Dimmu Borgir

Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir live at Wacken Open Air (2018)
General information
Genre (s)	Black Metal until 1996 , Dark Metal , Symphonic Metal since 1997
founding	1993
Website	www.dimmu-borgir.com
Founding members
Guttural vocals , guitar , studio bass , studio keyboard , drums	Stian Tomt "Shagrath" Thoresen (drums: 1993–1995, guitar: 1995–1998, vocals: since 1995, as well as studio bass and studio bass: 2005, studio keyboard: 2010)
Guitar, vocals, studio bass	Sven Atle "Erkekjetter Silenoz" Kopperud (vocals: 1993–1995, guitar: since 1993, and studio bass: 2005, studio background vocals: 2010)
Drums, guitar	Kenneth "Tjodalv" Åkesson (guitar: 1993–1995, drums: 1995–1999)
Current occupation
Guttural singing	Stian Tomt "Shagrath" Thoresen (drums: 1993–1995, guitar: 1995–1998, vocals: since 1995, as well as studio bass and studio bass: 2005, studio keyboard: 2010)
Rhythm guitar	Sven Atle "Erkekjetter Silenoz" Kopperud (vocals: 1993–1995, guitar: since 1993, and studio bass: 2005, studio background vocals: 2010)
Lead guitar	Thomas Rune "Galder" Andersen (guitar: since 2001, studio background vocals: 2010)
bass	Victor Brandt (bass: since 2018)
former members
guitar	Jamie "Astennu" Stinson (1997-1999)
bass	Ivar Tristan "Brynjard Tristan" Lundsten (1994–1996)
bass	Stian André "Nagash" Arnesen (1996–1999)
Vocals , bass	Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs (1999–2009)
Keyboard	Stian Aarstad (1993–1997)
Keyboard	Øyvind "Mustis" Mustaparta (1998–2009)
Drums	Nicholas Barker (1999-2004)
Drums	Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg (2005–2008)
Live support and session musicians
Guttural singing	Olve " Abbath " Eikemo (vocals on Death Cult Armageddon 2003)
Vocals, bass	Snowy Shaw (vocals and bass on Abrahadabra 2010)
singing	Agnete Kjølsrud (clean singing on Abrahadabra 2010)
singing	Garm (clean singing on Abrahadabra 2010)
guitar	Jens Petter (live guitar: 1996–1997)
guitar	Archon (live guitar: 2000)
guitar	Ricky Black (guitar on Abrahadabra 2010)
Guitar, bass	Terje "Cyrus" Andersen (live guitar: 2008, live bass: since 2010)
bass	Odd Tony "Secthdamon" Ingebrigtsen (Live Bass: 2007 - 2018)
Keyboard	Kimberly Goss (live keyboard: 1997-1998)
Keyboard	Geir "Gerlioz" Bratland (live keyboard: since 2010)
Drums	Carl-Michael "Kardex" Eide (touring drums: 1997)
Drums	Reno "Killerich" Hilligsø (live drums: 2003-2004)
Drums	Tony Laureano (live drums: 2004-2005, 2007-2008)
Drums	Darek "Daray" Brzozowski (live / studio drums: since 2008)

Dimmu Borgir is a metal band from Norway . The band name is derived from the lava formation Dimmuborgir in Iceland and means something like "dark castles" or "dark cities" in Icelandic .

history

Foundation and first success (1993–2000)

Sven Atle "Erkekjetter Silenoz" Kopperud with Dimmu Borgir in Paris on October 4th 2007

Dimmu Borgir was founded in 1993 by Stian Tomt “Shagrath” Thoresen , Kenneth “Tjodalv” Åkesson (ex- Old Man's Child ) and Sven “Erkekjetter Silenoz” Atle Kopperud. In the same year the keyboardist Stian Aarstad joined the band. In 1994 Brynjard Tristan, the missing bass player, was found. In the same year appeared the first release of the band with the EP Inn i evighetens mørke . This was followed by the debut album For all tid , which was published by the German label No Colors Records . Shagrath cited the pain of his own depression and the depths of the Norwegian forests as influences, but they were not influenced by other bands. At the time, he also spoke out in favor of the criminal activities of other Norwegian bands, advocated the death penalty and stricter immigration regulations, and said in an interview that he thought black metal was only for whites, adding that he would “like to give up every black person cut the world's throat ”. On August 9, 1995 the band played their first concert in Brohm.

