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Rating: This album essentially consists of two parts and is the meeting point between the previous Stormblåst and the subsequent Spiritual Black Dimension.
Moreover, from now on, the titles of Dimmu's CDs will start to be composed of three words, of which two (often) are adjectives plus a noun (something must have clicked, or come loose, in Shagrath's mind).
It is no secret that this is the CD most loved by Dimmu fans and metalheads in general.
These five pagans (to use a euphemism) from Norway have gotten smarter and, leaving behind the iron clubs, have shuffled the deck a bit, creating a masterpiece (which in my opinion is still inferior to Stormblåst) suited to all tastes.
Some may have wanted the same Dimmu from Stormblåst, poetic and melodic, and others may have wanted the Dimmu angrier, with fewer classical embellishments and dark keyboard chords (almost always in a minor key) instead of the sweet piano of Stormblåst.
Dimmu did both, mixing them and creating something unique and unrepeatable. On one side, there are truly devastating pure black metal riffs accompanied by the immense Tjodalv (now leader of Susperia) with blast beats bordering on inhuman (as in Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh or Tormentor of Christian Soul), while on the other, we have the "sweet" and melancholic melodies of Entrance or Prudence's Fall, just to name a few examples.
There's no need to spend too many words on the genre; let's say it's melodic symphonic black metal with some gothic flashes here and there, mainly due to the ethereal atmospheres crafted by Stian, arguably the best keyboardist symphonic black metal has ever known.
A must-have album, both because it will keep you company for many months before you tire of it, and because it is an album that changed symphonic black metal and gave birth to thousands of carbon copies (including Cradle of Filth) who tried in vain to emulate this masterpiece.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Mourning Palace (05:13)
Daylight has finally reached it's end
As evenfall strikes into the sky
Far away in the dark crimson moonlight
Sickening souls cry out in pain
Whispering voices summoning screams
Waiting for Satan to bless their sins
Blackhearted angels fallen from grace
Possessed by the search for utter darkness
Hear the cries from the Mourning Palace
Feel the gloom of restless spirits
Hear the screams from the Mouring Palace
Feel the doom of haunting chants
Eternal is their lives in misery
Eternal is their lives in grief
Abandoned in a void of nothingness
A chain of anger, a fetter of despair
In this garden of depraved beings
This unsacred place of helpless ones
Satan blessed the creatures
Inswathed them in endless night
Whispering voices, summoning screams
Waiting for Satan to bless their sins
Blackhearted angels fallen from grace
Possessed by the search for utter darkness
04 Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh (05:33)
King of tempests and storms
Lord of innumerable figures and forms
Blessed with Thy cold I am
as I upon the shoulders of mine
bear the burden of Thine
Once I got touched by a fire from beyond
an invitation of darkness of which I colud not resist
Caressed by the feathers of the fallen
I took the fate in my hand
My raging Commander
My constant Shade
My soul's Persecutor
My eternal Divinity
Revealing Thy powers in visions and dreams
Onvoking Your magic at night
Honored I am to mission Thy word
within a creed is sworn of majestic might
An infernal allegiance in which I pay my share
An unholy awakening inside of which I intend to bear
Beholding Thy commotion
I entreat You with devotion
I subsume Your might with strength
I will carry on with You as my guardian
against the lambs of the light
Possessed by the true god of earth I am
Possessed for eternity
06 Tormentor of Christian Souls (05:39)
I could drag you to my chambers
and strip you naked in darkness
I could pull out your fingernails one by one
and rape you till you find no hope
I could rip your guts out
and let you watch me
sacrifice your unborn child
I could leave you to starve
and even bring you to total silence
For once
For I find no pleasure in your physical pain
I want your christian soul to crumble
Your fucking soul
When I have seen your church go up in flames
and you are weeping I will laugh
When I have seen you mourn over loved ones
I will feel bliss when your mortal souls is in ruins
I will grin in the shadows
for that gives me pleasure
Tormenting a christian soul
07 Entrance (04:48)
Soul(s) on departure six six six
onward unto another existence
A trip far beyond all pleasant dreams
A voyage through desolation sights
Inner transformation
Subconscious flight
In the glance fields of fires
In the distance meadows of mists
Where minds being enshrouded in complete night
The fading of love, life and light
Wandering an endless journey
Dead within a trance
Entering a lost dominion soulless and free
Visiting a foreign place but yet so known
Another dimension opens for me to see
Heaven sure ain't made for me to be
Heaven sure ain't made for me to be
Soul(s) on arrival six six six
one short step from unhallowed ground
The ground of A Kingdom Come
Dead spirits communion
Unorthodox profane void
Gardens, temples, palaces
I have seen them all
In search for insanity, sanity slowly drowns - In trance
08 Master of Disharmony (04:16)
Master of disharmony
welcome my tainted soul
Take me from the hordes of the living
into the blessed darkness
Master of disharmony
take my impure flesh
Lead me into the path of temptation
save me from cowardness
Save me from cowardness
Master of sin
take my cursed heart
Bring me where I can find salvation
dor I am the danmed
Master of death
take my pitiful life
I am enslaved
I shall never forget the pain
Master of sin
take my cursed heart
Bring me where I can find salvation
for I am the danmed
Master of death
take my pitiful life
I am enslaved
I shall never forget the pain
10 A Succubus in Rapture (06:00)
Illness and plagues, torture and blight
Is what she brings
Mocking holy standards, deceiving feeble fools
Is what she loves
Granted with powers, gifted with magic
Watching the world through raven eyes
Damned woman mischievous whore
Heretic princess
Devil's own
Her seductive elegance
Excites your weak flesh
Her diabolical beauty
Enchants your bewildered mind
You damn woman
You mischievous whore
You heretic princess
You are Devil's own
A serenade made out of black magic
She has learned to set souls afire
And makes sure that you never
Will leave it's trance
Her diabolical beauty
Enchants your bewildered mind
11 Raabjørn speiler Draugheimens skodde (05:02)
Langt der borte I m�rket
Gjennom tretopper der m�nelys driver
Langt der borte I all t�ke
Inn gjennom min sjel den sorte angst river
P� de mosegrodde steiner de seg viser
N�r nattem�rket har senket seg over
Ekkoene fra deres grufulle jamring
Endel st� du kan h�re
I horisonten langt vekk
Skimtes den sigende skodde
Horder av ild rider m�nelyset I flokk
Ved daggry de samles ved en bortgjemt odde
Den iskalde snoen
Har kommet
Denne gang
I evig fokk
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Other reviews
By Fallen
"Perfect in their pianistic purity, the notes of ‘Mourning Palace’ unfold like the petals of a malefic flower."
"Enthrone Darkness Triumphant... darkness falls faster now..."
