Abrahadabra

The principle dilemma haunting any band that wants to go the symphonic metal route and actually employ an orchestra is, how to avoid the first word of the sub-genre's denoted element from battling the rest for dominance. Dimmu Borgir isn't alone in this quandary, but they are among the most visible examples of it and there is no shortage of colorful metaphors being thrown around in an attempt to nail down what the actual issues is. They've always been something of an accessible element within an infamous scene (namely the Norwegian affiliates of the 2nd wave of black metal) from their very inception, lacking the outright technical commitment and atmospheric obscurity of others employing dense and elaborate textures over the traditional guitar, bass, drum and shriek arrangement, and becoming more so since Nuclear Blast's endorsement found them a higher fidelity production character. However, their latest studio offering is perhaps the most blatant example of this tendency, one that inspires adoration or scorn depending on the audience.

"Abrahadabra" is the ultimate expression in how Lovecraftian Horror clichés can be played up to the point of ceasing to be a focused metal album and more of a wildly unorganized operatic genre. Part of this could be blamed on putting way too much orchestral gimmicks and downplaying the traditional metal arrangement, which is actually possessed of some impressive riffs and the occasional lead guitar break. There are literally points on several songs where the massive horn and choir parts rob the guitars of their punch and thunder, something that was evident though less in degree on the last two albums. Similarly, the assortment of guest vocalists that function as stand ins for the departed Vortex move the sound pretty far from the cold bleakness of the "Spiritual Black Dimensions" character that this album was reaching for when going by the songwriting to something along the lines of a B-grade Gothic sound. The particular examples of this ooze out of the female guest slots heard on "Gateways" and "Endings And Continuations", two songs that are among the more distinctive of what is heard on here.

This isn't to say that the album is a complete wash or even that it sinks to the level of the band's creative nadir "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia", in fact, there are a few songs on here that are among the better offerings out of the band since the close of the 90s. The zenith is "A Jewel Traced Through Coal", which blasts and thrashes with the fury of a thousand hammers smashing up against tempered steel, and also contains some of the most active and enthralling riff work the band has ever come up with. In fact, the handiwork of Galder and Silenoz seems to take a noticeable upward swing on the last 3 songs after a mixed bag of rehashed Emperor worship and Vader inspired death metal grooves, with a lot more moving parts of course. "Renewal" grabs the ears from the lead guitar side of things, stopping just a few steps short of morphing into a black metal answer to Wintersun, and loads up on the drum work of course. One thing is certain, Dimmu's albums never cease to please in the drumming department with all the wild double bass work and digitally precise showmanship by whichever mercenary is manning the kit, and former Vader drumming Daray is no exception.

At the end of the day, this is the sort of album that isn't unworthy of hearing, and can even wow the ears at times, but just goes way overboard in elaborating the peripheral at the expense of the core. Most symphonic metal albums listen like a metal band with an orchestra along for the ride, while this album sounds like the exact opposite for most of its duration. Granted, someone who is really into the recent output of bands like Epica and Therion will definitely go for an album like this, but even compared to them this comes off as a bit unfocused and overdone. It literally stops just a tad shy of becoming musical Chinese food, tasting fantastic while its being consumed, yet quickly moving through and leaving little permanence after the cycle has finished. But apart from the somewhat lame and contrived lyrics and the outright ridiculous album cover, there isn't really much of this album that can be outright hated, though it's definitely a far cry from what passes for greatness.