For the self-produced second work Stormblåst , she switched to the record company Cacophonous Records. It was the last album in Norwegian . Many black metal fans refer to it as the band's last true black metal album.

After the first two albums were only in Norwegian, Shagrath and Silenoz wrote lyrics in English from now on.

In 1996 Brynjard Tristan left the band and was replaced by Stian André "Nagash" Arnesen , who was also the singer and bassist of The Kovenant . The first release in the new line-up was the EP Devil's Path . In the same year Dimmu Borgir switched to Nuclear Blast . A new edition of their debut work was released there, then the band went on tour with Cradle of Filth , Dissection and In Flames . In 1997 the album Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was released , which was produced by Peter Tägegren ( Hypocrisy ). With this album Dimmu Borgir was able to place himself in the international charts and thus had her worldwide breakthrough, but with this and through her appearance he moved away from traditional Black Metal and made enemies in the underground who made her ridiculous, commercial, treason, pop star- Accused airs and a lack of authenticity and also tried to prevent the Dimmu Borgir concerts from taking place. On the subsequent tour, Kimberly Goss, who later became the singer of Sinergy , played keyboard. Carl-Michael Eide played drums on her tour; although he didn't like their music, he took part, as it was a tour with Kreator . Since he did not want to reveal his name, he used the pseudonym Kardex and painted his face green. 1997 Stian Aarstad left the band again. In 1998 Øyvind “Mustis” Mustaparta came as a replacement, and a second guitarist was found in Jamie “Astennu” Stinson .

In 1999, Kenneth "Tjodalv" Åkesson, Jamie "Astennu" Stinson and Stian André "Nagash" Arnesen left the band. As a replacement came Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs , who was known as the singer of Borknagar and left this shortly afterwards, and Nicholas Barker, who switched from Cradle of Filth to Dimmu Borgir. A second guitarist was only found in the summer of 2000 in Thomas Rune "Galder" Andersen, who also leads the band Old Man's Child as singer and guitarist.

Further commercial success (2001-2018)

Dimmu Borgir received the Spellemann Prize in 2002 and thus prevailed against bands like Emperor and Borknagar; In the same year the band played at the Summer Breeze , where Hestnæs disturbed sleeping guests at the VIP campsite by shouting “Sieg-Heil” and “ Heil-Hitler ” at night and was beaten up for it. In 2003, the album was released in Death Cult Armageddon , on the Abbath of Immortal appeared as a guest vocalist.

In 2004 Nicholas Barker left the band. Reno "Killerich" Hilligsø and Tony Laureano filled the gap as session musicians until Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg , who was known from Mayhem and Arcturus , completed the band again.

In 2005 the second album Stormblåst was produced from scratch . For legal reasons, the piano piece Sorgens Kammer was not allowed to be reissued because, as the keyboard player at the time Stian Aarstad later confessed, it was not written himself, but was taken from the computer game Agony for the Amiga without informing the developers and the band. Instead, the new edition contains the pieces Avmaktslave and Sorgens Kammer - Del II .

In April 2007, In Sorte Diaboli , the follow-up album to Death Cult Armageddon, was released . The album entered the German album charts at number 7. The album In Sorte Diaboli was banned from the UK charts because of an enclosed competition; allegedly, Dimmu Borgir is thereby gaining a market advantage. There are video clips for various songs.

