Easily one of the most popular and prominent extreme metal bands ever, Norway’s Dimmu Borgir have been creating their distinctive brand of symphonic black metal for a very long time now 2003’s Death Cult Armageddon signaled the rise of the band’s popularity overseas, as the record actually managed to score in the Billboard Top 200. Pretty wild for such an extreme band.
Their 1999 album Spiritual Black Dimensions is just as important, though. And while the record is unfortunately sandwiched between the admittedly more impressive Enthrone Darkness Triumphant and Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia, that doesn’t mean the keyboard-heavy record should be overlooked. The record really gets off to a nice start with the epic-sounding “Reptile”, and while hints of the more accessible side of Dimmu do pop up, its 9 tracks generally don’t feel wasted.
Over 20 years after its initial release, Spiritual Black Dimensions doesn’t feel ancient. The keyboards and symphonic influences manage to hold up nicely, and generally the album is darker and faster, yet a bit more melodic than its predecessors. Give it a spin!
