Single Slam – Council of Wolves and Snakes by Dimmu Borgir (Eonian)
With a new album due out in a few short weeks, Dimmu Borgir have released their second single. This track is called Council of Wolves and Snakes and it is a more experimental type of track. Something that is sure to fuel the haters already being vocal about the new album.
Considering the first single, Interdimensional Summit, has received tons of abuse for being diluted and overly commercial sounding, I don’t think this one is going to go down a whole lot better. I actually like the first single, as you can read here. I guess I am blessed with not having being a huge fan in the past. It means I don’t have any preconceptions on what the band should or shouldn’t be doing or sounding like.
Dimmu Borgir in 2018 are Stian Thomt Thoresen (Shagrath) on vocals and Tom Rune Andersen (Galder) on guitars. Also on guitars is Sven Atle Kopperrud (Silenoz) while Dariusz Brzozowsk (Daray) is on drums. Finally, on keys is Geir Bratland (Gerlioz).
The Norwegian symphonic black metallers will release their new record, Eonian, through Nuclear Blast on the 4th of May. It will mark the year of the 25th anniversary of Dimmu Borgir and be their first new album in 8 years. You would imagine Eonian is quite a big deal for the band. 8 years out inevitably means that music has moved on, a lot. Inevitably Dimmu will be looking to see where and if they fit in now.
Frontman Shagrath, speaking about Council of Wolves and Snakes stated the following – “It’s a song that sticks out from the rest of the album, it’s Dimmu Borgir going into an experimental direction, but you can also find a lot of black metal inspiration in the middle section of the song. We are a band that has never been afraid of trying out new directions and artistically, this is surely a very interesting and different track.”
Council of Wolves and Snakes is certainly different and interesting. Whether it is any good or not is another thing entirely. At just under 5 and a half minutes long, there is a lot too get stuck in to. On a positive note, it is unlikely you will listen to this track a lot. It isn’t very good. There is being creative and then there is being messy and confused and this is the latter. Weird effects over the guitars start the song off as it sounds more like a Ghost track. Section after section comes making the track sound like many parts glued badly together.
Some sections are pretty decent, there is a choir section that is packed with atmosphere that I really like. There are a couple heavier sections that are okay but mostly the song just plays like 5 or 6, 45 – 60 second, ideas that don’t work very well together. Each to their own I guess but this one is not for me. I can’t quite decide if Dimmu Borgir are brave or stupid to disappear for 8 years and then return with songs that could potentially alienate their current fan base. I get being creative but maybe a more gentle return would have been wiser? We will see, that is only two tracks from the album so far so maybe the best is yet to come.
Check out Council of Wolves and Snakes, with the official video, for yourself here. You can grab one of the many preorder packages available from Nuclear Blast here. You can also grab Council of Wolves and Snakes, Eonian and more from the band at the Amazon links below. Find out more about Dimmu Borgir over at their Facebook or Twitter page.
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Council of Wolves and Snakes by Dimmu Borgir (Eonian)
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The Final Score - 3/10
3/10
Ha! A first honest review of this track I met on blog or site so far. And I agree with that Ghost thing. I was like – WTF? Are they covering Cirice or what – whan first chords kicked in. Song structure is indeed put together with totally different chopped elements. I barely hear any transition between them, if they are even present at all. I wonder what was the reason for making that album in the 1st place? Nuclear Blast forced it by contract? Or what? They are just 41/42 far too early to blame their age for such a lack of creativity. I don’t get the point of this album at all by the light of tracks presented so far. I understand one may go bored after quiet a while of playing same music. But what is the point of changing genre if you are not at least decent in any of parts of that collage they presented? Let’s face it – they sound like a Slipknot/Korn/System of Down cover band here. They are certainly able to play the instruments well and mimic styles of those bands. But that is not what creativity means. At least not the amount they are claiming to present with their tracks in their interviews. Do they think they would attract fans of bands mentioned? Hardly IMHO. What’s the target group? They would prefer rather to play original albums by them rather than listening to cover band. There is certainly the good thing they no longer have over 666 pentagrams per video. Even if it’s only because of budget cut on pentagrams.