Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra

Following a recent trend of trying a bit of commercial metal to see if it's any good, I've recently been listening to Dimmu Borgir's latest opus, the obscurely spelled Abrahadabra. Originating from Aleister Crowley's The Book Of The Law, Abrahadabra loosely translates as "I will create as I speak".

I've actually seen Dimmu Borgir live at Bloodstock Open Air 2008 and didn't reckon much to it, but this new album piqued my interest. The band is missing a couple of members, down to three from five. After a bit of a shake up two long standing members, ICS Vortex and Mustis, were dismissed. This has left the remaining members free to create this orchestral masterpiece.

And a masterpiece it is. When thinking about commercial metal I usually think about nu metal, hardcore and "pop" metal. Take the musical styles that identify metal but put them to use in bland, repetitive songs. But the label is Nuclear Blast, home of some of my other favourites including Nightwish, Sirenia and even Amorphis. With the way people cry foul against Dimmu Borgir I thought they must have signed with Sony on a million dollar pop contract.

This album does not sound "commercial". The 100 piece Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Kringkastingsorkestret) provide the epic classical movements while the band provide the melody, metal and vocal for the songs. Right from the opening orchestral track I had visions of the icey vistas portrayed by the band's stage gear. Think Lord Of The Rings crossed with the more classically inspired bits of Nightwish.

It's not all classical, of course. The melody and lyrics are harsh and grunting, even using animal sounds to enhance the already complex and layered production. In parts hard, heavy black metal, and in parts sounding more like choral chants, this is a very complex record.

Lyrically it's sometimes clunky (the rhyming scheme in Born Treacherous being amusingly simplistic), but one advantage of having the commercial success and backing that Dimmu Borgir have enjoyed is the ability to really polish the final production. The production values on this record are incredibly high and the mixing and arrangement does every song justice. The hissing, grating vocal fits right in and as individual lyrics catch the ear the mood of the song comes across.

Perhaps the album's high point comes in the eponymous track Dimmu Borgir. Presumably using the Icelandic or Old Norse translation of "Dark Castles", this is a war song, much like many of the others on the album. Orchestral and choral elements combine with chants and the drums of war. Heavy guitar riffs and an up-tempo melody make for a song epic in scale.

I was surprised by this album. Instead of cheesy pop metal, I heard epic, complex symphonic black metal. The scale is grand, the riffs are strong and the soaring orchestral arrangement adds to the imagery to make an album that is both exciting and satisfying to listen to.