Eonian

Very rarely, do I encounter such tear-inducing and unbridled failure that I completely write-off entire albums. Also, very rarely do I script an album review with such discontent however, Eonian happened upon my playlist this lovely morning and as such, warrants the lashing I’m about to give it.

Surely this cannot be the same Dimmu Borgir that first captured my attention with monster songs like Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh, Tormentor of Christian Souls and Master of Disharmony. Surely it is not the same band that wrote the masterpieces, Spiritual Black Dimensions and Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and Death Cult Armageddon back to back without so much as breaking a sweat. Of course not, that Dimmu is a relic of the past and exists now only in the halls of nostalgic individuals such as myself: The contemporary Dimmu bears absolutely no resemblance to that ancient beast I grew up on and only lives on now as a husk which only serves to shame this once prestigious name.

Onward to this disaster that has brought us here today, Eonian. This mess of an albums first beguiles you with possibly one of the most poorly handled introductions in the whole of black metal in the form of The Unveiling. This song starts very strongly with one of the most regal tremolo riffs I’ve ever heard before firing on all cylinders with machine-gun double bass with the keyboards and synth tucked very carefully under the driving tremolo. This fiery onslaught is unfortunately short-lived as the song quickly descends into a Nightwish-esque broth processed with the sensibilities of a black metal head.

We will not speak of Interdimensional Summit because I believe the people of the internet have already gone ahead and collectively ripped that mess apart very thoroughly when it was first unveiled. Ætheric does a little more to convince you that this album is not a complete waste by showcasing some subdued version of the Dimmu we know and saw on albums like In Sorte and Abrahadabra. Beyond the overbearing choirs and poorly timed keyboards, this song does a good job of reminding you that you are listening to the Norwegian juggernaut and I honestly have very few complaints with this piece.

Most of the album proceeds in this vein with the songs continuing to show this subdued Dimmu, perhaps in an attempt to speak to their already established audience while leaving a little room for lighter parts to speak to a new market who may not be entirely for the abrasive Dimmu Borgir sound which we grew up on. It is almost tragic because a lot of the songs on this album have enormous amounts of potential and could have been very easily, some of the strongest songs the band has ever committed to record.

Hear me well, the album is not without some gems and the first of these comes in the form of the beastly Archaic Correspondence which I feel could sit comfortably in In Sorte Diaboli. Even the songs, Alpha Aeon Omega and The Empyrean Phoenix do very well to remind you of this band’s strength. The production also goes to really long lengths to make this a little more pleasing to the ear and I raise my cup to the mixing and mastering teams because this sounds really good and balanced for the most part.

Towards the end of this review, I feel less angered by this album and I, perhaps, have come to appreciate it a little more than when I came in but this offering will continue to sit towards the bottom of this band’s spectacular discography. Eight years in the making and the end result is a lukewarm broth, saturated with overbearing choirs, mediocre writing and a complete absence of soul or killer intent. If another band had released this album, it might have come across a little different but this is a studio album by Dimmu Borgir and we have accustomed to a certain degree of quality and have higher expectations from them.

In closing, if two more years go by without this album falling into one of my playlists again, it may very well be a good two years.