True Kings of Norway?
I figured I'd try and do a somewhat different kind of review this time around. What we have here is simple, what is better....Dimmu Borgir's second release on Cacophonus records way back in 1996, Stormblast. Or the re-recorded version of Stormblast that came out in 2005 on the conglomo-metal label Nuclear Blast Records. I realize that both of these releases aren't exactly current, but I don't care. Whether you think Borgir have became a Cradle clone, or you think they simply went the weird symphonic goth route that many Black Metal bands a few years ago were heading for an extra buck is up to you. But the fact of the matter is the first Borgir's early albums are pretty badass and in particular Stormblast . In my opinion it is this black metal album that should be hanging with Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse and Dark Throne's Transylvanian Hunger on the walls of Valhalla. It's importance for the Norweigan Black Metal scene cannot be denied. I don't feel this way simply because I think its a badass album, but more so because I feel (at least to my knowledge) there weren't a whole lot of bands showcasing these kinds of extreme cases of melody the way Borgir were doing.
It was 2:00pm on a Friday afternoon, sophmore year of highschool. I knew where I was headed. School was out and I was going to Lou's Records in Solana Beach, San Diego. What I was going to get, I didn't know....take that back...I knew it was going to be Black Metal. End result, I walked out with Borgir's second release. The album I'm reviewing ( the original release). As my friends and I blasted it rollin down the highway I knew it was going to become one of my favorite albums. I guess I'm going to try and put my sentimental feelings towards the original release aside and compare the two objectively as I can, but it will be tough.
Dimmu Borgir-Stormblast (1996)The original Stormblast is much more rigid and flat sounding than the new one (that is to be expected). Regardless though there is somthing really soothing about it. The tempo is for the most part really mellow throughout the entire album. It rarely speeds up. Tjlodalv, the original drummer of Borgir, doesn't get enough credit for his playing and creating such a specific sound and arguably a sub genre of Black Metal. Maybe its because he joined that shitty band Suspiria years later, who knows. As a friend of mine put it when listening to the album "the kick pedals sound like clown feet". What thats suppose to mean, I really don't know. But I do know that the raw sound of mic-ing the kick pedals works much better than an in your face triggering we so commonly hear now-a-days. *Ahem* We find this over produced crap on some of the newer Borgir releases. I think probably my favorite thing about the original Stormblast is it's pure simplicity. As a result of the low-fi drums we get a chance to hear the beautiful keyboards that accompany the guitars. No technical groundbreaking musicianship here. Instead we hear a more of what we might expect from the spawning of the early second wave Black Metal bands in Norway at the time. Rawness and Evil. Except this time, with keyboards all over the place! I personally love it. Somehow they made it work. Of course it's because of releases like this (more so Enthrone Darkness Triumphant and the signing to Nuclear Blast) that shat out oceans of crappy keyboard metal. Little did many know they'd start to fall into the same crap sub genre/category they helped create. One has to wonder, was it the curse of being on Cacophonus Records? I know Cradle of Filth has been in legal battles with them for over 15 years now regarding the rights to they're first two albums.
I suppose Borgir thought they could just avoid all the lawsuit drama Filth was experiencing and said 'fuck it lets just re-record it'. According to interviews with Shagrath and Silenoz at the time of the re-recording, the band was constantly insisting that the revamped version was being done for themselves and them only. Basically if the fans liked it...cool...if they didn't well then...fuck you. That kind of sucks for us fans. What if we didn't want to hear it re recorded! What if we all thought it was perfect! ~sigh~ I'm getting worked up. They created it. So they can do what they want with it. My initial response to them re-recording it was pretty grim. Especially knowing the consistency of garbage they had been putting out since Spiritual Black Dimensions. At the time I felt the recruiting of fellow symphonic Black Metal Nick Barker(Cradle of Filth) drummer had worn me thin. He brought way to much technicality to the band and detracted at what Borgir was clearly good at, melody. Songs like Blessing's on the Throne of Tyranny on 02's Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia made me confused, thinking I was listening to a shitty ass Morbid Angel/ Cradle of Filth/Marilyn Manson hybrid or something....which sucked.
Dimmu Borgir-Stormblast (2005)Thankfully they kicked out the gigantic speed demon Nick and replaced him with an anti-semetic Spanish looking Norweigan drummer named Hellhammer. Yes, Hellhammer...from Mayhem. What the hell was going on here? In an interview only a few years prior I recall Hellhammer saying "melody doesn't belong in Black Metal". Yet....he's joining....yeah I was really confused.
I bought the album, I listened to it, and I couldn't believe it. They did a great job replicating the original...almost everything sounded similar. Granted the drumming was sped up quite a bit, but tempo's and riffing was hardly changed. The keyboards were sacrificed here and there to appease more of a double bass or blasting moment. But for the most part, it worked. Songs like Alt Lys Er Svunett Hen really only changed through apparent modern day digital production rather than analogue. Other than that though the arrangements were hardly touched! I couldn't of been happier. Here's an example, you decide....
The Old version.
The new version.
As a result I feel the album SHOULD NOT be lumped in with the latter trash heap Borgir is still excreting out almost yearly now. Although the album doesn't match the original in terms of its straight up authenticity and product of the times, it does a great job reinterpreting what they were supposedly "really going for" on the original release.
All in all, I'd like to just say to Dimmu Borgir, keep making the music for yourselves. Maybe then you'll impress all your fans with an even more of a gargantuan mound of fecal matter than your last one, the Invaluable Darkness. But hey, the kids at hot topic will love it at least.
In the words of Fenriz (Dark Throne) on modern black metal, "everyone likes to dress up".
-Emperor Vampirion
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