| Spiritual Black Dimensions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2 March 1999 | |||
| Recorded | August–October 1998 at Abyss Studio | |||
| Genre | Symphonic black metal | |||
| Length | 49:14 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer | Dimmu Borgir, Peter Tägtgren | |||
| Dimmu Borgir chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Spiritual Black Dimensions is the fourth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released in 1999 by Nuclear Blast Records. A deluxe edition was released in 2004 with bonus material. There is also a digipak edition of this album which contains no bonus tracks. The digipak has reflective/holographic cover art. This release featured keyboardist Mustis and the clean vocals of ICS Vortex, as well as the departure of long-time drummer Tjodalv, guitarist Astennu, and bassist Nagash.
The album cover was part of the top 10 of Greatest Heavy Metal Album Covers by Blender magazine in 2006.[2] It was inspired by The Wounded Angel, a painting by a Finnish symbolist artist Hugo Simberg.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Reptile" | Silenoz | 5:17 | |
| 2. | "Behind the Curtains of Night - Phantasmagoria" | Silenoz | 3:21 | |
| 3. | "Dreamside Dominions" | Silenoz | 5:14 | |
| 4. | "United in Unhallowed Grace" | Nagash | 4:22 | |
| 5. | "The Promised Future Aeons" | Nagash | 6:52 | |
| 6. | "The Blazing Monoliths of Defiance" | Nagash | Shagrath | 4:38 |
| 7. | "The Insight and the Catharsis" | Silenoz | Shagrath | 7:17 |
| 8. | "Grotesquery Conceiled (Within Measureless Magic)" | Silenoz | 5:10 | |
| 9. | "Arcane Lifeforce Mysteria" | Silenoz, Nagash, Shagrath | 7:03 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Masses for the New Messiah" | 5:11 |
Steve Huey of AllMusic stated that "Dimmu Borgir's arrangements continue to increase in complexity and sophistication on Spiritual Black Dimensions, improving on its predecessors and illustrating the band's musical progression".[1]InSlayer no. 13, Jon 'Metalion' Kristiansen called Spiritual Black Dimensions "a fine case of melodic, over-produced, symphonic metal. If you like this melodic style I can't really think of anyone doing it better […]. No, I wouldn't call this black metal. Read the interview with Funeral Mist for the right definition of black metal".[3]
|
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Studio albums |
|
| Compilation albums |
|
| Extended plays |
|
| Live and video albums |
|
| Related articles |
|
