Torpes in the UK: An Evening with Dimmu Borgir (25th November 2011) Location: Manchester Academy 3, Manchester, UK

Sunday, 27 November 2011

An Evening with Dimmu Borgir (25th November 2011)
Location: Manchester Academy 3, Manchester, UK

When walking into the Manchester Academy 3, with a capacity for just around 450 people, I couldn’t believe I was about to see Dimmu Borgir, arguably the biggest international black metal band, in this very small venue.

This tour was titled “An Evening with Dimmu Borgir” - 2 Dimmu Borgir sets without any support act. On the first set the band was going to play an entire album voted on before the tour by fans and the second being a selection from the Dimmu Borgir catalogue. The album which won the vote was the 1997’s “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant”.

The crowd roared with enthusiasm when the opening notes from “Mourning Palace” played over the PA. This level of enjoyment remained throughout the night. There was a certain sinister atmosphere in the venue, created not only by the music but by the lights and smoke.

Mourning Palace (live Manchester Academy 3, 25-11-2011)

In between and during songs there was a lot of crowd interaction, with Shagrath wanting to see a lot of horns thrown in the air, something which the crowd had no trouble doing. “Raabjorn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde” was the final song of the first set. Shagrath declared the evening to be a celebration towards the 14 year old “Enthrone Darkness Triumphant” album, and what a celebration it was. It was dark, sinister and filled with head-banging. And we still had the second set coming.

Relinquishment of Spirit and Flesh (live Manchester Academy 3, 25-11-2011)

The second set began following a brief interval. It started with a drum solo from Daray and the rest of the band returned to the stage for “Vredesbyrd”, followed by the immense “Kings of the Carnival Creation” which truly was one of the highlights of the second set. We were treated then to 3 songs from the new album “Abrahadabra” . The new songs “Dimmu Borgir”, “Ritualist” and “Gateways” were well received but without the same enthusiasm as the older songs. “Gateways” was great, but lacked the physical presence of a female backing vocal (a recorded voice doesn’t do the trick for me). The set then finished with the powerful “Puritania”. During “Puritania”, almost every person in the room was banging their head.

Puritania (live Manchester Academy 3, 25-11-2011)

Dimmu Borgir left the stage but the crowd wanted more. We didn't wait for long and it only took a few minutes for the band to be on stage again. They closed the night with an encore consisting of two brutal songs, “The Serpentine Offering” and “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse”, which was a stunning end to the evening.

Progenies of the Great Apocalypse/Perfection or Vanity (outro) (live Manchester Academy 3, 25-11-2011)

A special night with a superb performance and set list from Dimmu Borgir. I really feel this tour has benefited from being in smaller venues. The intensity coming from the band combined with the intimacy of the venue and the almost demonic atmosphere created a stunning show. It was really a great gig, a celebration of Metal in one of its purest forms. Even with all the numerous line-up changes over the years, Dimmu Borgir continues to be a force to be reckon, but I do miss Vortex’s clean vocals...

After the show, I got a guitar pick from Cyrus and a DVD booklet signed by all the band members. Nice!!