Stormblast
December 14, 2006 by Jo Minor
Arguably the finest Melodic Black Metal album to ever see the light of day, Dimmu Borgir’s masterpiece Stormblast - translated to “storm blown” in English as the title, as well as the entire album, is written in the band’s native Norwegian - is a majestic musical experience.
Released before the band started evolving into a heavier and faster incarnation of its former self, Stormblast starts off with a hauntingly beautiful orchestral arrangement that is the beginning of Alt Lys Er Svunnet Hen. While the song titles and lyrics can be a mouthful to anyone outside of Norway, the music does it all - emotion and atmospheric nuances are painted to eerily perfection, thus sculpting an intangible and elusive environment that haunts the listener throughout the entire album.
None of the songs in Stormblast surpass mid-tempo speeds, and that is done intently as faster song speeds would strip away the ominous appeal that the album binds the listener with. The best illustration of this would be the only instrumental track of the album, Sorgens Kammer. The track is in essence a harmonious piano piece, with the gentle resonance of wind blowing in the background.
While it was later known that the tune of Sorgens Kammer was taken from an old videogame soundtrack by their then keyboardist, this track remains as one of the highlights of Stormblast for its clever utilization of atmospheric sound effects.
The atmospheric orchestral arrangements in Stormblast build a backbone for all of the songs, as they effectively enhance the overall aural experience of each song. Taking away the orchestral parts would weaken the structure of the songs, and subsequently cause the album to collapse - such is the importance of the orchestral performance in Stormblast.
Even though Dimmu Borgir achieved much more success later on in their career, it can’t be denied that the seeds of their creativity and passion were sowed first in Stormblast. The band’s debut album For All Tid was the starting point for the band’s ingenuity but Stormblast took a step further and created a more refined and focused album - ultimately marking the start of the band’s launch into glory.
Dimmu Borgir might have permanently changed their overall sound today, but they owe a lot of their accomplishments to Stormblast, which served as the prototype of the band’s songwriting style.
One of the most flawless albums of the genre, and is a must-have for any fan of Melodic Black Metal or Symphonic Metal.
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