Speaking of member changes yes this was when they had mustis on keys and ics vortex doing those high vocals. That was definitely a high point in the band that I miss.

Huge Dimmu fan and loved to see this. To be specific, this would be considered “symphonic third-wave Norwegian black metal”, depending on who you’re asking. Some orthodox fans of “true Norwegian black metal” are very critical of this band for mixing in catchier parts and higher production value recording techniques. Black metal is sort of a sound defined by a feeling, but the characteristic elements are tremolo guitar picking and the use of progressions with a lot of minor/diminished to minor/diminished tremolo riffs or strummed guitar chords moving half or whole steps within a key around the notes of a minor/diminished chord. Themes are often apocalyptic, misanthropic, and anti-Christian/satanic (often tongue-in-cheek). Bands are also known for wearing “corpsepaint” on stage, to appear dead/ghoulish, and wearing spiked battle armor is common. The original bands of the first and second waves were recorded with very simple recording setups, some intentionally so, with the goal of creating a sort of maxed-out, dry, dissonant, “hellish” timbre. Dimmu moved way in the opposite direction after their first few albums. Believe it or not, Dimmu Borgir would go on around the time of Progenies to be Norway’s biggest musical export for many years in the 2000’s, and many people across the mainstream of Norwegian society know who they are. This album was recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The album before it was with the Gothenburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Two albums later, they recorded with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and Schola Cantorum Choir (totalling 100+ musicians on some of those tracks). Their work is truly unique and special, and they are known for having fun and not taking themselves too seriously, which is great in a scene of a lot of self-serious characters. There is a live performance/album with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and Choir live in Oslo that is mostly on KZfaq called Forces of the Northern Lights, if you want to see what this and songs like this look like performed with nearly 100 musicians on stage. So appreciate you giving love to the persistent Geebz fans and requesters. To be persistent myself I’ll put another prayer out into the world for “Rise of the Cephalopods” by Alkaloid. I think you’ll love it.

ICS Vortex is a fucking legend. The fact such a voice can emanate from such a burly man gives me so much joy. His vocals are always my favorite part of any Dimmu song.

The clean vocals in the breakdown-ish middle part are sung by the then-bass player Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs. His voice is absolutely angelic. There is a live recording of them performing this song at Ozzfest 2004 and he pulls this off live. And beautifully. While also playing bass at the same time as if it were nothing. The man is one of my biggest inspirations as a musician.

they have a classically trained pianist who wrote most of the arrangements for this album. you should check out the videos of him playing this song just on piano. he's amazing. Also the bass player does the clean vocals on that track.

A few other powerhouse songs by them is Mourning Palace, Kings of the carnival creation, cataclysm children, Puritania

Their song The Insight and the Catharsis from the album Spiritual Black Dimensions is an underrated masterpiece. It's got excellent guitar solos to go with such wonderful orchestral composition. Highly recommended and in my opinion beats this.

The bassist/clean vocalist is in Borknagar. "Up North" by them absolutely needs to be reviewed.

Can’t believe this is almost 20 years old now, one of my favourite Dimmu albums!! Would love to see you do 4th Arra of Dagon by Nile, or any Nile to be honest. Technical death metal from America infused with Egyptian mythology!!!

They had an amazing keyboardist called Mustis & an amazing vocalist and bassist called Vortex. Both of them are gone now 😒 but in this track they still played with the band. 🤘🏻

Welcome to black metal! I'm so ecstatic you've now heard this song! Dimmu are a fantastic band.

Dude, this is crazy. A week ago I gathered my collection of European Limited versions of Dimmu Borgir CDs and was like "Geebz should totally listen to "Progenies..." but didn't think it would happen. Death Cult Armageddon is a fantastic album. I'm not a huge black metal fan but DB's mix of orchestra and metal is so enjoyable.

well what an awesome gift this is to top off an excellent birthday 🤘 good stuff Geebz!

