It's Official: DIMMU BORGIR Is First Black Metal Band To Top Norwegian Album Chart

DIMMU BORGIR has entered the Norwegian album chart at No. 1 with its latest effort, "In Sorte Diaboli" — the first time a black metal act has ever topped a national album chart anywhere in the world. SATYRICON's "Now, Diabolical" and DIMMU BORGIR's last release, "Death Cult Armageddon", previously reached the No. 2 position on the Norwegian album chart.

DIMMU BORGIR's chart-topper comes just a week after "In Sorte Diaboli" reached No. 43 on The Billboard 200, making them the first Norwegian band since the Eighties pop act A-HA to crack the U.S. Top 50, reports the Norwegian music industry weekly Faro Journalen.

Stein Østbø reviewed "In Sorte Diaboli" for Norway's biggest daily newspaper Verdens Gang (VG),and gave it the highest possible rating (6 out of 6). He says DIMMU BORGIR's No. 1 is nothing less than the most radical achievement in the history of the Norwegian charts.

"Because of the black metal genre's extreme expression, I would characterize this as the most astonishing thing that has ever happened on the Norwegian charts," he says.

Espen Solheim Røhne at Indie Distribution, which handles Nuclear Blast Records' releases in Norway, says the label expected to have a No. 1 album with DIMMU BORGIR's latest. He says the company decided to start advertising on TV earlier than originally planned, and if the album continues to sell well in its second week, they will buy more TV spots for "In Sorte Diaboli".

"We are in discussion with cable network TV 3 to buy more airtime from them, but we will continue advertising on TV through the end of May, no matter what happens," he says.

Solheim Røhne says the No. 1 is especially impressive when you consider the competition.

"When you watch TV in the evening, it seems like there are MIKA and ELTON JOHN spots in every commercial break," he explains. "This achievement with DIMMU BORGIR is exactly what everybody in this business is striving for: release good records that sell well, and when you reach No. 1 it's just perfect."

DIMMU BORGIR was originally formed in the early '90s in the small Norwegian city Jessheim. Vegard Jensen, who runs the Jessheim branch of the Norwegian record-store chain Free Record Shop, reports that local support for "In Sorte Diaboli" runs high. "It's just too bad I didn't stock more records, because I ran out today (Monday, May 7)," he says. "Since DIMMU is from around here it's natural that they sell a lot of records, but with the album they've produced they deserve to sell a lot of records."

DIMMU BORGIR's "Death Cult Armageddon" has sold 18,000 copies in Norway to date, according to Faro Journalen.

For more information (in Norwegian),visit www.farojournalen.no.

(Thanks: Asbjørn Slettemark / Faro Journalen)