The Embodiment of Shit - "In Sorte Diaboli" Review (0%)
In Sorte Diaboli is the embodiment of fucking shit.
I hate this album. If Blood Fire Death was what introduced me to black metal, this was one of the albums that somehow quenched my black metal thirst forever.
Lyrically and conceptually, In Sorte Diaboli exists to convince kiddies that they don't belong, but that "Satan" understands. If I need to explain to you why such tired and retarded lyrical tropes are unwelcome in black metal, you probably enjoy bands like Dark Funeral and Watain anyway.
In Sorte Diaboli is stacked with nearly a dozen tracks, and even for Dimmu Borgir's abyssal standards it sucks. Everything is loud, modern, polished, and insensibly executed, without any form of passion, intensity, atmosphere or even vision.
It's a complete fuck up of an album that makes everything sound sterile, emotionless, boring, and stripped of any fervor.
In Sorte Diaboli wants to be aggressive - it is supposed to understand the angst of the kiddies who reject "authority" - but fails even at that simple task. Reality check - sounding loud doesn't equal sounding aggressive.
Take away that polished, modern production and you get some limp, ineffective mallcore chugging with the occasional ass-kissing synth support. Aside from the slight booms heard under the riffs and above the drumming, I don't think the bass has any point being played on this album.
Not to rag on, as many others band do the same to their bass lines, but for an album with absolutely nothing to offer, it's pathetic to see Dimmu Borgir trying to camouflage their shit under more shit.
The Embodiment of Shit
Aside from the mallcore chugfest, the puerile emo lyrics, the poorly mixed bass and the irksome "symphonic" - read, emocore - synth, the callous echoes of the drum snare sound like robotic bonks.
Triggered drums are a cancer upon extreme metal, but Dimmu Borgir are beyond salvage if even the mighty Hellhammer can't save the band from rhythmical mediocrity. The band's only credible member, Hellhammer, has been reduced to pumping out the most generic drum fillers barely audible below the Satyricuck inspired synths and Dani Filth vocals.
Everything about In Sorte Diaboli screams emocore, from the mechanized drum production, the overweight blasting of the guitars, the glint of an industrial sound, all the way to the comatose atmosphere to top it off. Many of the riffs sound the same, even though they're from different songs. Then again, if chugging goes on in every song, then of course the riffs will sound the same.
These vocals are horrifyingly bad. Shagrath should just admit that he has a man crush on Dani Filth. As gay as that sounds, that's still a lot straighter than his vocal performance on In Sorte Diaboli.
You got two general styles this poser clown uses: emo screeching and clean vocals. The screams drip with juvenile anxiety, even when layered or electronically altered. These screeches are supposed to be the "aggressive" side of the band, but with each ghastly scream comes the whiny "eueueueueuegh" that gets hawked out Shagrath's throat, like some even weaker version of Ihsahn at his worst.
I can't in good conscience give In Sorte Diaboli any respect. Association with this piece of emo shit is a stain on anyone's tastes, for such an album is devoid of worth and musical sophistication.
In Sorte Diaboli is nothing if not for flaccid riffs and retarded singing backed by inconsequential dick posturing for teens and the "Satan 666, dude" bros.
In Sorte Diaboli score: 0/100.
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