Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia

"Sympozium" redirects here; not to be confused with Symposium.
Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
Studio album by
Dimmu Borgir
Released20 March 2001
RecordedOctober–November 2000
StudioStudio Fredman, Gothenburg, Sweden
GenreSymphonic black metal
Length57:58
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerDimmu Borgir, Fredrik Nordström
Dimmu Borgir chronology
Spiritual Black Dimensions
(1999) 		Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
(2001) 		Alive in Torment
(2002)

Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia is the fifth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released by Nuclear Blast Records in 2001. This is the first album to feature drummer Nick Barker, guitarist Galder, and ICS Vortex on bass. It is also the first album upon which the band used real orchestral instrumentation besides keyboards and the first of the three subsequent albums recorded in Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden, with producer Fredrik Nordström. The drum sound on this particular album strongly relies on using triggered samples, thus giving it a distinct drum machine sounding result. According to Nick Barker, the idea to this recording approach at that time was heavily inspired by his friend Hellhammer and him doing the same thing on Mayhem's album Grand Declaration of War. Specifically, the bass drum sound uses a direct sample from the beginning of "5 Minutes Alone" by Pantera off their 1994's Far Beyond Driven album.[1] Also the exact tom drum sound used on this album was later re-used on Reaping the World Winds, debut album by Dimension F3H, which was mixed by Nordström as well.

A remixed and remastered version (again by Fredrik Nordström) of the album was released on 28 October 2022.[2] This version features less prominent and more natural sounding drums as well as less volume on samples and keyboards among other things.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Chronicles of Chaos9/10[4]
Metal.de8/10[5]
Rock Hard9.0/10[6]

AllMusic wrote, "A minority of purists might see this as too much of a departure, a complaint that would have more merit if Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia wasn't as exquisite as it is diverse."[3]

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Fear and Wonder" (instrumental) Mustis2:48
2."Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny"SilenozGalder, Silenoz, Shagrath5:18
3."Kings of the Carnival Creation"SilenozMustis, Silenoz, Shagrath7:48
4."Hybrid Stigmata - The Apostasy"SilenozShagrath, Silenoz, Mustis6:57
5."Architecture of a Genocidal Nature"ShagrathSilenoz, Shagrath6:08
6."Puritania"Silenoz, Morten LundeShagrath3:06
7."IndoctriNation"SilenozSilenoz, Shagrath, Mustis5:57
8."The Maelstrom Mephisto"SilenozSilenoz, Archon, Galder, Shagrath, Mustis4:42
9."Absolute Sole Right"SilenozSilenoz, Shagrath, Mustis6:26
10."Sympozium"VortexMustis, Shagrath, Silenoz5:13
11."Perfection or Vanity" (instrumental) Shagrath3:30
Limited Japanese Edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
12."Devil's Path (2000 Version)"ShagrathSilenoz, Shagrath6:06
13."Burn in Hell" (Twisted Sister cover)Dee SniderSnider5:05

Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (Remixed & Remastered)

No.TitleLength
1."Fear and Wonder"2:49
2."Blessings Upon the Throne of Tyranny"5:23
3."Kings of the Carnival Creation"7:51
4."Hybrid Stigmata - The Apostasy"6:59
5."Architecture of a Genocidal Nature"6:13
6."Puritania"3:06
7."IndoctriNation"6:01
8."The Maelstrom Mephisto"4:44
9."Absolute Sole Right"6:31
10."Sympozium"5:13
11."Perfection or Vanity"3:48
12."Burn in Hell" (Twisted Sister cover)5:13
13."Devil's Path" (2000 Version)6:06
Dust of Cold Memories
No.TitleLength
1."Hybrid Stigmata - The Apostasy" (Preprod. Session 2000)5:33
2."Blessings upon the Throne of Tyranny" (Preprod. Session 2000)4:02
3."Indoctrination" (Preprod. Session 2000)5:39
4."Architecture of a Genocidal Nature" (Preprod. Session 2000)6:07
5."Absolute Sole Right" (Preprod. Session 2000)6:27
6."Fear and Wonder" (The Kolbotn Tapes)2:26
7."Blessings upon the Throne of Tyranny" (The Kolbotn Tapes)5:39
8."Kings of the Carnival Creation" (The Kolbotn Tapes)7:40
9."Puritania" (The Kolbotn Tapes)2:49
10."The Maelstrom Mephisto" (The Kolbotn Tapes)4:00
11."Sympozium" (The Kolbotn Tapes)5:28

Personnel

Dimmu Borgir
Guest musicians
  • Andy LaRocque – guitar solo on "Devil's Path" (2000 version)
  • Charlie Storm – sample manipulation on "Puritania"
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (tracks 1–4, 6–8, & 10–11)
  • Orchestration arranged and conducted by Gaute Storås
  • Annica Kroon, Annika Hjelm, Bertil Lindh, Catherine Claesson, Nicola Boruvka, Per Enokson, Thore Svedlund – violins
  • Henrik Edström, Nils Edin, Per Högberg – violas
  • Grzegorz Wybraniec, Johan Stern – cellos
  • Bo Eklund – double bass
Technical

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[7] 23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] 71
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 11
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 66
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 16
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12] 16
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[13] 14
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 28
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[15] 25
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[16] 33

References

  1. ^ "Nicholas Barker Interview—Talks Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Drumming & A Lot More!". Chernobyl Audio. 8 January 2021.
  2. ^ "DIMMU BORGIR Announces Remixed & Remastered Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia". Metal Injection. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b O'Neill, Brian. "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia - Dimmu Borgir review". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  4. ^ Flaaten, Chris (13 March 2001). "CoC : Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia : Review". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia Review". Metal.de (in German). 26 April 2001. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  6. ^ Mühlmann, Wolf-Rüdiger (12 March 2001). "Review Dynamit: Dimmu Borgir - Spiritual Black Dimensions". Rock Hard (in German). No. 166. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  7. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Dimmu Borgir – Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" (in German). Hung Medien.
  8. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dimmu Borgir – Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  9. ^ "Dimmu Borgir: Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  10. ^ "Lescharts.com – Dimmu Borgir – Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia". Hung Medien.
  11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Dimmu Borgir – Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  12. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Dimmu Borgir – Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia". Hung Medien.
  13. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  14. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Dimmu Borgir – Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia". Hung Medien.
  15. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart on 25/3/2001 – Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  16. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart on 25/3/2001 – Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
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