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Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Studio album by Dimmu Borgir
Released	30 May 1997 (1997-05-30)
Recorded	January 1997
Studio	The Abyss, Pärlby, Sweden
Genre	Symphonic black metal
Length	56:38
Label	Nuclear Blast
Producer	Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir chronology
Devil's Path (1996) Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (1997) Godless Savage Garden (1998)

Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is the third studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released on 30 May 1997 through Nuclear Blast. It was the band's first release through Nuclear Blast. This is the last release to feature keyboardist Stian Aarstad and the first with bassist Nagash.

Release

The album has been released on many formats, including a limited edition vinyl (300 white and 1000 black). In 2002, a deluxe CD version was released with bonus material. Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was also the band's first album to display their second logo, though the old "black metal" logo is seen in the back cover artwork on the original printing. Due to concerns from Nuclear Blast, the lyrics of "Tormentor of Christian Souls" were omitted from the disc's liner notes. "Master of Disharmony" and "Raabjorn speiler Draugheimens skodde" are re-recorded versions of older, already released tracks (from Devil's Path and For all tid respectively).

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Metal Review
The Metal Observer
Chronicles of Chaos
Rock Hard	9/10

AllMusic praised the album, writing, "One of the most important Scandinavian metal discs ever, Dimmu Borgir's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is the group's unquestioned masterpiece." In 2005, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was ranked number 298 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

In 2020, it was named one of the 20 best metal albums of 1997 by Metal Hammer magazine. In 2021, the magazine ranked it as the 7th best symphonic metal album of all time.

The album has occasionally faced some criticism. Death Metal Underground labels it "a ripoff of bands that were new when these musicians were born," noting that it lacks a sense of theme and that it is essentially "a pop album with heavy metal riffs," which wants the "neoclassical orchestration that made Stormblåst brilliant."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dimmu Borgir

Charts

Personnel

Dimmu Borgir

• Shagrath – lead vocals, lead guitar, production
• Silenoz – rhythm guitar, production
• Stian Aarstad – synthesizer, piano, production
• Tjodalv – drums, production
• Nagash – bass, lead guitar, background vocals, production

Additional personnel

• Bente Engen – vocals (track 5)
• Peter Tägtgren – engineering, mixing

References

1. ^ Anderson, Jason. "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant - Dimmu Borgir". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
2. "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (Reloaded)". Archived from the original on 2 July 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
3. Review by Pedro Azevedo
4. Wendel, Kai. "Rock Hard review". issue 121. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
5. Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten (in German). Rock Hard. 2005. p. 93. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
6. "The Top 20 best metal albums of 1997". Metal Hammer. Future plc. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
7. Davies, Hywel; Dome, Malcolm; Goodman, Eleanor; Chantler, Chris; Gordon, Connie; Grady, Spencer; Rees, Adam; Selzer, Jonathan (17 November 2021). "The 25 best symphonic metal albums". Metal Hammer. Future plc. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
8. "Dimmu Borgir - Black Metal [Death Metal Underground: Black Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore, Speed/Power Metal, Thrash and Doom Metal reviews, discographies, mp3 samples, tracklists and images]". www.deathmetal.org. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
9. "Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant (Black Metal)". www.deathmetal.org. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
10. "charts.de". Retrieved 1 June 2013.
11. "finnishcharts.com". Archived from the original on 30 September 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2013.

• Dimmu Borgir albums
• 1997 albums
• Nuclear Blast albums