Dimmu Borgir have released Grand Serpent Rising, their first full-length in eight years and the follow-up to 2018’s Eonian, out now via Nuclear Blast. To mark it, the Norwegian extreme metal titans have shared a cinematic video for ‘As Seen In The Unseen‘.
Formed in 1993 by guitarist Silenoz and vocalist Shagrath during the height of Norway’s second-wave black metal movement, Dimmu Borgir have never rushed the creative process, and the crushing weight and cinematic scope of Grand Serpent Rising suggests the wait was worthwhile. Recorded in Gothenburg with producer Fredrik Nordström, the architect behind landmark albums Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and Death Cult Armageddon, the record delivers thirteen punishing yet diverse tracks that push the band’s symphonic extremity to new heights.
Shagrath describes the album as darker and more brutal yet melodic and diverse, summing up all the band’s phases, with some songs heavily inspired by their early years and others pushing forward. Silenoz adds that they deliberately revisited the spirit and atmosphere that shaped their identity in the early years, framing the album as a journey through ruin, rebirth and transcendence.
There’s plenty more on the horizon. The band head to North America in August with Hypocrisy, Suffocation and Hulder, then return to Europe and the UK in October for the ‘In League With Satan‘ co-headline run alongside Behemoth, with Dark Funeral as special guests, including London’s Brixton Academy on 17 October. They close the month with an Unholy Halloween show at Oslo Spektrum on 31 October, joined by Enslaved and Satyricon.
Eight years is a long wait, but on first impressions this is the grand, theatrical Dimmu Borgir we’ve missed, and we’re glad to have them back.
Grand Serpent Rising is out now.
