HOARD ALMIGHTY
Box sets, underground oddities and all the essential merch you need this month
DIMMU BORGIR
PURITANICAL EUPHORIC MISANTHROPIA: VINYL BOX SET
NUCLEAR BLAST
£62
DOES NORWEGIAN BLACK metal need to be remixed and remastered? In 665 cases, no. But Dimmu Borgir were always different. Their fifth album, Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia, was an overblown, sordid secretion of reach-for-the-stars maximalism, paving the way for even more bonkers escapades. It was also the full-time debut for Nick Barker on drums, Galder on guitars, and ICS Vortex on bass and vocals – a man whom they’ve had to replace with an actual orchestra since leaving. Basically, it was a blockbuster back then and remains so 22 years later. To commemorate such a landmark record, Nuclear Blast are peddling the 3LP, remixed and remastered edition. But it’s not some crap cash-grab. Rather, it’s an intricately detailed package, including classics like Blessings Upon The Throne Of Tyranny – and Twisted bloody Sister! – and a smattering of demos, rehearsals and pre-production tracks. Top kvality, that.