Biography from Last.fm
Dimmu Borgir is a symphonic black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalist Shagrath and rhythm guitarist Silenoz are the only original members who still remain, with lead guitarist Galder being a longstanding member. Read more on Last.fm
Is there anything better than a Thrash Hits Festival Splash Page? Yeah, loads of things but you won’t find the best online festival coverage on any of them. You’ll find that right here. All our work from Bloodstock Open 2012 is going be linked to from this page (eventually), so give it a bookmark or just don’t close it, because it’s all you’re going to need. Interviews, photos, setlists, rumours, and who knows? – maybe even some tiny reviews – it’s all here. [Read more →]
We’re not sure at what point the “tasselled leather trenchcoat” and “black metal corpsepaint” looks decided to get together and give birth to Shagrath’s on-stage outfit for Bloodstock Open Air 2012, but we are forever thankful to Satan that we didn’t have to watch the car-crash of stylistic congress that led to this most unholy union of fashion-decisions.
All this week, Tom Dare has been guiding you through how Black Metal has evolved over the course of the last two decades (check out parts one, two, three and four if you haven’t already). Now, as the week draws to a close, we’ve asked Tom to put together the songs that have made it happen into a Spotify Slaylist, and in doing to to lovingly cobble them together in an order that somehow tries to make sense of the wildly differing styles that constitute the genre these days. Wish him luck….
In the final part of his look at the Black Metal evolution over the past 20 years, today Tom Dare is examining the murkier and more indistinct realms of “post”-Black Metal band, as well as those bands who might’ve moved beyond the boundaries of Black Metal musically, still remain within the genre in spirit, at least….
Dimmu Borgir
Abrahadabra
Nuclear Blast Records
27 September 2010
by Tom Dare
The ever-divisive Dimmu Borgir have, with no small fanfare, finally released Abrahadabra. Whatever else may be said about them, their ability to construct albums of grandiose darkness is very clearly undimmed. Shagrath, Silenoz, Galder and their associates have delivered on their promises with this, their ninth album. [Read more →]
When Norwegian bands are in town, chances are you’ll find Tom Dare slinking around for a good vantage point. When it’s Dimmu Borgir in the capital, you’ll struggle to keep him away. This time though, he wishes he had.
When Dimmu Borgir announced they were playing a London date, the initial reaction was “fuck yes!”. When the venue was announced as The Forum, the initial reaction was “oh fuck”. Anyone familiar with the venue will know of its… ‘interesting’ acoustics, and how a band with the grand symphonics like Dimmu could be particularly hampered. Yet this could not hint at the myriad of dire problems that would afflict a genuinely shocking headline performance.
When Norwegian black metallers Dimmu Borgir came to town, we sent Tom Dare off to chat to guitarist Galder about new album, Abrahadabra
After three years and the departure of two band members (keyboard player Mustis, and bassist & clean vocalist ICS Vortex), Dimmu Borgir are about to release new album Abrahadabra. At a top-secret location in London (i.e., a Travelodge), we got to listen to this vast and ambitious slab of evil. After recovering, we sat down with Galder, guitarist with arguably the biggest Norwegian black metal band going, to discuss the band’s new record, Aleister Crowley, touring with Korn and potentially being spat on.
With the revelation of the album title and artwork for the forthcoming opus from Dimmu Borgir, Tom Dare raises an eyebrow
There are moments in history you wish you could have stepped in and said “erm, would you like to think this through?” I’d quite like to pop back to my own self, aged 16, and say “big baggy shorts? Spiky hair? Are you sure that’s really you, mate?”. But I’d have donated organs to have been there to step in to the meeting where Dimmu Borgir entitled their new album Abrahadabra.
There’s a lot we could say about the Defenders of the Faith show in Brixton. We could mention Five Finger Death Punch’s use of nu-metal poses to start a mosh pit before 7pm. Or how Unearth rattle through more chest-thumping riffs in a 30 minute set than some bands do in their entire careers. Or maybe how Dimmu Borgir should really start crediting their smoke machine as the seventh member of the band. But really, Sunday night in Brixton was all about one band – Lamb of God.
The Defenders Of The Faith tour, featuring Lamb Of God, Unearth, Dimmu Borgir and Five Finger Death Punch is hitting a town near you in February (tourdates are below) and you can win tickets right here.
We can’t stress how immense this tour is going to be. If Lamb Of God’s new album, Wrath isn’t the best album of 2009, we’re predicting a bloody amazing year!
To be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets to the Defenders Of The Faith tour, just enter the competition by answering the following question: