In Sorte Diaboli by Dimmu Borgir

*****

In Sorte Diaboli by Dimmu Borgir

In Sorte Diaboli is by far the bands’ most powerful and epic debut to date. In Sorte takes the band to the next step after Death Cult Armageddon and features the same line up of talented musicians. More guitar driven than its predecessor lacking the use of full symphony but none the less epic and also is the bands first fully conceptual album, following the story of a priest who witnesses the unfair killing of innocent people and becomes “Antichrist” following him on his journey up to the point of his burning at the stake. The opener “The Serpentine Offering” starts up slow and then erupts into full fury taking the album to a powerful start. Shagrath’s vocals are in perfect form providing his best performance to date. Galder and Silenoz’s duo guitar work shows off epic writing while ICS Vortex holds the line down with powerful solid bass work and little bits of his operatic singing style. All the while the best drumming to date on a Dimmu album provided by none other than Hellhammer of Mayhem. This album begins hard and just gets heavier and more epic with the only stop being the haunting intermission track “The Fallen Arises”. However the tempo is immediately picked back up by the thundering “The Heretics Hammer”. I believe In Sorte Diaboli provides Dimmu Borgir’s most memorable songs since Stormblast. An absolute must have for any old Dimmu fans however I also recommend it to people who are not fans as I have heard many people say they do enjoy this album even if they are not typically Dimmu Borgir fans. Without a doubt this is an example of symphonic black metal at it’s best.

Must Listen: "The Serpentine Offering", "The Sacrilegious Scorn","The Foreshadowing Furnace"