Incredibly, the last Dimmu Borgir album, Abrahadabra, landed in our laps almost seven years ago. Since then, the black metal icons’ future and status have been in some question but, much to fans’ relief, the band’s return was made official in Metal Hammer back in January, and they are now putting the finishing touches to a new, as-yet-untitled album. “It was the same with the last one,” laughs Silenoz of the lack of a name for the record. “The title was agreed upon during the vocal sessions… now we’re already into mixing!”
Recorded out in the Swedish countryside at Fascination Street Studios with producer Jens Bogren, the guys have made the most of the peace and quiet (while enduring 7am starts) to knuckle down to the job at hand. Interestingly, the results have taken some influence from the recent Of The Northern Night DVD release in terms of both production and songwriting, the band spending two months crafting as dynamic an album as possible.
“It’s something I realised when mixing the DVD,” recalls Silenoz. “The songs from Abrahadabra came out so much better than on the album because you can really hear the dynamics. That was something we had in mind when writing the songs – to not have too much going on at once – if we have a guitar-based riff, the guitars are the main point of focus; if there’s a big orchestral part, we keep the guitars and vocals simple, not to have too many things happening on top of each other.”
Aware of the expectations surrounding the new opus, vocalist Shagrath and guitarists Silenoz and Galder revisited inspirations from throughout the group’s career to craft what they consider to be their most diverse and powerful work to date.
“Obviously everyone has expectations after us being away for so long, and they should expect something spectacular – I would if I were a fan,” concludes Silenoz. “I think we can deliver just that. It has some of the most brutal stuff we’ve done and some of the most old-school stuff we’ve done, so it has links to all the albums; you have a huge, grandiose part and then it goes into a primitive, almost Burzum-style part. I think it’s safe to say it has everything that we’re known for!”
THE NEW ALBUM IS OUT LATER THIS YEAR VIA NUCLEAR BLAST
