Review by Felix on January 20, 2024.

The smallest neighbour of my homeland Germany, Luxembourg, offers an idyllic aura and is attractive to tourists. But as far as I know, it used to be a blank area on the metal map of Europe for a long time. Today, however, some aggressive guys are resident in the well protected Grand Duchy. The five ruffians of Scarlet Anger belong to this species. "Dark Reign" is the fairly ordinary name of their first full-length. It gives witness to the skills of the group in terms of songwriting and musicianship as well. The five-man-army has good ideas without overstepping the borders of their genre. That´s the correct attitude in view of the fortunate circumstance that I am talking about almost flawless thrash metal - the only genre which gives me the pleasant feeling of eternal youth. An illusory placebo, of course, but I like it...

Scarlet Anger´s musical forefathers definitely did not originate from Europe. The band is aligned to the glorious sound of the old Bay Area heroes. The musicians transport the original approach of more or less legendary bands such as Testament or Forbidden into the now and here. And the good thing is that the band successfully avoids rancid song structures. The guitar work convinces from start to finish and the drums make your head bang and your feet tapping. Another positive note is the fact that the band has no problems finding the right balance between melody and rawness. The well designed interplay of fast parts and more harmonic sounds works in an almost brilliant manner. As a result, the album´s flow is impressing.

This full-length has been recorded during two sessions in 2011 and 2012, marked as "Chapter 1" and "Chapter 2". But this does not mean that the record offers two different faces of the band. Scarlet Anger score with a homogeneous appearance. Maybe the second "Chapter" follows a slightly rougher direction. However, there exists no significant difference. More importantly, the high level of "Chapter 1" does not decrease during the album´s second half. This leads to the fact that I am not able to identify a throwaway track. In contrary to the songwriting, the clean production does not build a bridge to the past. The sound can be described as modern, transparent and powerful. Due to the domination of the guitars, the producers obviously knew exactly what is important.

Although thrash metal is undoubtlessly the musical home country of my European neighbours, the band also got a little hardcore injection. The often used back vocals and the aggressive shouting of the lead singer point in this direction. Finally, the album is mastered by Annihilator´s Jeff Waters. This is actually not worth mentioning. But if you still like to listen from time to time to the debut of these Canadians, you surely will enjoy "Dark Reign", too. The target group of the album is clearly defined, now it´s up to you.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10

Review by JD on August 7, 2012.

I see by the bio of this band Scarlet Anger, I have my second Luxembourg based metal band in barely a few weeks. I am thinking that the Metal Gods are trying to tel me something. Sleepers Guilt was my first band I reviewed from this very small country (Rating was 7.4) and I liked that one to a point, then I was handed Scarlet Anger. I put it on, and then my smile could not be quelled.

As straight forward as the music of Scarlet Anger is the explanation of what this band is will be easier still. This is without a doubt old school, balls fucking out, anger fed full out headbanging Thrash Metal played the way it was back when the Big Four were all not-so-well known and were hungry to Thrash our asses off and wanted it really badly to take over the hair spray shit that was calling itself metal. With this Luxembourgian band, you get all that Old Thrash goodness with a fresh set of balls driving it to greater levels that ever before.

Intense riffs, vocals that are a perfect balancing act between shouted and growled and a rhythm section that keeps the Scarlet Anger engine running on all cylinders. Good examples of their prowess are 'New God Rising' with its galloping guitars and thunder bass to the vocal explosive chaos of 'Face Of Evil'. These guys are the poster boys for the return of perfect old styled Thrash. Dispite at time repeating a riff a time or two in another song, this album flat out hits ever note like it was its last.

If there could be better production values, a little more experience and getting a major label’s push, Scarlet Anger just may get very damned close to being in the same league as the Big Four of Thrash. Nobody now could ever ignore these facts any longer: Thrash is not at all close to being dead, it is very much alive and growing stronger to take its place at the head of metaldom - as it should be.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:8.5
Atmosphere: 8.5
Production: 7
Originality: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 3, 2020.

Everybody knows that Enthone Darkness Triumphant marked the breakthrough for Dimmu Borgir. Of course, a financially strong company like Nuclear Blast made it easier to catch the attention of the scene. A clever advertising strategy, a well-developed distribution network and a flawless production were important pillars for the success of the album. Well, honestly speaking, I thought it is a flawless production at the time of the output’s release. Today, the 56 minutes sound pretty polished to me, overloaded by keyboard sounds and without the necessary meanness each and every black metal album, even a symphonic one, should have. This does not mean that I do not like the mix. It scores with its full, warm and profound sound, but I would not call it flawless anymore.

