Absence makes the heart grow fonder, so the old saying goes, and eight years is quite a while to be away. Dimmu Borgir has still been playing live, but 2018 was the last time the Norwegian symphonic black metal band released a full length album. At last, Silenoz and Shagrath return with "Grand Serpent Rising," and anticipation is high to hear how they sound after all this time. Will they return full of energy, ambition and artistic enthusiasm, or could they just be going through the motions? Well, I don't want to spoil the rest of the review, but I get the feeling that most people will agree that it's the former.

"Grand Serpent Rising" sets the tone immediately with "Tridentium," whose orchestral tones (which are actually quite reminiscent of the Max Payne theme,) are joined by the sound of rain, before the guitar helps to add a creepy vibe to proceedings. The only vocals on the opening track are spoken, but it's truly an excellent way to begin the record and feels very cinematic. Indeed, the album feels like a soundtrack to an expressionist movie and other songs really help conjure up eerie images, such as "As Seen In The Unseen," which contains perhaps a more standard metal chorus than one might expect and flies by. Meanwhile, "Phantom Of The Nemesis" showcases the symphonic element in a sinister way, which fits the presentation really well.

Of course, there's plenty of metal extremity to go with the classical instrumentation too. "Ascent," which if you like is the first "proper" song on the album, explodes with black metal fury, while also boasting a sweeping feeling, thrash metal influenced riffing and even, dare I say, a slight touch of hardcore in the bridge. "Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel" is one of the highlights of the thirteen offerings, where the guitar playing really shines and everything comes together to create a catchy number, while elsewhere, "Recognizant" makes use of a militaristic drum beat to forge a rousing track that stands strong on its own.

Individually, most of the songs are really good. As a whole though, the album clocks in nearly 70 minutes and after a while, it really does start to feel its length. In fact, it's the longest album of Dimmu Borgir's career, and one wonders if after such a long pause between "Eonian" and "Grand Serpent Rising," the band made a conscious decision to give fans as much music as they could. There's also a little problem where several songs seem to jump around too much when it comes to tempo or approach, such as "The Qryptfarer," which is good as a whole, but some enjoyable parts don't last long enough to savour. Despite my complaint about the length though, the record finishes strongly with the instrumental finale, "Gjoll," which could even be my personal favourite track, as it's all put together perfectly. It sums up the group's talents, being typically heavy, but also providing the best example of their ability to create a great atmosphere.

Fans and critics seem to have been fairly harsh on the last few Dimmu Borgir albums, but it seems that "Grand Serpent Rising" will go some way to rectifying that. The band became one of the better known black metal bands from Norway in the 2000s when "Death Cult Armageddon" became a hit and since then, they've remained one of the bigger names. Their tenth album will remind people why they achieved such success to begin with, as it contains superb songwriting, amazing atmospheres and plenty of extreme metal rage and symphonic sophistication.