The Concert Reader Reviews:

Dimmu Borgir with Cryptopsy, Krisiun and Diabolic

There are currently 1 Reader Reviews of this tour.
Average Rating: 5
Go to Judgment Committee Reviews of this tour

Submitted by Barbeloh (3/14/02, Roseland Bar + Grill, Portland, OR):
A night for lovers of extreme metal; four underground bands, all respected and at the top of their form technically flying on stage one after another to pound their instruments into submission and make your ears bleed. What more could anyone want?
Can't say anything about Diabolic as I missed them picking up a warm-up drink for the show. I arrived just as Krisiun was setting up; these guys are as old school as you can get, sort of a cross between Sepultura (for appearance and Brazilian nationality) and Morbid Angel (for the faster-than-thou, non-stop blast beats, ripping solos, and bassist on vox) for those of you unfamiliar to them. There wasn't much of a crowd yet but those who had showed up knew the respect this band deserves and gave it up. The songs and performance were excellent, the highlights going to the guitarist, who busted out one solo after another that would give Trey Azagthoth the shakes, and a killer drum solo towards the end of the show. A band which ought to be seen and listened to more and who enlisted me as a fan.
Cryptopsy absolutely stole the night. Krisiun was wonderful but the Canadiens simply blew any performance in my recent memory out of the water. An excellent song list drawing from both their early material ("Open Face Surgery") and the newest, ultra-technical efforts ("And Then It Stops") as well as classics (they opened with "Crown of Horns" and put a speeded-up "Phobophile" towards the end) combined with flawless proficiency made any other extreme band coming to mind seem like babies. The new vocalist (Marty something or another) is awesome. I had missed Lord Wyrm's completely unintelligible grunting and lamented Mike DiSalvo's "I'm a Tough Guy" yells (way too hardcore for death metal - I always thought he should have been singing for Darkest Hour or The Haunted), so the latter's replacement was welcome. Presence, skill, and energy were his mainstays as they should have been. An incredible delivery from the band all around, although the highlight was definitely the work on the bass guitar - that man pops and slaps like Les Claypool while putting out piledriving lines like Alex Webster. Very cool. My only regret was that the sound was kind of muddy, which is to be expected when you've got that much going on.
After Cryptopsy Dimmu was a big dissapointment; I admit massive bias since the only thing that could've brought an upswing for me would have been a 90-minute set from Morbid Angel or maybe Emperor on the "Anthems" tour. Still, Dimmu's set list has barely changed since I saw them follow Cannibal Corpse last year and the performance was lackluster. However, the sound and delivery was excellent; I imagine that the kids in "P.M.E." shirts (who composed most of the audience by that point) who had no clue who the first three bands were had a good time. With the new lineup Dimmu really turned up the notch on their sound and writing, but it's time for them to try to do that again if they're going to become legends in the scene, as I suspect they're shooting for. I expect more from them next time. On the side, Nick Barker looked bored as hell; his drumming - some of the very best in the underground these days - is clearly wasted on the pop-material. Here's hoping he runs to something like Lockup but takes it seriously. However Dimmu did have a saving grace with a hell of an encore: the first song from "Stormblast", a track from "For All Tid", and "Mourning Palace". The first two were such a pleasure to hear as it reminded me that they indeed have roots black as the night, back in Oslo. Props to Shagrath for bringng back some of that great old black metal and proselytizing it to the masses. Overall a great night.

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