„When something works, don’t change it!” This formula leads Dimmu Borgir more than ten years now. And neither them, nor their fans, nor their bosses from Nuclear Blast mind at all. But do you know why? Because they are damn good in taking out flaming portions from the same recipe. Mustis and Vortex are no longer in the lineup. So what? ‘Abrahadabra’ (no, it is not an incantation from a kids’ magician book but a word brought by a real such a man who lived until the middle of the 20th century. Check in Wikipedia for details) is a strong and heavy album in which the serious personal changes haven’t damaged the common talent of the band. ‘Born Treacherous’ bursts suddenly and whelms like six feet wave in the back. And while you are trying to turn around and see what’s happening, you realize that you are floating through one of the strongest and most bombastic records that the Norwegians have ever released, brightly balanced between dense and heavy riffs and the orchestrations done by the composer Gaute Storaas. With the solid support of the Kringkastingsorkestret (the Norwegian Radio Orchestra) and the Schola Cantorum choir, the songs burst like supernovas, pumped with thick as a castle wall sound braid with nice melodies and battering rhythm. An approach used by the band since ‘Spiritual Black Dimensions’ that made them this colossal figure they are on the metal stage today. Even though only three men remain in the core of the band, the guests and musicians who contribute for the record have turned it into a complete, breathing and massive album. Snowy Shaw has not become permanent part of the Dimmu Borgir lineup but his specific theatrical move towards the music brings color and mysticism to songs like ‘Chess With The Abyss’, ‘Ritualist’ or the closing ‘Endings and Continuations’ in which we hear the clean voice of Garm himself. ‘Abrahadabra’ bears a solid load of the well-known Borgir-sound of crushing rhythm, guitar power, epic and orchestrations but combined in a way that adds life and zeal to the album, outlining it in the discography of the band.