In May, Norwegian blackened metal masters Dimmu Borgir unveiled their long-awaited new studio album Eonian. This tenth full-length record combined symphonic epicness with the spirit of the Norwegian black metal scene of the nineties and celebrated the band's 25th anniversary. 

In his major feature found here, BraveWords scribe Carl Begai wrote: Being one of the successful extreme metal forges on the planet, Dimmu Borgir have been dominating the symphonic black metal genre for 25 years. The songwriting core of the band furthermore consists of charismatic vocalist Shagrath, as well as the string wizards Silenoz and Galder, but other familiar faces also emerge from the darkness: Drummer Daray and keyboarder Gerlioz are still part of the team, and Gaute Storaas helped with the choral arrangements for the majestic voices of the Schola Cantrum Choir. As the title Eonian indicates, the band's 10th full-length release is dealing with the illusion of time and marks a tribute to both the band's own past as well as the Norwegian black metal history.

In the works for seven years, the album presents the band taking some bold new steps forward that will give the open-minded diehard fans plenty to sink their fangs into, and give the haters more to complain about. Pure and simple, Eonian is not your For All Tid / Stormblast / Enthrone Darkness Triumphant black metal from years gone by (although elements of said albums can be heard); it’s a lot more than that, for better or worse. Following is a first look into the new album with founding guitarist Silenoz, conducted in the wake of a listening session at Nuclear Blast's head office in Germany back in January.

BraveWords: The very first thing that stood out - and it carries through the first four songs - is how open and almost stripped down the songs seem. Some people might interpret that as saying the sound is watered down, but that's not the case. If anything it's an example of "less is more" even though the symphonics and choirs are still in there. The songs make a huge impact from the outset.

Silenoz: "It was partially intentional. On the vocal side, Shagrath made space for the choirs, and I have to give him credit for that because it's not something a lot of vocalists do (laughs). Normally a vocalist wants to hear more of himself or herself. When we were making this album we felt we were able to use our maturity in the songwriting and the arrangements, and have a more objective view. When we write the songs there are egos clashing, so it's important to step back and take a look at what's going on. I think we've reached a much more mature level and I give Shagrath a lot of props for that. We wanted the choirs to do more than just the operatic backing vocals; we wanted to give them lyrical parts and Shagrath was the one the demoed the way they should do it. Then Gaute Storaas, the guy that has been helping us with the scores and arrangements, transcribed those ideas for the orchestra and choir, so there's a lot of stuff going on."

BraveWords: You've basically re-invented yourselves on Eonian, and the motto for this album should be Go Dynamic Or Go Home. I’m undecided as to whether the black metal label fits this band anymore, but Eonian sends a message to other symphonic metal bands - black metal or not - that they can't simply upload and phone in orchestra software and expect to be taken seriously.

Silenoz: "I take that as a compliment because I know how much work went into Eonian. There were huge challenges in making this record, but that's the nerve center of this band. When you make music together you can't control it; you just have to let the monster live its own life, and even if you try and set a deadline on certain things... forget it. It takes as long as it takes. You can fake a good album to a certain point but you can't fake a great album. If you want to make a good album that's an easier job, but if you take the path less travelled you end up doing much greater things."

Read the entire feature at BraveWords here,

"Interdimensional Summit" video:

"Council Of Wolves And Snakes" video: