{"id":597274,"date":"2026-05-22T02:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T02:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/597274\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T02:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T02:39:11","slug":"dimmu-borgir-grand-serpent-rising-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/597274\/","title":{"rendered":"Dimmu Borgir – Grand Serpent Rising Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"At their best, Dimmu Borgir<\/a> exudes a wicked majesty, governing the forces of darkness with dispassionate contempt and an utter certainty in their ungodly mandate. This attitude, along with the confluence of grandeur and melodrama, defines what initially drew me to Dimmu Borgir years ago, and what has kept me interested despite the interminable gaps between releases. Since forming in 1993, Shagrath and Silenoz have consistently delivered symphonic black metal that tempers the unrelenting acrimony of second-wave black metal with wistful melodies, sculpting an extensive emotional palette. In 2000, Dimmu Borgir enlisted Old Man\u2019s Child\u2019s Galder as lead guitarist, and the three of them penned bewitching black metal for a quarter century. As with all good things, though, it didn\u2019t last, and Galder departed in 2024 to focus on Old Man\u2019s Child once more. Given the shakeup of a longtime winning formula, do Shagrath and Silenoz silence naysayers with Grand Serpent Rising, or are listeners saddled with Temu Borgir?<\/p>\n

As ever, Dimmu Borgir discharges extravagant theater through the lens of black metal, drenching Grand Serpent Rising in haunting atmospherics and lush orchestrations. Since Death Cult Armageddon, the incorporation of symphonic elements has steadily grown more prominent, and over the years, these Norwegians have carved out a niche that exists somewhere between Gorgoroth<\/a> and Nightwish<\/a>. And like Cradle of Filth<\/a>, Dimmu Borgir goes for baroque, though instead of luxuriating in garish excess, they compose with nuanced sophistication. Grand Serpent Rising is the culmination of the intervening albums, with Galder\u2019s departure pushing Dimmu Borgir to fill the void he left with more deliberate arrangements. Thankfully, Grand Serpent Rising advances what yielded success for the band over the last couple decades, dredging textural depths and honing the intricate interplays of instrumentation that didn\u2019t reach quite far enough on Eonian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ufeffGrand Serpent Rising by Dimmu Borgir <\/a><\/p>\n

Though Shagrath and Silenoz shoulder many of Grand Serpent Rising\u2019s performances, a handful of guests play pivotal roles in defining one of Dimmu Borgir\u2019s best-sounding records. Longtime session and live drummer Daray gets an immediate boost, where the drumheads\u2019 natural timbres and resonances leap out of the mix to imbue a thunderous dimension missing from Eonian (\u201cThe Qryptfarer,\u201d \u201cPhantom of the Nemesis\u201d). The orchestrations and keyboards also integrate better on Grand Serpent Rising, their presence is more intentional and interwoven in lieu of Galder\u2019s nimble lead work. None of this should suggest that the guitars take a backseat, though, as Silenoz and Kjell \u2018Damage\u2019 Karlsen (Chrome Division<\/a>) pluck and shred with conviction as songs demand (check the intro to \u201cRepository of Divine Transmutation\u201d and the solo in \u201cAscent\u201d). The riffs and leads merit attention as well, with soaring melodies (\u201cSlik Minnes en Alkymist\u201d), crystalline cleans (\u201cAs Seen in the Unseen\u201d), and trem-picked offensives emboldening the Serpent. All the while, Shagrath croaks (\u201cSlik Minnes en Alkymist\u201d) and croons (\u201cAscent\u201d), supplying one of black metal\u2019s least abrasive vocal styles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dimmu Borgir prevails throughout Grand Serpent Rising, although a few issues from previous albums linger. At sixty-nine minutes long, Grand Serpent Rising sprawls. To be fair, the album is dynamic and intricate enough that parts rarely (if ever) feel repetitive, and proceedings slither quicker than the length suggests. Yet condensing the runtime by ten minutes would improve the overarching impact and effectiveness. Compounding and confounding the duration is the complexity of Grand Serpent Rising\u2019s arrangements\u2014they richly reward those with the patience to fully engage for multiple listens, but present a hurdle for impatient or distracted listening. Still, while the album isn\u2019t perfect, these complaints pale in comparison to the triumph Dimmu Burger devises on Grand Serpent Rising.<\/p>\n

In the end, Dimmu Borgir has written an album that refines their sound rather than reinventing it. If you\u2019ve listened to any of their recent albums and formed an opinion, Grand Serpent Rising won\u2019t change it. Instead, it proves that Dimmu remains as skilled as ever at creating opulent symphoblack, regardless of how long it takes between albums or what crucial personnel changes they endure. Dimmu Borgir perseveres For all tid, and if you\u2019re not wholly opposed to flamboyant black metal on principle, their latest awaits to stimulate, captivate, and ensure your Grand Serpent\u2019s Rising.<\/p>\n

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Nuclear Blast Records<\/a>
Websites: Website<\/a> | Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: May 22nd, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At their best, Dimmu Borgir exudes a wicked majesty, governing the forces of darkness with dispassionate contempt and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[47816,19439,28214,204105,47915,113110,96,204106,204107,191545,128,70346,55181,65976,108020,263,129,77014,29442,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-597274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-47816","tag-3-5","tag-black-metal","tag-chrome-division","tag-cradle-of-filth","tag-dimmu-borgir","tag-entertainment","tag-gorgoroth","tag-grand-serpent-rising","tag-may26","tag-music","tag-nightwish","tag-norwegian-metal","tag-nuclear-blast-records","tag-old-mans-child","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-symphonic-black-metal","tag-symphonic-metal","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}