the Emperor-esque “Renewal”. It is however not a masterpiece. Its ingredients lack the gravitas needed. Still, best Dimmu album since “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant”? Quite possibly.