Dimmu Borgir (band) - It hasn't been the same since they changed lineups

in #music4 years ago

While i don't expect there to be many Dimmu Borgir fans out there (perhaps you don't even know what it is) this is one of my favorite bands of all time. They are a symphonic black metal band from Norway and I find their mix of very fast metal combined the beauty of more traditional means (with a choir or brass section or piano) to be like no other.

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As I am sure you can tell simply by the picture, their music tends to be about evil topics, namely witchcraft, Satanism, and what not. Like many bands, they aren't actually Satanists - it's part gimmick, part just being anti-religion in a general sense.

Anyway, moving on.

Dimmu Borgir has been around for more than 20 years and all along they have been chugging out incredible tunes. However, a massive change in the lineup happened in 2010 and while I still like some of their stuff after that time, it hasn't really been the same since.

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In early 2010 ICX Vortex (bassist an clean vocals) and Mutis (keyboards) were released from the band. All members have been rather quiet about why this happened but it appears that Mutis was unhappy being uncredited with songs he had written or influenced a great deal. This video of Progenies of the Great Apocalypse is a perfect example of how great they sounded "back in the day" (skip ahead to 1:12 to hear the clean vocals.)


from the Dimmu Borgir official channel

Vortex was guilty of supporting Mutis in this endeavor and also (and this is purely speculation on my part) he was guilty of taking the limelight away from the lead singer, Shagrath. The songs where Vortex performed clean vocals were almost always considered the highlights of every album / live performance.

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"Shagrath" is no doubt, the main focus of Dimmu Borgir and his lyrical style is like no other... however, it has been said by many of the massive amount of ex-members of this band that he is a control freak and very difficult to work with

When Dimmu Borgir released their first album without Vortex and Mutis entitled Abrahadabra, the sound was noticeably different. It was still better than 90% of the black metal out there, but it simply wasn't the same. There are a couple of good songs on the album but all clean vocals were filled with various guest singers. The music didn't have the soul that it used to. I can honestly say that there are only 2 or 3 songs on that album that I even recognize because for the most part, it isn't very good.

When their 10th album Eonian was released after their longest delay between albums (8 years) it was a massive disappointment. Certain critics raved about it, but the overall opinion was that the album lacked any sort of Dimmu Borgir-ness. I hadn't been this disappointed since they decided to cover Burn in Hell by Twisted Sister.

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I don't know if it was an attempt to stick it to Vortex and Mutis but starting with the Abrahadabra album they replaced the clean vocals with the Schola Cantorum choir and the keyboards with the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra - this totals more than 100 musicians.


from the Dimmu Borgir official channel

This was the first track released on their latest album. Myself and most other fans agreed that this was not a great song and the addition of an entire choral section instead of one person, is just kinda lame.

When Dimmu Borgir performs live these days they cannot possibly replicate their studio sound at most gigs since doing so incorporates bringing near 100 people with them. Therefore, most of their gigs are heavily filled with backing tracks including ICS Vortex's voice.... and that is just dumb.


you don't normally expect a member of a metal band to be an incredible piano player do ya? Well, listen to this! source

In almost all instances, a person's favorite band can't stay awesome forever. In the case of Dimmu Borgir, I can pinpoint the exact moment where they went downhill as a group and it was the firing / departure of ICS Vortex and Mutis. Based on the extreme changes in sound, i think I believe Mutis when he says he was improperly uncredited with creation of their songs. How else can you explain such a massive shift in overall sound? He pursued legal action against the band, but I have no idea what came of that.

My apologies that this is so long - i'd be surprised if anyone other than @deadspace actually reads all of it. There are a couple of bands that I am truly passionate about and Dimmu Borgir is one of them. Believe it or not I made this as short as I could :)

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Zombies or Vampire's? I cant decide.. his piano work is outstanding, I'll give you that. Last time I put some really loud Opeth on, my 13yr old daughter (at the time) gave me a hard time.., isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

I think it is supposed to be exactly the opposite...haha. haven't listened to opeth in a while. Might do that today

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They have a new album out, I might grab it and listen. I prefer their growling stuff though, it had more.. weight to it somehow.

Dude these guys were awesome. Back in my college days, I was in a black metal band for a few years. Although I don't think it was ever my best fit, I loved writing in that genre. Dimmu was one of the most impressive to take inspiration from.

Yeah they are tough to copy...many have tried. Usually their only criticism is that they are overproduced and can't replicate their sound on stage without a backing track.... I found out about them by accident one day because there are only like 100 fans of black metal in Thailand.....

Got any recordings of your college band? I have some of mine. We were pretty terrible

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In almost all instances, a person's favorite band can't stay awesome forever.

Unless that band is The Dillinger Escape Plan, which made absolutely nothing but albums that fucking slapped your dick hard.

Also, I'm pretty sure you're the only person who actually fully reads my shit. I guess so we can just keep the circle of touching each others assholes going, I guess.

On a side note, I never really got into this band. I should listen to their old stuff and see if I can get into it these days or not, probably. Back in 2006/2007 I just didn't like this band for the fact that everyone and their dilapidated grandma sitting in a retirement home, basking in her own shit and the Maury Povich show, were sucking this bands dick hard alongside Behemoth's scrotum. And, every time I would talk to these troglodytes they would constantly say that all the metal I liked was ass and not good, because only Black metal is good. Even though 99.9 percent of black metal sounds like a mental hospital patient taking a shit inside of a tin can through a microphone.

Those were the days, baby.

you must run with a very different circle than i do. If i ever meet someone who even knows what black metal is there is a good chance I am going to end up being friends with them. However, where I have chosen to live plays a very big part in that. The point is, I can't imagine meeting people and having them know who Behemoth or DB even are, let alone having a preference.

I'm gonna have a look at Dillinger Escape Plan. I think i had an album of theirs a loooong time ago, but not sure about that.

Well, this was my highschool years in 2006-2007 time, where everyone was trying to be an edgy emo/scene kid. So, a lot of different types of metal got floated around since everyone was trying to tweak their own nipples about how hardcore they were.

Dillinger is great, but very strange sounding compared to most bands. Songs that I would recommend you check out: 43 percent burnt, Sunshine the Werewolf, Farewell Mona Lisa, Gold Teeth on a Bum, Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants, Widower and Milk Lizard.

When they were in between singers they did a little EP with Mike Patton which is pretty fucking great too, only like 4 tracks but they're all pretty cool.

I have never heard of this band before. @verhp11 just did a really good post about goth metal bands. You should check it out if you haven't already. I am not sure this kind of music is really my cup of tea, but I like to believe that I am willing to give anything a shot.

I like so much this song

I like finding metalheads on steemit :D

Gateways is one of the few good songs on that album. The video is really good too. My ex GF who didn't even like the style of music that I do was a fan of this song.

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