I remember seeing them live and being impressed with how well they could still fill the space even while being cut down to the core members for touring. The clean singer, ICS Vortex has been in a number of other bands but the stuff he does (did?) with Arcturus has always been some of my favorite music. I had a really crazy salvia trip while listening to Hibernation Sickness Complete.

EMPEROR - "With Strength I burn"

I saw Dimmu Borgir with Behemoth at Bogart’s years ago in Cincinnati and it was such an amazing experience! I would love to see Dimmu again!

ICS Vortex voice is so amazing so sad he got kicked out of the band. ( the clean vocals )

Progenies is a great song. Huge fan of their older albums. If you have 20 minutes to spare the song Visions by Haken is amazing. Would love to see your thoughts on it, it's a very eclectic track.

They actually released the orchestral piece without the band as a bonus track if you wanted to check that out and listen for any nuances that may have gotten buried in the original track.

If i remember correctly the orchestrations on this song and the rest of the album are performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Also as far as the line-up of the band is concerned, there are only 2 of the original founding members left in the band, Shagrath and Silenoz, all the other members have left to form other bands and projects.

Love Dimmu. Live concerts watching the band live is amazing. The song "Mourning Palace" is trance like Dimmu Bore-geare We like to refer to them more into category leaning toward extreme Black Symphonic metal. Nick is a Legend. His work in Dimmu & Cradle of Filth is flawless

thank you so much for posting this, and all your other vids! rock on

It was amazing to hear dimmu for the first time 18+ years ago. Their music is so epic and does conjure up images of 🏰 castles dark magic and who knows what else

Alright now we need Bling Guardian - Sacred Worlds for even more epic symphony metal

I'm sure a lot of people mentioned this, but this song is unreal live with a full orchestra.

Shagrath and dimmu do always quality content

Thank you for covering this song. It's actually one of my favorite songs of all time, top 3. I was in high school when I discovered the music video on Headbanger's Ball, and thought this is the pinnacle of what metal can accomplish when you blend classical and symphony. If I were a wrestler, this would be my entrance song.

Love your channel. All the things :) Not a diehard Borgir fan, but Progenies can't help but stand out and it's been on my playlist for years now. Love your facial expressions and your deep musical analysis. Keep rockin' it!

This took me waaaaaaay back to when this was released, I still have a place in my heart for Dimmu, thank you for this 💚 Also! They sound amazing live, so glad I got to see them.

The main theme or idea was written by the bands keyboard player Mustis! You can find on KZfaq where Mustis plays it all on the grand piano! As a composer You should be interested! Cheers Sir and all the best!

That whole album was an absolute masterpiece. I got to see them perform this and some others on the 2004 ozzfest and it was amazing to see / hear it live

yeeeeesssssss more dimmu borgir!!!! love seeing you decompose artists like this.

Just arrived at the Oregon coast for my Birthday today and see in my notifications that you posted it! Thank you so very much for this birthday gift!

Yes dude! So happy you finally got around to this!

It's great that you do/react to so many different genres. Very interesting.

Would love to hear you react to more tradtional minimalistic early black metal, but the bombastic black metal out of bands like Dimmu Borgir is always epic fun!

So glad you covered this one mate, particularly this version with ICX Vortex singing in the middle. So epic. This is peak Dimmu for me. Love your work!

Wow I can't believe someone like you are into this. You know I love dimmu been listening to them since I graduated highschool . Now I m 52yo still listen to Dimmu Borgir, I ve been to their concert a bunch of times.

It would be so cool to see you react to the music of From Software video games. They are some amazing orchestral pieces that would be great to hear you break-down. One of my many favorites is Father Gascoigne's music from Bloodborne.

YES Let's Go. You got the name right Geebz. You'll love this one! Especially live. #stillhere

This was the first song I ever heard from this band, and while the vocals also caught me off guard, you can’t help but fall in love with the music.

I remember the music video for this on MTV2 when I was probably 14...I wasn't into this kind of thing at all at the time, but I couldn't stop watching haha. It was one of those totally unexpected "Woah, who are these guys?" moments.

YES! Wow you should se them live with a full choir and orchestra! Even the orchestra headbangs :) WELL DONE my man.