At the end of 2007, the band sued rapper Bushido for damages because he is said to have stolen the melody from the song "Mourning Palace", which was also confirmed by an expert.

2008 Darek "Daray" Brzozowski came from the group Vader as the new drummer for the band, who already as a guest drummer on the album Monuments of the Elder Faith of NSBM worked band Sunwheel. Brzozowski had dreamed of playing for Dimmu Borgir even before joining Vader. However, he did not say goodbye to Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek and Vader, but "pushed [...] alleged differences of opinion in the band"; Wiwczarek only found out later about Brzozowski's move to Dimmu Borgir from the Internet.

In 2009, after long arguments, the keyboard player Øyvind “Mustis” Mustaparta and the bassist Simen “ICS Vortex” Hestnæs had to leave the band. Mustis started a lawsuit to protect its intellectual property, but lost.

In July the band announced on their homepage that the 9th studio album will be released on September 24th 2010 and will be titled Abrahadabra . The single Gateways appeared on August 20, 2010 . A few days later the band announced that they had found a replacement for Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs in Snowy Shaw (including Therion , Dream Evil , King Diamond , Mercyful Fate , Memento Mori ). Commenting on his new work, Snowy Shaw said: “Yeehaw! I am so happy and proud to be in the coolest band in the world (since Kiss 1976). [sic!] “A day later he announced that he had left Dimmu Borgir; instead he got back to work with Therion, explaining why: “There were major misunderstandings and clear communication problems. Because of them, I left Dimmu Borgir. I was pretty annoyed that it fell apart so ugly after it looked so great at first. But the topic is now done and ticked off. "

Dimmu Borgir did not hire a new keyboardist for the time being, instead the band worked with the composer Gaute Storaas , the 51 members of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the 38 singers of the Schola Cantorum Choir. Live, however, Geir Bratland appears under the pseudonym Gerlioz as keyboard player with the band.

Abrahadabra is the band's most orchestral album to date, albeit not quite as bombastically arranged as Death Cult Armageddon .

In 2012 it was announced that the band would appear on the German TV show Es geht um mein Leben and a conversation with the band was filmed for the first episode. At the Wacken Open Air 2012 they performed with the Český národní symfonický orchestr . This performance was part of a live recording by the German broadcaster ZDF.kultur .

On May 4th, 2018 the new album Eonian was released.

style

This section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

At the moment the music can be described as a mixture of extreme metal and neoclassical influences. The band went through a strong musical change from the first to the last album. If the band's first releases were still classified as Black Metal, classical influences increased with the arrival of the new keyboardist Mustis . Furthermore, Dimmu Borgir is now orienting himself towards the metal of the 80s , especially when playing the guitar . They are currently tuning their guitars two semitones lower. The music became more experimental from album to album; Instead of simple riffs, they now rely on bombastic, orchestral soundscapes. This development can also be seen in the fact that the keyboard has been partially replaced by real strings. Dimmu Borgir even signed the Prague Philharmonic for the release of Death Cult Armageddon . This almost gives the music a character similar to a film score .

The band repeatedly markets older releases with changes in line-up or presentation. Some of these new editions are very complex. The production of the music video Progenies of the Great Apocalypse (by Death Cult Armageddon ) is evidence of a very sophisticated marketing concept.

In In Sorte Diaboli is the first concept album by the band and leads to the "dark" Middle Ages, when a novice is aware that Christianity only bring him bad and experiences as a turn to the "dark side".

