Dimmu Borgir (/ˈdɪmuːˈbɔːrɡɪər/) is a Norwegiansymphonic black metal band fromJessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived fromDimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" inIcelandic,Faroese andOld Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalistShagrath and guitaristSilenoz are the only original members who still remain.[1][2]
Dimmu Borgir was founded in 1993 bySilenoz andTjodalv.Shagrath,Brynjard Tristan andStian Aarstad later joined Dimmu Borgir, and then released an EP in 1994 entitledInn i evighetens mørke ("Into the Darkness of Eternity"). This short EP sold out within weeks, and the band followed up with the 1994 full-length albumFor All Tid ("For All Time"). This album featured vocal contributions by Vicotnik ofVed Buens Ende andDødheimsgard and Aldrahn ofDødheimsgard andZyklon-B. The initial line-up consisted of Shagrath playing drums with Tjodalv on guitar and Silenoz contributing lead vocals. This line-up changed before the release ofStormblåst ("Stormblown") on Cacophonous Records in 1996, an album considered by many to be their finest.[3] It is also the last album which features all lyrics written and sung inNorwegian.[4][5]
Former Lead guitarist Thomas Rune "Galder" Andersen at Rockharz Open Air 2019
AfterStormblåst, keyboardistStian Aarstad left the band due to his obligation to serve in the Norwegian army, thus being unable to participate in the 1996 recording ofDevil's Path. That period was also marked by the departure of bassist Brynjard Tristan and the arrival ofNagash. Stian Aarstad returned for the recording of 1997'sEnthrone Darkness Triumphant. He had trouble attending rehearsals and was unable to tour. He was then subsequently dismissed and replaced byKimberly Goss for their 1997/1998 world tour.[citation needed]Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was a huge success for the band, and was their first release signed toNuclear Blast, a German record label. The album was recorded in the Abyss Studios, owned byHypocrisy's frontmanPeter Tägtgren.[6][7] After the release ofEnthrone Darkness Triumphant, the band went on tour withIn Flames,Dissection and other bands who were prominent in the scene at the time.
Spiritual Black Dimensions andPuritanical Euphoric Misanthropia period
After the tour forEnthrone Darkness Triumphant, the band recruited new membersMustis on keyboards andAstennu on lead guitar. Dimmu Borgir's following full-length albumsSpiritual Black Dimensions in 1999 and 2001'sPuritanical Euphoric Misanthropia, both met critical acclaim.[8][9][10] However, another line-up change occurred between the two albums; Nagash quit and was replaced by new bassist/singerICS Vortex, and Tjodalv left due to his family commitments, and to form the subsequent bandSusperia,[11] to be replaced withNick Barker ofCradle of Filth. Astennu was fired from his guitar duties as well due to creative differences, and was replaced byGalder.[12][13][14]
Despite the regular video play onMTV2 andFuse that their follow-up album would receive, the band stated that they were not "commercially-oriented", and instead, they "simply wished to spread their message to more people".[15] In 2003, Dimmu Borgir recordedDeath Cult Armageddon.Death Cult Armageddon was recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Adam Klemens. All orchestrations were arranged byGaute Storaas (who had previously worked with Dimmu Borgir on the albumPuritanical Euphoric Misanthropia). In 2004, Dimmu Borgir performed on the mainstage atOzzfest.[16]
In 2005, the band did a complete re-recording of theStormblåst album, featuringHellhammer ofMayhem fame as the session drummer. The album also featured a DVD with a live performance from the 2004Ozzfest tour.
Dimmu Borgir's seventh studio album,In Sorte Diaboli, was released on 24 April 2007.[17] A special edition version was released in a boxed case with a DVD, backward-printed lyrics, and a mirror. The album artwork was released on 14 February 2007 on a promotional webpage for the album. This album features once more the drumming ofHellhammer ofMayhem. Blomberg left the band in mid-tour in 2007 because of a neck injury that resulted in limited movement of his right arm. With the release of this album, Dimmu Borgir became the first black metal band with a number one album on the charts in their native country.[18] In October 2008, they released their second live DVD set titledThe Invaluable Darkness, which was based on several shows during the world tour supporting "In Sorte Diaboli". In 2008, the band played the UK festival Bloodstock.[19]
In 2009, members ICS Vortex and Mustis independently announced their departure from Dimmu Borgir. Mustis released a statement claiming his disfavor with the band, stating that he was not properly credited for his writing contributions to the band's music, mentioning possibly taking legal action.[20]
Dimmu Borgir soon after confirmed the pair's dismissal from the band, releasing a statement explaining why the two were fired.[21] Shagrath, Silenoz and Galder wrote: "Funny then, how the new album is half-way finished written already by the rest of us without any of these guys' input, still having all those elements we're known for."[21]
Dimmu Borgir's eighth studio album,Abrahadabra, was released on 24 September 2010 in Germany, 27 September 2010 for the rest of Europe and 12 October 2010 in North America.[22] Silenoz explained that the growing periods of time between albums was because the band had stopped writing music while touring, which was affecting the quality of the music. He described the new album as having an "eerie and haunting feel to it", adding that the material is "epic", "primal", atmospheric and ambient. A promotional image released with the statement showed Shagrath returning to the keyboards.[22] The album features an ensemble orchestra, theKringkastingsorkestret (the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra), as well as theSchola Cantorum choir, totaling more than 100 musicians and singers.
