In Sorte Diaboli

Bought for partners birthday. Arrived in plenty time. Was in really good condition. A really good quality, well designed box set. He was chuffed with it.

in short this cd is fantastic!!! i didnt think they could beat 'death cult armageddon' but they have. this album has not been off my hi-fi since i got it. wouldve liked to have seen some live stuff on the dvd, but that really is only the tiniest of faults. five stars out of five easily

Work fine sounds good. Bought as a surprise bday present for my partner and he loves it.

Dimmu Borgir have always had an unhealthy interest in satanism, so it was only natural that they eventually came round to writing a concept album all about it. "In Sorte Diaboli" tells the story of a priest in the time of the crusades who begins to doubt his faith in God and christianity, and begins a path down the road to becoming the antichrist. This, I have to say, seems like a pretty cool concept, and one that works pretty well with Dimmu's music. The beginning of the story is explained in a short text in the album booklet, and the rest continues in the lyrics of the songs. Unfortunately, they never seem to have got very far into the concept, as the protagonist seems to fall into satanism in the first song, which leaves around another 7 rather general songs about satanism until he is eventually burned at the stake in the final song. The music is, predictably, pretty damn heavy! As very heavy metal goes, theres not much to say against it... There are plenty of good riffs, killer drumming and Shagrath displays a more impressive vocal range than usual. On the downside, Dimmu seem to have gone a bit over the top with proving how "evil" and "black metal" they are, and on the whole neglected the melodic side of their music. Particularly given the concept, the album would have hugely benefitted from more inclusion of the eerie keyboards and backing choirs which a few of their songs hint at. Nonetheless, "In Sorte Diaboli" easily stands up to their last few albums, although it is true that there isn't a huge amount of variety between songs. The atmosphere and style of music is seriously black and evil, and there are some fantastic moments. The highlight is obviously the single and opening track "The Serpentine offering", with a fantastically dramatic orchestral-sounding opening, some of their ocasional operatic clean vocals and a crushing riff. "The Conspiracy Unfolds" and "The Sacriligious Scorn" also hit dramatic musical highs, although none of the songs are particularly poor. On the whole, the concept and lyrics could have done with a bit more work and there is a marked lack of some of their more melodic elements which could have worked well, but on the whole, this is Dimmu Borgir doing what they do best.

Great album from Dimmu Borgir, would reccomend this to any fan of the band.

Excellent album

Very good album, and it was my first taste of Dimmu! Very heavy with big emphasis on Metallic riffs, Double Bass drums and a BIG, clear production sound. One of the best productions around. Sounds like a million dollars! A concept album, with an interesting story, similiar to Sabbat's Dark Age lyrical themes. Very brutal and varied vocals from the charred throat of Shagrath and Clean vox from bassist ICS Vortex (better than on Death Cult Armageddon, as good as if not better than on Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia). The guitar work is more Heavy Metal/Thrash in style than early BM tones, and Hellhammer is an apt way of describing the drummer's nature as well as name! Very fast, heavy with a very clean, powerful sound. Mustiis, as usual, delivers some great symphonic keyboard work particularly on epic opener, The Serpentine Offering. However it's a dissapointment that the band did not use a real orchestra or at least a string section (as on DCA & PEM). Synths can sound great, as they do on here, & replicate a symphony orchestra really well (see Epica) BUT there's no substitute for the real thing. The material is so well written & produced, that if a full orchestra had been added, I would almost certainly consider this the best DM album of all! The good news is that the band are starting work in 2008 on the next concept album (the 2nd part of Diaboli's story) and are looking to work with no less than the London Philharmonic Orchestra - So effective on Nightwish's Once & Dark Passion Play albums, and The Lord Of The Rings Film Trilogy. Standout tracks: All of them, most work standalone and all work as a whole concept! The packaging is great - yes, the inverted lyrics/mirror idea is a bit naff but the fonts and dark ages style illustrations are really good! The Bonus DVD is actually VERY good, with informative footage from the recording studio, indepth interviews, and the promo video for The Serpentine Offering (which is almost like a mini movie with it's historical look married to the band performing). Absoluteley love the 'Dimmu look' as well - OTT in it's 'Evil' style but totally suiting the music! If you like Symphonic Metal (even if no real orchestra) and like well produced, VERY heavy music, then I would recommend. If you like the heavier end of the likes of Judas Priest, then make a leap as Dimmu's music is not the poorly produced noise that many people consider Black Metal to be. In all reality, as with Emperor and Therion, Dimmu Borgir have left the Black/Death Metal shackles behind, taking the aggression & darkness with them, and adding the melodic sensibilities, professional productions and higher musical excellence needed for the next level.

In my opinion In Sorte Diaboli was the last good album Dimmu Borgir brought out. Since then it went downhill with Abrahadabra and Eonian, who are both a lot less qualitative and in the true Dimmu style. Even if I think the band went downhill after this album, In Sorte Diaboli is still a very good album that the Dimmu or Black metal fan must have in it's collection. Recommended!

Más que contenta por haberlo adquirido, es la edición especial limitada, que trae un dvd y the heretic hammer como canción extra que no trae la versión normal. Obviamente me llegó en excelentes condiciones y súper rápido.

toujours dans le style Black métal un album très prometteur du très bon Dimmu Borgir

Great deal and fast shipping ,so verry happy

I am a huge fan of Dimmu Borgir, have been listening to them for years and love all their albums except the first. My fav albums have to be Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and Spiritual Black Dimensions. Having said that, I think their last two albums have achieved a level of difficulty one can only enjoy after listening to the album for months. There are so many layers to this album, at first it put me off but now I think it's brilliant. The DVD extras were really awesome, there's even more on Youtube, as the European release had even more "Making Of" footage. I notice a lot of fans said this sounds like Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia mixed with Death Cult Armageddon, but perhaps that is what they are currently defining their sound as. BTW I think the US bonus track for this album is a beautiful song, the vocals are amazing. Can't wait to see what they come up with next!