Dimmu Borgir – Grand Serpent Rising
Dimmu Borgir – Grand Serpent Rising
Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 05/22/26
Review by: Jon Deaux
9.4/10
‘Grand Serpent Rising’ is Dimmu Borgir in its prime. No excesses. No fillers. The music is tighter than ever. This is a band that took eight years of thinking and waiting before answering their question. There was no rising serpent. It came in one go.
This is the album I have waited for eight years. According to my therapist, it’s unhealthy, but my therapist also has a poster in her office with the inscription “live laugh love”. Clearly, she is not competent enough to judge this piece of extreme Norwegian black metal. Moving on.
Waiting for eight years is a fairly long period of time. Most artists spend that amount of time either relocating to some warmer location, discovering some yoga retreat program, and releasing an acoustic EP which is branded as “bold new direction”, but is considered ‘grounds for divorce’ by the fans. Dimmu Borgir used those eight years to sharpen their blade. The result of all this preparation work turned out to be a record that hits with absolute calmness – people who were never in a hurry, knowing exactly what they were doing.
‘Tridentium’ begins with the figure of a man in a long coat who starts approaching the audience. By the time the song ‘Ascent’ explodes, the coat catches fire, and the man brings his friends. The opening track sets the tone, showing immediately that nobody has lost their focus and has not developed any interest in having brunches on weekends. Aggressive, vicious, compositional impeccable – nothing else.
As ‘Seen in the Unseen’ extends to the first track of the album, which shows how the band can create something different – a song that makes you want to burn it all down and cry beautifully watching the ruins. ‘The Qryptfarer’ follows, showing us once again how the music of Dimmu Borgir can sound even if you have trouble pronouncing the title correctly. The meaning of the word still remains unknown; however, it looks impressive and is pronounced correctly.
‘Ulvgjeld& Blodsodel’ is the next track on the list, being the first single from the album and written in Norwegian. It tells the story about heritage, bloodline, and passing something important to the future generation. With the voice Silenoz provides for the song, it becomes quite clear that he knows a lot about heritage and bloodline himself. Moreover, ‘Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel’ is one of the songs in the album, which cannot be translated since it sounds great only in Norwegian.
‘Repository of Divine Transmutation’ is definitely not about the filing system, which can be described as rather dramatic. However, the song is devoted to the alchemical transformation and dissolution of the ego. Tax season can provide a rather similar feeling, except that the quality of production will not be as high. The orchestration shows up just at the point promised by Silenoz – precise and sharp, hitting the place where it was expected to hit. There is an evident scaling back; these arrangements are meant not to decorate but to land.
‘Slik Minnes en Alkymist’ can be found in the quieter part of the album, being devoted to dark things – things such as debts and certain grievances. In fact, the Norwegian language track of the album does not represent anything new – that’s the only language it can be performed in. In case if you have doubts concerning your ability to understand what the song means, there is a possibility to read the lyrics.
‘Phantom of the Nemesis’ proves that Dimmu Borgir still uses the method of surgical violence in their songs and hits the target perfectly. Listening to Daray’s drumming, you realize how much of a mistake every decision you have ever made during that decade was. Again, there are no kick drums from a typewriter in this track; you hear just the drumming, which turns out to be quite a revolutionary activity in 2026. Victor Brandt’s bass in ‘Recognizant’ creates the effect in the low end, which is felt in a human jaw before getting into the brain.
‘At the Precipice of Convergence’ brings the album to its endgame stage and proves that interesting things happen at the edge. Speaking about Dimmu Borgir, you should pay special attention to Gerlioz’s keyboards, which have a spine of the music. Opening up like a night sky, ‘Shadows of a Thousand Perceptions’ does not provide any resolution – it either makes you mad or makes it completely understandable. This, of course, depends on the way you see the world.
The album finishes with ‘Gjǫll’ – the mythological river between living people and the world of death. It is the final boundary that leaves the listener unchanged, as it happens with the serpent – it warned about the consequences, but the person did not take them into account.
According to Fredrik Nordström, this album is the best one of Dimmu Borgir that he has ever worked on. It seems that this opinion is justified.
TRACKLISTING
01 Tridentium
02 Ascent
03 As Seen in the Unseen
04 The Qryptfarer
05 Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel
06 Repository of Divine Transmutation
07 Slik Minnes en Alkymist
08 Phantom of the Nemesis
09 The Exonerated
10 Recognizant
11 At the Precipice of Convergence
12 Shadows of a Thousand Perceptions
13 Gjǫll
LINKS
https://www.dimmu-borgir.com/
Dimmu Borgir Nuclear Blast
https://www.facebook.com/dimmuborgir/
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Jon Deaux and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
