The last tour performance for Dimmu Borgir was here in Oslo early in May and we don't think the Norwegian people present at that event has forgotten it already because it was a hell of a show! It's not so long time since the last time you could read a Dimmu Borgir interview in this magazine but a lot of changes has actually happened since last time. Nagash, now known as Lex Icon, has left the band and the man with the great voice Simen Hestnæs has taken his place as a session member on bass. But what really is the big change in the line up is the change of drummer. Tjodalv left the band because of his family and to much touring, and in came Cradle Of Filth drummer Nicholas Barker. Rumours said that he was not pleased with the situation in COF and when people here in Norway saw him at different places here in Oslo together with the guys from Dimmu Borgir it was no doubt that something was going on. Well, just before the European tour the band confirmed the rumours and right after the Rockefeller gig here in Oslo we got in touch with Nick to talk a little about the new situation. And first of all we talked about the Oslo gig...
- I felt in fact a bit uncomfortable in front of this gig because Oslo is after all Dimmu Borgir's hometown and I felt many critical eyes from the people present at the consert. It's obvious that they wanted to evaluate my drumming skills and compare it to Tjodalv. And unfortunately went a few things wrong this night so I'm not hundred percent satisfied with this gig.
What impressions do you have after your debut tour with Dimmu Borgir?
- I think the hole tour turned out to be extraordinary! The guys in the band are very nice people to live with and I can't remember being on a Cradle Of Filth tour as successful as this. I'm in fact much more comfortable being on tour with the guys in Dimmu Borgir than I was with Cradle Of Filth and that's partly because of their differences in behaviour and attitude.
Yes, I think a lot of people wonder why you left Cradle Of Filth...
- I was simply enough not satisfied with certain elements in the band, so then I figured out that the only right thing to do was to leave the band. I was very often disagree with all the decisions that were settled and I felt that after six years of contributing to this band it was about time to look for new challenges.
So it was more a social matter than the musical part?
- Yes, you can say that. It was more about the bands politic and estetic madder I felt I was no longer a part of, says Nicholas and sounds in fact quite unhappy with how things was in his old band. There has been some rumours lately that Mr. Barker in front of his dismissal was the direct reason for the fact that Dani Filth ended up in a hospital with some damish in his face, and Nicholas speaks...
- Yeah, we had a little disagreement and ended up in a fight and unfortunately Dani ended up in a hospital. But this happened a quite long time ago and had nothing to do with my dismissal from Cradle Of Filth. This was actually based on some fucking bullshit but it unfortunately turned out quite dramatically, confirms Nicholas and define precisely that they are friends again these days. Many of you probably know that Dimmu Borgir was supporting Cradle Of Filth on the "Gods Of Darkness" tour in Germany couple of years ago, and this is the main reason why Nicholas Barker perform his virtuosity in a Norwegian band these days...
- I got very good contact with the guys in Dimmu Borgir on the "Gods Of Darkness" tour and after that we often met on different festivals and so on. So when the rumours of my Cradle Of Filth dismissal reached Norway things just happened...
Both Cradle Of Filth and Dimmu Borgir plays music which contains much symphony and horror elements and many people compares the two bands. You should now have the best condition to evaluate wheter these bands are similar or not. What is the biggest differences in playing drums in Dimmu Borgir compared to Cradle Of Filth?
- Many people compares these two bands, as you say, but I mean that this is partly wrong because the music style is quite different. The biggest different for me is the frequent use of double bass drums in Dimmu Borgir. But this is just a interesting challenge for me and it's nothing I can't handle. I have used the same technic for about six years now so I think it's a good thing for me to develop my skills. But it's not an enormous change for me though, it's still music in the same genre. It's still black metal...
What was your first impression of the new album?
- The first time i heard "SBD" was in January and I thought it was fantastic right away! It was kind of special to hear the development from the last album. "Spiritual..." is much more extreme, at lot faster and I really like the direction the band has headed. If I must mention one particular favourite song it must be "Phantasmagoria". That song is very fast and very challenging to play. But I must say that every Dimmu Borgir song contains a lot of quality and it's really enjoyable to perform such a brilliant song material in a live situation, says a very enthusiastic Nicholas and I ask him if he is thinking of moving to our beautiful country permanently, and he really agrees that Norway is beautiful but says that it's cheaper for him at this moment to fly between Oslo and London occasionally. Well, it is some differences in the lyrics in Cradle Of Filth compared to Dimmu Borgir. While COF has this vampiric elements, Dimmu Borgir can be considered more as a satanic band...
- I have no problem with the lyrics in Dimmu Borgir. I loved the vampiric consept of Cradle Of Filth and I have always been facinated by old vampire movies, but I'm in fact more into the lyrics in Dimmu Borgir, and that I think is because of the fact that the lyrics in Cradle Of Filth are very...Dani, says Nicholas and suply that he these days works on a project with James Murphy and his band Disincarnate. He also have a project going on with Peter Tågtgren and a couple of guys from Napalm Death. Then we know that as well..