However, a solvent company alone does not guarantee a classic, but Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is definitely an album that deserves this commendation. So, what were the further factors that catapulted Dimmu Borgir at the top of the black metal scene? Well, they came from Norway, the genre’s new epicenter (doubtlessly an advantage back in 1997), they had the finger on the pulse of the times and, last but not least, they had forged impressive songs. Unfortunately, exactly the opener does not belong to my favorites, although it generally enjoys a high reputation. From my point of view, 'Mourning Palace' is pretty lame, consensus black metal that fails to uncover the grim face of the subgenre. The flickering keyboards are slightly annoying, great melodies are missing and only the instrumental part in the second half features more or less vigorous guitars. Yet there are also tracks that still make my blood run faster. The band reaches its absolute climax with 'Tormentor of Christian Souls'. This song combines gloomy keyboards with aggressive, fast and straight rhythms, the guitars do not fall by the wayside and the vocals show the adequate degree of diabolic vibes. Every second of this number fascinates me. The infernal aura is perfectly combined with metallic belligerence and the track shines with pure energy and dynamic. The similarly constructed and equally demonic 'Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh' also shows the formation in top form, not only in view of its maelstrom-like rapid sections.

Nevertheless, broad parts of the full-length put the emphasis on mid-harsh, melancholic, more or less gloomy parts. I would not call them romantic, even though abrupt, relatively soft breaks like one in 'Prudence’s Fall' faintly point into this direction while revitalizing the aesthetics that gave Stormblåst its face. Dimmu Borgir love to wallow in pain and desperation, but they do not do it in a kitschy way. The (regular) closer 'A Succubus in Rapture' bundles the strengths of the band. It connects attacking mid-tempo parts with softer yet licentious sequences. I would not say that every single note hits the nail on the head, but Dimmu Borgir had style, class and a clear musical vision. It is therefore no surprise that the bonus track on the eleventh position of the here reviewed edition keeps the quality level. Moreover, Raabjørn speller draugheimes skodde” adds a little portion of local color, presented by a band that was definitely in a process of internationalization.

Under the bottom line, there can be no serious doubt that the song material was the main reason for the impact the album made. By the way, did I already mention the grandeur and power of the galloping 'In Death’s Embrace'? Okay, some brilliant moments, for example the spooky beginning of 'Spellbound (By the Devil)' with its overwhelming melody, do not generate equally brilliant but “only” very good songs. Yet there are almost no fillers to find and even the less strong pieces mirror the tremendous potential of Dimmu Borgir in 1997 – the guys just were not always able to transform it into fantastic tracks. However, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was strong enough to establish the Norwegians on an increasingly controversial yet very prominent position in the black metal universe. Then came Abrahadabra. Is this a synonym for downfall? Either way, that’s another story.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Jack on June 26, 2001.

"Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" was heralded as album that Dimmu Borgir officially became "sell outs". This is a complete and utter load of bollocks. Dimmu Borgir did not sell out, they became popular. This is Dimmu Borgir’s second greatest release in their 7 or so year history (the finest being "Stormblast"). Shagrath, Stian and the rest of the mob acquired Peter Tatgren and the infamous Abyss Studio to the recording for this magnificent symphonic release, obviously the production rate is quality, and this really helps to bring forth every instrument, that you may have not been able to hear on "Stormblast". Stian Aarstad is again responsible for tying this whole production together. When Dimmu Borgir cut Stian loose they unofficially signed their own death warrant.

Aside from that, all elements really come together well to create a masterful epic piece, they really shot Dimmu Borgir into the limelight. Favourite tracks for me include, the opening killer 'Mourning Palace' which for some reason reminds me of Enya-esque melody, regardless it contains great interplay between synthesizer and guitar. 'In Death’s Embrace' is one of the best of examples of symphonic black metal on the entire album. 'A Succubus in Rapture' is the longest track on the album and really has a nice epic feel to it. Also worth noting is that Shagrath’s vocal have improved quite significantly. However, whether Shagrath improved for the better or worse is worth questioning, because as he got better, Dimmu Borgir got worse.

Bottom Line: This was the last album of the good Dimmu Borgir, additionally this was seen as a commercial and "sell out" release. I don’t really care, this is a great symphonic release, from what was once a great symphonic metal band.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10