This was the firsy black metal band i ever got into in 2006. Love this track. That being said, I would LOVE to see August Burns Red - Beauty in Tragedy. One of the most amazing, most angelic songs I have ever listened to. Amazing composition.

It's a little dark for Disney, but I always thought this tune would be a badass way to intro a Thor movie.

This whole album is such a masterpiece. Love it from start to finish.

This is great, im surprised you cover so many of my favorite metal tracks I used to wait all week to listen to stuff like this on our local radio that would play heavy metal only on thursdays & saturdays for a few hours in the night. I really appreciate your dedication to sharing your reactions to this awesome music

God i love when youtube actually shows me your new ideos and doens make me hunt your always the best reviewer gor music in my opinion alwaya gteat breakdown

The "Borgir" part of their name is pronounced "Bore-Gear". They take their name from a volcanic formation in Iceland, and roughly translated means "Dark Fortress/ Dark Cities".

Alright, Geebz. Time for The Phalanx by Trivium. Masterpiece.

Good review man. I totally agree. When I first heard Dimmu Borgir ( pronounced bor-geer) I would think of Vikings and castles and dark magic .

PROGENIES! LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO!

One of my favorite facts about Dimmu Borgir; The main singer, Shagrath's, Mother actually attends all or most of Dimmu's concerts

I came from percussion / orchestra background and when I heard this song, I went "oh dang". Mustis is tremendous.

Love Dimmu, great band and break down of this song, thank you! Here is one to add to the list: Eluveitie - King, totally different sound than Dimmu, but still, you will not be disappointed, cheers!

YAY!!! This is track was my intro to Dimmu Borgir. Your thumbnail image of them is from the Eonian album. I designed and made the outfits for them back in 2016-2017. I met and hung out with the guys in Olso for a weekend when they hired me. Totally awesome guys.

Okay, this is how you pronounce Dimmu Borgir. (Dee-Myuu Boar-Gear). The name is Icelandic and thought to originate from Old Norse to mean something like 'dark fortresses'.

Love that you had to immediately turn it down haha, what an entrance

Great review. Fat chance you could review arcturus the chaos path. Singer from that band did the clean vocals on that dimmu track and i think you would also find it equally interesting.

Mustis IS a fookin BEAST of a composer ...just 1 guy.... sure AF miss his music.....

So gorgeously haunting in a beautiful terrorizing atmosphere. Brilliant 🤘🤘

Thank you for decomposing this track. AND thank you whoever requested it persistently.

These shows when played live, like the Wacken show or the show from Oslo, they have close to 100 people on stage, a full orchestra and choir.. the Wacken show is really a fun watch. When seeing some in the orchestra actually playing with face paint and looking like they have the time of they're life..if you do...pay extra attention to one of the trumpet players 😁🤘🤘 Keep the good work going and hi from Norway to all and everyone🤘

Great pick! This is an awesome symphonic black album. I recommend the song “Eradication instincts defined” from the same album. The symphonic sounds are majestic!

If I hadn't already been in love with Dimmu way back when, this album would've hooked me all the way! The band is at it's core Shagrath (vocals), Silenoz, and Galder (both on guitars); the bassists, keyboardists and drummers have almost always been in flux. This album was a golden moment with Mustis on keys, ICS Vortex on bass (and clean vocals), and Nicholas Barker on drums. I'll always miss Vortex's cleans countering Shagraths vocals, it had been a thing since the early days. Mustis was a masterful composer (as if you couldn't tell from this track), and Barker? Well he's just a drum machine of a man, had been following him since his time with Cradle of Filth.

The entire album is fantastic. Still, this is one of my favorite tracks of it. Love the clean vocal section in it. Thanks for doing this track. I'm fully on board with your final comment about what journey this music (or any music) is taking our minds on.

Yes. Loganopterix nailed it. This was a great lineup. Those orchestral swells were Mustis with a fat stack of synthesizers, and the drummer, Nick Barker, is awesome and has also left. As for the bass, ICS Vortex was the bassist AND the clean vocals.

