Death Cult Armageddon

Death Cult Armageddon is the sixth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released on 9 September 2003. It has since sold over 100,000 copies in the United States; the first album under Nuclear Blast to do so; and debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 169.^[3] The song "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" was released as a single with an accompanying music video. This would also be the last album to have Nick Barker on drums and the only one featuring full-scale orchestral ensemble (recorded in Prague).

Death Cult Armageddon
Cover art by Joachim Luetke
Studio album by Dimmu Borgir
Released	9 September 2003
Recorded	March–May 2003 at Fredman Studio, Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre	Symphonic black metal
Length	63:29
Label	Nuclear Blast (#NB 1047)
Producer	Dimmu Borgir & Fredrik Nordström
Dimmu Borgir chronology
World Misanthropy (2002) Death Cult Armageddon (2003) Stormblåst MMV (2005)
Alternative cover
Singles from Death Cult Armageddon
"Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" Released: 21 August 2003 "Vredesbyrd" Released: 14 May 2004

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Metal Review	[2]

The artwork within the album, done by Swiss artist Joachim Luetke, displays what appears to be an industrial factory, inside of which the band members are living out their fantasies, some of which are similar to scenes seen in the music video for "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse". Most of the songs have a common apocalyptic theme.

Release history

Death Cult Armageddon saw initial release on CD, vinyl and DVD-Audio on 9 September 2003 under Nuclear Blast,^[4] the DVD-Audio edition featuring all three bonus tracks, the "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" music video and photo galleries,^[5] which later featured on the Ozzfest edition bonus disc, and the Digipack editions featured the Bathory cover "Satan My Master". The Chinese edition was later released on 3 November 2003^[6] and the Japanese edition was released the following month on 23 December 2003 with the orchestral bonus tracks.^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Allegiance"	Silenoz	Shagrath, Galder, Mustis	5:50
2.	"Progenies of the Great Apocalypse"	Silenoz	Mustis	5:17
3.	"Lepers Among Us"	Silenoz	Galder, Silenoz, Shagrath	4:43
4.	"Vredesbyrd" (Burden of Wrath)	Silenoz	Mustis, Shagrath, Silenoz	4:44
5.	"For the World to Dictate Our Death"	Silenoz	Shagrath	4:46
6.	"Blood Hunger Doctrine"	Silenoz, Shagrath	Shagrath, Mustis	4:39
7.	"Allehelgens død i Helveds rike" (The Death of All Saints in The Kingdom of Hell)	Silenoz	Silenoz, Galder, Mustis, Vortex	5:33
8.	"Cataclysm Children"	Silenoz	Galder, Silenoz	5:13
9.	"Eradication Instincts Defined"	Silenoz	Mustis, Silenoz	7:12
10.	"Unorthodox Manifesto"	Aldrahn, Silenoz	Galder, Mustis, Silenoz, Shagrath	8:50
11.	"Heavenly Perverse"	Silenoz	Vortex, Galder, Shagrath	6:33

Ozzfest edition bonus disc

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Satan My Master" (Bathory cover)	Quorthon	2:14
2.	"Burn In Hell" (Twisted Sister cover)	Dee Snider	5:05
3.	"Devil's Path" (Re-recorded)	Silenoz, Shagrath	6:06
4.	"Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" (Orchestral version)	Mustis	5:15
5.	"Eradication Instincts Defined" (Orchestral version)	Mustis, Silenoz	7:24
6.	"Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" (Video Clip)	Mustis	3:38

Personnel

Dimmu Borgir

• Shagrath – lead vocals
• Silenoz – rhythm guitar
• Galder – lead guitar
• ICS Vortex – bass, clean vocals on tracks 2 and 7
• Mustis – grand piano, synth
• Nick Barker – drums

Guests

• Abbath Doom Occulta – backing vocals on "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" and "Heavenly Perverse"
• Orchestration arranged by Gaute Storås
• Recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (tracks 1–2, 4–7, 9–11)
• Conducted by Adam Klemens
• Charlie Storm – additional synthetics, sample assistance

Technical staff

• Fredrik Nordström and Shagrath – mixing, engineering, producer
• Patrik Sten – assistant engineering
• Arnold Linberg – assistant engineering
• Peter in de Detou – mastering
• Joachim Luetke – cover concept, artwork
• Alf Børjesson – group shots