Band members

• Dimmu Borgir live at the Rockharz Open Air 2019
• 

  Singer Stian Tomt "Shagrath" Thoresen

• 

  Lead guitarist Thomas Rune "Galder" Andersen

• 

  Rhythm guitarist Sven Atle "Erkekjetter Silenoz" Kopperud

Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	NO
1994	For all tid no colors	-	-	-	-	-	-	First published: December 1994
1996	Stormblåst Cacophnous Records	DE87 1 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	NO24 1 (1 week) NO	First release: January 25th, 1996 Re-release: November 11th, 2005 via Nuclear Blast
1997	Enthrone Darkness Triumphant Nuclear Blast	DE75 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	-	First published: May 30, 1997
1999	Spiritual Black Dimensions Nuclear Blast	DE25 (3 weeks) DE	AT31 (5 weeks) AT	-	-	-	NO18 (2 weeks) NO	First published: March 2, 1999
2001	Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia Nuclear Blast	DE16 (3 weeks) DE	AT23 (5 weeks) AT	-	-	-	NO16 (2 weeks) NO	First published: March 20, 2001
2003	Death Cult Armageddon Nuclear Blast	DE12 (4 weeks) DE	AT14 (5 weeks) AT	CH54 (3 weeks) CH	-	US170 (1 week) US	NO2 (6 weeks) NO	First published: September 8, 2003
2007	In variety Diaboli Nuclear Blast	DE7 (6 weeks) DE	AT11 (4 weeks) AT	CH30 (4 weeks) CH	-	US43 (2 weeks) US	NO1 (7 weeks) NO	First published: April 23, 2007
2010	Abrahadabra Nuclear Blast	DE15 (3 weeks) DE	AT20 (2 weeks) AT	CH24 (2 weeks) CH	-	US42 (2 weeks) US	NO2 (5 weeks) NO	First published: September 24, 2010
2018	Eonian Nuclear Blast	DE4 (4 weeks) DE	AT10 (2 weeks) AT	CH5 (4 weeks) CH	UK73 (1 week) UK	US142 (1 week) US	NO2 (2 weeks) NO	First published: May 4, 2018

¹ Stormblåst only hit the charts with the re-release.

More albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	US	NO
1998	Godless Savage Garden Nuclear Blast	DE56 (2 weeks) DE	AT47 (1 week) AT	-	-	-	First published: August 4th, 1998 compilation
2008	The Invaluable Darkness Nuclear Blast	DE69 (1 week) DE	-	CH8 (1 week) CH	-	-	First release: October 6, 2008 video album
2017	Forces of the Northern Night Nuclear Blast	DE17 (2 weeks) DE	AT60 (1 week) AT	CH48 (1 week) CH	-	-	First published: April 28, 2017 with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra & Choir

EPs

year	title	Remarks
1994	Inn in evighetens mørke	First published: December 17, 1994
1996	Devil's Path	First published: June 19, 1996
2002	Alive in torment	First published: February 5, 2002
	World Misanthropy	First published: May 28, 2002

Singles

• 1999: Devil's Path / In the Shades of Life (split CD with Old Man's Child , re-released in 2004 under the title Sons of Satan Gather for Attack )
• 2000: True Kings of Norway (split CD with five Norwegian black metal bands, contains Inn i evighetens mørke )
• 2004: Vredesbyrd (single for the Norwegian Grammy Awards, including the video clip Progenies of the Great Apocalypse )
• 2007: The Serpentine Offering (single with an instrumental version and video clip)
• 2007: The Sacrilegious Scorn (single with video clip)
• 2007: The Chosen Legacy (single with video clip)
• 2010: Gateways (single with video clip)

Video albums

• 1997: Live & Plugged vol. 2 VHS (live recordings and interviews, a kind of split VHS with dissection )
• 2002: World Misanthropy (DVD & VHS)
• 2005: Stormblåst DVD (Bonus DVD, Live at Ozzfest)
• 2008: The Invaluable Darkness (live; 2 DVD Digi & CD)
• 2017: Forces of the Northern Night (live; 2 DVD 2 CD Digibook)

