Grand Serpent Rising is the tenth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. The album was released on 22 May 2026, by Nuclear Blast. Grand Serpent Rising is the band's first album to have a few songs in its native Norwegian since Stormblåst MMV (2005), while the majority of the album is predominantly in English.
Background According to updates on the band members' Instagram accounts in September 2020, Dimmu Borgir was in the process of writing and pre-production for their tenth studio album. Silenoz originally claimed the new album wouldn't take as long to release. However, he later took back this statement in December 2023, where he said the band was not prepared to rush the album, and said it will be finished when it is finished, and referred to the 8 years it took Eonian to be released as the longest time it could take for the next album. This marks the second release by the band that has a large time gap of around 8 years, since their previous album.
On 18 August 2024, Galder announced via his Instagram account that he had left Dimmu Borgir, playing his last show the day before at Dynamo Metal Fest. In December 2024, it was revealed on the band's official Instagram that they had entered the studio to record their tenth studio album. In September 2025, the band revealed that the new album had been recorded, mastered and completed.
Release and promotion On 23 March 2026, Dimmu Borgir released a video teaser for what would be Grand Serpent Rising. They announced this album three days later alongside its lead single "Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel". On 23 April 2026, they released the second single "Ascent".
Track listing
Personnel Credits are adapted from Tidal, except where noted. Dimmu Borgir Stian Thoresen – vocals, keyboards, effects, orchestrations, production Sven Atle Kopperud – guitar, effects, production Daray – drums, production Geir Bratland – keyboards, production Kjell Åge Karlsen – lead guitar, production Victor Brandt – bass guitar, production Enya Thoresen – main clean vocals on track 5 Tom Rune Andersen – additional musical contribution
Additional contributor Fredrik Nordström – recording, mixing, mastering
Charts + Chart performance for Grand Serpent Rising Chart (2026) Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 76 French Rock & Metal Albums (SNEP) 3 German Rock & Metal Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 1 Norwegian Albums (IFPI Norge) 11 Norwegian Rock Albums (IFPI Norge) 1 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 57 Swedish Hard Rock Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 3 UK Albums Sales (OCC) 24 US Top Album Sales (Billboard) 50
References