Dimmu Borgir
Stormblåst

I know there's already a review of "Stormblåst MMV," but nonetheless, I wanted to share my opinion, always ready for the backlash. So, I can understand that Dimmu Borgir made a misstep, and that all the loyalists to True-Fucking-Norwegian-Black-Metal from earlier times could only cringe at the poorly executed attempt to improve an unrepeatable masterpiece.

Beyond being a more than bold move, the true reason for this "return to origins" is more than understandable ($$$). Money and commerce, evidently needed an extra income. I didn't quite buy into Shagrath's justifications written on the first pages of the booklet, something like "Now that we have the appropriate and more advanced resources than ten years ago, we can hear the album as we actually expected it to be [...] We can sleep more peacefully knowing that now Stormblåst is as we wanted it."

But, as discrediting as this charade may be, I didn't find the CD that disappointing. In my opinion, I believe it reaches an acceptable level, as lacking as it may be. Let's talk, for instance, about the comparisons between the two versions of the album; "Alt Lys Er Svunnet Hen" gets worse and better at the same time: we all miss the first minute and a half of keyboard present in the old version, and it is less highlighted throughout the entire song. It is heard, certainly, but overshadowed by much more powerful guitars, more... Heavy? Of course, the production has improved significantly, everything blends very well, at the expense, however, of the dense, misty, and tangible atmosphere that was lost with the first CD. A more than debatable point. "Broderskapets Ring" is quite improved, the riffs are more convincing, and here we hear the addition of choirs around the four-minute mark; nothing excellent, the new track didn’t create such an evident gap with the other. On the other hand, there is a lack of ferocity with "Når Sjelen Hentes Til Helvete," where the initial arpeggio is much, much cleaner and more melodic, followed by other decent and appreciable guitar riffs; in the central part dominated by the piano for more than a minute, we can notice some small extra elements that contributed to improving the whole (the organ peeking in, for example). Perhaps the introduction of this song is a bit shaky, but it manages to regain stability as it progresses. And then we have the second part of "Sorgens Kammer". Where are those beautiful six melancholic minutes of piano? And why do I now hear an annoying song, not enjoyable at all? And the vocals then falter all over the place, here Dimmu Borgir are truly at their worst. Absolutely avoidable and insignificant, one of the tracks I refused to listen to after not even two minutes. And then we move on to "Da Den Kristne Satte Livet Til"; horrendous horrible horror. Hellhammer's presence on the drums is not enough to make such a frantic song well-crafted, and these few minutes that the dear Dimmu dedicate to us are the worst I've ever heard, without counting the brief keyboard parts.

After the nightmare, we are pleased to find the title track, and finally, there’s nothing out of place, it’s one of the best-done tracks of the album, keyboards very prominent, always very high production, and a finale with piano to die for. "Dødsferd" and "Antikrist" have changed a lot compared to the previous ones, even in the lyrics: what was before Dødsferd, is now Antikrist, and vice versa. I would say that maybe this choice was spot on, just look at the translations. In any case, the added noteworthy elements are the Gregorian choirs in the first, very atmospheric. For the rest, everything is quite as before, apart from the usual better production, so it cannot but be appreciated. "Vinder Fra En Ensom Grav" turns out to be not very exciting, while we find "Guds Fortapelse" improved, with the sound of bells and crossed riffs, and again the choirs surrounded by keyboards. But it doesn’t end here, indeed the bonus track "Avmaktslave" is beautiful, well pumped and greatly raises the average of the album, a chapter I appreciated a lot.

They earn a star for the production, another star is for the technique which Dimmu obviously do not lack, while the third star, quite hard-earned, is for those tracks that managed to improve; a star less for the other tracks that have only ruined, and to mention them all: "Sorgens Kammer," "Da Den Kristne Satte Livet Til," "Vinder Fra En Ensom Grav," and a small part of "Alt Lys Er Svunnet Hen" that nonetheless maintains its beauty; I take away the other star for having diluted the original album's atmosphere and thus radically changed the impact with the music. To those who now intend to rate me a nice 1 or 2, I ask to reconsider... Because we could give other chances, after all, it's a CD that we shouldn't necessarily throw away so quickly, and as distant and unrelated as it may be to traditional black standards, it's still well-crafted, with at least a good foundation and good chapters that are not worth neglecting or even outright rejecting so categorically.