7:48 jep that was our all faces when he heard Vortex singing for the first time.

I had read an artical on dimmu borgir's song writing process and Shagrath the lead singer was explaining that he writes and composes all the orchestra parts, i was amazed to learn that a large number of black metal musicians are trained in classical music

This song is so sick I remember when it came out I was blsting it everywhere 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

The orchestra and Vortex are still a magnificent combination.

This song is so brutal and beautiful at the same time, I love it

Woo! One of my Favs!

DImmu is still amongst my favorite bands. This older stuff is just so insanely good. Currently more leaning towards Dark Funeral and Lorna Shore though.

This album and the previous album are 2 of my all time favorite albums. This was Dimmu Borgir at their highest point. Was so lucky to see these guys live in the mid 2000s in Norfolk VA. An INCREDIBLE show.

I would absolutely die if I saw this guy do Cradle of Filth's "Queen of Winter, Throned". Favorite band, best song ever. The fact that Dimmu Borgir is on here gives me hope. Do it, I dare you, @Key of Geebz, you wont!

Love the review!! I always loved this song and it’s funny that I’ve heard it thousands of times and still got goosebumps listening to it. Review- Mors Principium Est- “Apprentice of Death” or “A day for Redemption”. Very similar genre and their amazing!!

Fantastic choice! Another great epic listen would be Kingborn or Epilogue by Fleshgod Apocalypse, another high level, classically inspired metal band!

Pretty Cool hah? dimmu borgir are the Greatest! hopefully you will find more they got a lot of awesome songs!

By far my favorite track they've ever done. So, sooooo good

Hellraiser movie score in that intro and scattered through the track. It can’t be just me that hears this. ✌️🖤🤘

Yes. You are going to wanna hear more of this.

I adore your channel. Please, Please do Mourning Palace live at where you can see the Orchestra and the choir. Over 90 people on stage. Please. ❤️

Maaan takes me back lol, used to listen to them all the time 😀

The orchestral-only version of this track is also worth listening to. It still stands on its own as a musical piece and it's easier to hear the various intricacies!

Aloha! It's me, the "please do Transcendence by Gorod" guy! Bass masterclass. Cheers dude.

Ur version of nick barker at 3:30 😅... GOLD

You should check out the live performance of Dimmu, they put out masterful live gigs.

Funny enough I have this track set as my wake up alarm on my phone and boy does it work. That opening is jarring for anyone that's just waking up let me tell you. That's kinda the point though.

there's a live version with orchestra and choir. the show is called 'northern light' or something like that. i love this video a lot.

Thanks for reacting to this song...👍🏻👍🏻

Thank u Geebz

You should check out Crypta, they are an all female death metal band with a lot of talent that would be a good fit for your channel. They even have a new song called I Resign. You could be the first reaction.

This Band is so incredible like Cradle of Filth. Maybe they got they’re start from Mayhem! Love it all

Check out the band whispered! They're in the same vein but inspired by Japanese classical music rather than European

"When I first heard the vocals I was going like: Gollum? " LMFAO

This is music!!! Show the close relasionship between classical and death/black. The mix is magic...

Cataclysm Children is the #1 Dimmu Borgir track. Nick Barker's drumming is something else.

One of the earlier Albums when i first fell in love with metal. But now i actually realize how amazing it actually is. The mix is so flawless... i have been working on orchestral metal stuff for years now and it is just pain. I think what makes the sound great is the fact that it's real orchestra, which seems quite obvious to say. I don't know if they recorded the whole orchestra at once with closed mics and one decca tree, but that would explain why it is so damn clean

Can’t say it enough! … all rock N roll should be filled with SAX & VIOLINS !!! …Cello & horns earn style points for epic live shows !!! Just saw Leprous live … and was just blown away!! LOOK forward to you hearing/sharing more from the Leprous catalog … as I will dig thru more Dimmu Borgia … Hope you are healing well !!! (Add another ✅ to Stone Sour “Made of Scars” … before you chuck the list into the delete bin of such is life) thank you!