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Dimmu Borgir > Stormblåst MMV > Reviews > PaganWinter_44
Dimmu Borgir - Stormblåst MMV

More Atmosphere, But Less Talent. - 71%

PaganWinter_44, July 8th, 2007

Dimmu Borgir's new version of Stormblast proved to be somewhat interesting. When I heard the rumors that they were going to re-record Stormblast, my first thoughts were, "Oh shit. They're going to ruin one of their few good albums." However, the new recording didn't prove to be nearly as bad as I believed it to be. Sure, a lot of the elitist black metallers were pissed and determined to badly review it as much as possible, but I feel it's time to find an unbiased review.

I'll start with the negative aspects of this new recording. One thing that annoys me to no end is Shagrath on vocals when in the original recording it was Silenoz, who has proven to be a better vocalist. Silenoz had the real black metal vocals down, but Shagrath sounds like someone drowning in toxic sludge. In the original recording, you could actually hear the bass, and the bass had some good lines. In this recording, they just used the age-old method of “the bass follows the guitars.” If they were going to take away the good bass lines, then the least they could do was use Vortex as the bassist, seeing as how he’s one of the few who have actual talent in the band, these days anyway. But since they didn’t, the bass lines remain hidden away from the guitars. In the midst of all of this, this version is missing nearly all of the good keyboard parts of the original. They should’ve never replaced the old guy with Mustis. The only great keyboard part that is still in this recording is in the song “Nar Sjelen Hentes Til Helvete.”

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let’s focus on the good aspects. The album is clearly not as raw as their previous recording. While the original recording has a great atmosphere, this new version makes it seem darker. It’s not as light and pretty as their older albums. I think that this is one of the major upsides to this album. There is simply more atmosphere, more tone, and more feeling. This is mostly because they changed the key of the music. Dropping the key allowed for a darker atmosphere and a clearer production.

Overall, the older Stormblast is better in terms of musical talent. However, this album has a better atmosphere and better production. Fans of the original Stormblast may or may not be disappointed. As for me, I’d say that this isn’t nearly as bad as most will say.