Gaute Storaas, composer of the orchestral arrangements, released a statement on his role in working on the album. "Their music is epic, thematic and symphonic already from the creation; they are clearly having an orchestral approach to composing. My role in this is sometimes just to transcribe their themes, sometimes to take their ideas, tear them apart and build them back up in ways that are true to the band's intentions. The music must also be both interesting and playable for the musicians, and hopefully, meet the quality standards of the orchestral world."
On 8 July the band confirmed that they had tapped Swedish multi-instrumentalistSnowy Shaw (Therion,Dream Evil) to replace bassist/clean vocalist ICS Vortex on their then-upcoming album,Abrahadabra, and world tour.[23] On 25 August it was announced that Snowy Shaw had left Dimmu Borgir to rejoin Therion.[24] On 17 September 2010 Dimmu Borgir released the song "Born Treacherous" fromAbrahadabra on their officialMyspace page.[25] Then on 24 September the band announced they would streamAbrahadabra in its entirety until 7 p.m. EST that evening.[26] The keyboards and bass are currently played byGerlioz fromApoptygma Berzerk and Cyrus ofSusperia respectively, and the clean vocals are sampled.
Rhythm guitarist Sven Atle "Erkekjetter Silenoz" Kopperud at Rockharz Open Air 2019
28 May 2011 saw Dimmu Borgir, for the first time in the band's career, perform live with a full symphony orchestra and choir in a one-off show with the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra and Schola Cantorum Choir (who collaborated onAbrahadabra the previous year) at the Oslo Spectrum entitled "Forces of the Northern Night". This was broadcast live on Norway's main national TV carrier NRK. The setlist for this show consisted of tracks from the band's recent transfigurationAbrahadabra, leading tracks "Vredysbyrd" and "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" fromDeath Cult Armageddon, as well as newly updated versions of tracks from their standard back catalog; "The Serpentine Offering", "Kings of the Carnival Creation", and "Mourning Palace" which were re-orchestrated by Gaute Storaas. The band played a similar show the following year at theWacken Open Air festival, having yet performed a second live show with a symphony orchestra and choir. This time, they were accompanied by the Czech National Orchestra with the same choir, being the second band in the festival's history to play with a live orchestra and choir (next to Germanpower metal bandRage's 2007 performance). The show was broadcast live on Germany's Kultur TV arts channel.[27] Silenoz has also said in several recent interviews that both live sets have been fully mixed and will be accompanied by a feature-length documentary and bonus material when released.[citation needed] In late 2011-2012 the band went on a special tour for fans in various European countries, including playing in some small, intimate venues celebrating their 1997 albumEnthrone Darkness Triumphant by playing the album in its entirety, alongside an additional set of various fan favourite tracks, following a poll to fans directly, asking which of their first 3 albums would they want to see played in full on their next European tour.
The band originally announced in August 2013 that work had commenced on the band's next album.[28] However, the production and release of the album has faced numerous delays.[29] It will mark the longest-ever gap between each studio release.[30] Following various delays, the Oslo and Wacken Orchestra performances, recorded between 2011 and 2012, were released on CD/DVD/Blu-ray format on 28 April 2017 worldwide as their third live video release titledForces of the Northern Night. Silenoz recently revealed that the band is in the mixing stage of the follow-up toAbrahadabra.[31] Ten songs will feature on the next album and they have said it has since been completed. On 18 December 2017 it was announced that the first single from the new album will be initially released on a 7-inch vinyl EP, and will be titledInterdimensional Summit, and was released on 23 February 2018. The new album was titledEonian and was released on 4 May throughNuclear Blast, and marked the band's first new release of original material in almost eight years. A second song from the new album, "Council of Wolves and Snakes", was made available for streaming online on 30 March. On 28 May, it was announced thatVictor Brandt (Entombed A.D.,Firespawn) had officially joined as the band's new touring bassist.
According to updates on the band members' Instagram accounts in September 2020, the band is 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.[32][33] 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 tookEonian 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.
A cover album was released on December 8, 2023, titledInspiratio Profanus. It contains all the covers the band has recorded up toAbrahadabra.
On March 30, 2024, during a show in Norway, the band reunited with former members Tjodalv, ICS Vortex and Mustis for a live performance.
On August 18, 2024, Galder announced via his Instagram account that he had left Dimmu Borgir, playing his last show the day before at Dynamo Metal Fest.[34]
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 is now recorded, mastered and completed. The album title and release date is expected in 2026.
Dimmu Borgir are considered to be asymphonic/melodic black metal band withprogressive metal tendencies.[35] The band's older releases (since 1994 to 1999) are, according toAllMusic journalist Bradley Torreano, strongly influenced byDarkthrone,Mayhem,Bathory,Emperor,Celtic Frost,Immortal,Venom, andIron Maiden.[1] The band became moreprogressive andsymphonic through the years; many black metal purists consider the band's second album,Stormblåst, to be "the act's last true contribution to black metal".[36]Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, Dimmu Borgir's third album, "distinguished itself in two important areas, firstly forgoing their native language for English and secondly for its dramatic increase in synthesizer content."[36] Significant experimentation began with 1999'sSpiritual Black Dimensions (due to the addition ofVortex's clean vocals, and the variety of musical ideas from then-new memberMustis), as well asPuritanical Euphoric Misanthropia[14] due to addition of influences from composers such asAntonín Dvořák,Enya,Richard Wagner, andFrédéric Chopin.[37] As the music strongly differed from the older, rawer black metal style, Jon "Metalion" Kristiansen calledSpiritual Black Dimensions "a fine case of melodic, over-producedsymphonic metal. If you like this melodic style I can't really think of anyone doing it better [...]. No, I wouldn't call this black metal. Read the interview withFuneral Mist for the right definition of black metal."[38]
