DIMMU BORGIR's 'In Sorte Diaboli' Disqualified From U.K. Charts

DIMMU BORGIR made Norwegian music history this week when it topped the country's album chart, VG-lista, with its latest release, "In Sorte Diaboli". The CD also sold extremely well in such countries as Sweden, Finland, Austria and Switzerland, and last week reached No. 43 on the American Billboard chart. Unfortunately, the Norwegian band can forget about achieving the same results in England, according to Dagbladet.no.

Last week "In Sorte Diaboli" was disqualified twice by The Official UK Charts Company, which was established by the music industry to regulate and control the chart compilation process and to ensure that the charts represent an accurate assessment of popularity.

"This is not funny," says Yorck Eysel, the label manager for DIMMU BORGIR's Germany-based record company, Nuclear Blast. "I hope that nobody blames us, but rather blames the almost unbelievably strict rules in England."

According to Eysel, The Official UK Charts Company disqualified the album twice last week. First they made the decision to exclude the CD based on a mirror which is featured on the cover of the digipack release.

"First they disqualified us because of this mirror, which is nothing but decoration inside the package," he says. "We went ahead and complained about this and then we got a note saying that we wouldn't be on the list anyway since the packaging for the CD includes a flyer where we announce a competition for record buyers to win an opportunity to meet the band."

Eysel feels that it is a pity the disqualification was made final, since DIMMU BORGIR's chances of landing on the U.K. chart were quite high.

"They obviously examined the CD packaging carefully, and I don't think they would've done that if we had been just another band that didn't have a pretty good chance of making the chart," he says.

Eysel says that the label shipped more than 10,000 copies of "In Sorte Diaboli" to English retail outlets.

"We have been going for 20 years now, and we have achieved high chart numbers with bands like NIGHTWISH, for example," he says. "Something like this (with DIMMU BORGIR) has never happened before."

Eysel characterizes the decision by The Official UK Charts Company to exclude DIMMU BORGIR's CD as "ridiculous," but the company's rules are clearly spelled out on its web site. According to paragraph 6.1, "a competition featured on or within the packaging of any album release will render the format ineligible for inclusion in the charts."

"We did not announce the competition on the cover," Eysel counters. "Therefore it is impossible for the record buyers to learn of the flyer's existence before they buy the CD. It is difficult to understand why the Englishmen think this has provided us with an unfair marketing advantage."

This is not the first time The Official UK Charts Company has sparked a public debate by excluding an artist.

Last fall they disqualified BECK's "The Information", because the record buyers got a blank cover and a sheet with a sticker instead of a traditional cover.

The idea was to enable the fans to make their own cover art. However, this made the album ineligible for the U.K. chart, said The Official UK Charts Company.

The Official UK Charts Company is a joint venture between the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) and ERA (Entertainment Retailers Association — formerly BARD).

(Thanks: Roy Kristensen / Imhotep)