Eonian

After eight years of wait, Dimmu Borgir come out in 2018 with their ninth studio effort, the eagerly awaited "Eonian". The anticipation for this release were high, some hoping it would be the band's triumphant return to form, other fearing it would end up being yet another "Abrahadabra". How did things turn out to be? Well, with "Eonian" Dimmu Borgir surely make a step in the right direction, although they chose to follow the musical style adopted with the previous release. The result is definitely better, although it's surely not the "absolute masterpiece" a lot of fans were waiting for.

"Eonian" honesty sounds more like a goth rock/metal release with symphonic elements "à la Nightwish" than a symphonic black metal album; if it wasn't for Shagrath's screamed vocals and the tremolo picked riffs redundant of the black metal origin of the band, this CD could have easily been sold as an album from a non-extreme metal act. The gothic influences are evident, for example, in the far too happy-sounding, at most melancholic orchestrations, and in the massively implemented use of choirs by the renowned "Schola Cantorum Choir". Curiously, the majestic choirs are both one of the major standout points and one of the major faults of the album: while they are carefully composed and do succeed in conveying the epic and quasi-timeless emotions the band was aiming to attain, they are also too widely used, resulting often quite overbearing and making the album at times redundant, instead of aiming for original or unexpected solutions. After listening to the first couple of tracks, the listener knows exactly what to expected: almost every crescendo, every riff succession or pre-chorus will result in a choral arrangement accompanied by orchestrations, making every other element of the music take a secondary spot, especially when it comes to Shagrath's vocals.

The Norwegian frontman's performance is, indeed, another doubtful aspect of the album: he relies too much on his low vocal range, and spends nearly half of the time talking or whispering. I know age comes for everyone, but considering he's still doing well live, even if he doesn't possess the endurance of a decade ago, attempting something more wouldn't have been bad. The clean vocals, in absence of someone capable of performing them, are completely replaced by the choirs in this release. The drumming is another aspect worth mentioning: the band opted for a commercially oriented, soft sound in this release, making Eonian a quasi-gothic rock album. This resulted in a more melodic and less heavy riffing (indeed, even if tremolo picking and dissonant arpeggios are still present, they are performed to result as digestible and light as possible), in peaceful piano parts, and in a soft, restrained style of drumming. The blast beat sessions are limited to specific parts and songs, and even where performed the production manages to make them sound less aggressive as possible. Speaking of the fills, they are quite simple and really don't stand out that much.

"Eonian" shows, all in all, a band that has deeply changed and evolved in a more digestible and less extreme metal act, but this doesn't mean the process sounds forced or resulted in a lame effort. The album as a whole is a pleasant listen to be honest, and although it plays safe far too much when it comes to heaviness and aggression, it does have a bunch of highlights. Opening track "The Unveiling" has some nice and catchy tremolo-picked riffs, and it makes an interesting use of guitar and keyboard effects. The piano and choral arrangements are carefully composed, and, although the song structure is simple, it does succeed in giving you a mystical, evocative feel of timeless majesty. A great way to start off the album. "Interdimensional Summit", the first single extracted from the platter, was a song that really didn't convince me at all when it was released, but I have to say it really grew on me thanks to its catchiness and now I consider it one of the album's highlights. The chorus is really memorable, and also the melodies played by the guitars enrich the song, sounding pleasantly melancholic.

On the other hand, the second single, "Council of Wolves and Snakes", is, while not a horrible or tedious track, probably the weakest of the album, although it's appreciable that the band tried to experiment with tribal music. "The Empirean Phoenix" is definitely the best of this studio effort, and sounds like a return to the band's old splendour, being quite reminescent of the past releases under certain aspects. The final song "Alpha Aeon Omega" is probably the most epic and ambitious when it comes to orchestrations and choral arrangements, although the final result is a piece of music that is definitely happy-sounding and not evil or haunting at all, but at this point of the band's evolution, I don't consider this as a flaw to be honest. The final track is an instrumental that closes the album in saturnine fashion, an interesting way to end the album.

"Eonian" is definitely not the return to form that most of the fans were hoping for, as it shows the will of the band to continue along the "post-black metal" path they paved for themselves with "Abrahadabra". This time however, the band took a step in the right direction, resulting in an album that, while not without its flaws, makes up for an overall enjoyable and refreshing listen and surely marks an improvement when compared to the previous studio release. They wanted to convey certain feelings dealing with the subjects of time and immortality (as shown in the beautifuly written lyrics that are all recollectible to these topics), and they succeeded quite well. Wether you'll like it or not, depends on your taste, personally I found it an enjoyable album.