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Oliver Side: Virus - Of Black Waves And Peacocks Thrash , November 22, 2008, accessed March 11, 2013.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Thorns: Interview with DIMMU BORGIR for Petrified zine 1994. (No longer available online.) 1994, archived from the original on June 12, 2018 ; accessed on January 8, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ "I am more or less satisfied with my personal status, but it seems, from my point of view, that Norway would gain with a strict and harder policy. I am thinking about getting a death penalty, the pathetic way we handle the immigration policy, etc. Whether for the better or the worse, we will never find out if we don't try it. "Stefania Renzetti: Dimmu Borgir . In: Savage Garden # 2, March 1997, p. III.
4. ↑ Dimmu Borgir . In: Darkness . No. 1 , August 1995, p. 17th ff . (English, photobucket.com [accessed September 20, 2010]).
5. ↑ DIMMU BORGIR: Racist murder fantasies of Shagrath? (No longer available online.) A-Blaze , September 2, 2010, archived from the original on February 9, 2011 ; Retrieved September 20, 2010 . 
6. ↑ musicmight.com: Dimmu Borgir Biography. ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 12, 2008 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Azazel: Interview / Story: Nagelfar. In: metal.de. April 3, 2002, accessed January 8, 2010 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b} SasH: AS NEGATOR Interview. (No longer available online.) 2004, formerly in the original ; Retrieved January 8, 2010 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
9. ↑ Mike von Hobart: "Ruthless Reviews" Top 10 Most Ridiculous Black Metal Pics Of All Time. June 9, 2007, accessed January 8, 2010 . 
10. ↑ Mike von Hobart: "Ruthless Reviews" The Other Top 10 Most Ridiculous Black Metal Pics Of All Time. June 27, 2007, accessed January 8, 2010 . 
11. ↑ Yuri Arkadin: Bethlehem: unstable deviates with manic-depression or misunderstood fine chaps? Retrieved January 8, 2010 . 
12. ↑ Live Review Tuska Festival. Retrieved January 8, 2010 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b c} PanSe: Deadfall eZine - We will metal you! (No longer available online.) February 7, 2008, archived from the original on November 7, 2017 ; Retrieved January 8, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ↑ ^{a b} Fogvision: Satanic Warmaster. July 23, 2002, accessed January 8, 2010 . 
15. ^ Antaeus interview at the Dark Legions Archive black metal and death metal interviews. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 31, 2009 ; accessed on January 8, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ↑ Thomas Gschwendner: Interview with V Santura from Dark Fortress. February 2, 2006, accessed January 8, 2010 . 
17. ↑ The Underground EmpIre Metal MegazIne: Current Reviews. Retrieved February 7, 2010 . 
18. ↑ Summer Breeze 2002: Backstage-Splitter ( Memento from February 26, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
19. ↑ News articles, 1 at laut.de - 2 at laut.de
20. ↑ laut.de
21. ↑ Frank Albrecht: VADER . Birthday with obstacles . In: Rock Hard , No. 267, August 2009, p. 57.
22. ↑ Dimmu Borgir: Snowy Shaw replaces ICS Vortex , metal-hammer.de, accessed on December 2, 2011
23. ↑ Dimmu Borgir - In, out, in, out… . metal.de. August 26, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
24. ↑ Snowy Shaw (Therion) explains the Dimmu Borgir chaos. metal-hammer.de; Retrieved December 2, 2011
25. ↑ Snowy Shaw replaces ICS Vortex ( memento of the original from August 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , metal-hammer.de, accessed on August 25, 2010 
26. ↑ Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra . musik.terrorverlag.de. November 2, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
27. ↑ the-pit.de: Dimmu Borgir: Abrahadabra (Review) , accessed on September 17, 2010
28. ↑ Dimmu Borgir on EinsPlus , September 21, 2012, accessed on October 20, 2012.
29. ↑ DIMMU BORGIR Joined By Orchestra, Choir At Germany's WACKEN OPEN AIR
30. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US NO

Web links

Commons : Dimmu Borgir  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Dimmu Borgir at Nuclear Blast
• Dimmu Borgir at laut.de
• Dimmu Borgir at Allmusic (English)