It's Official: SNOWY SHAW Is The New Bassist/Clean Vocalist For DIMMU BORGIR

As BLABBERMOUTH.NETfirst reported on July 8, Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR have now confirmed that they have tapped Swedish multi-instrumentalist Snowy Shaw (real name: Tommie Helgesson; THERION, DREAM EVIL, KING DIAMOND, MERCYFUL FATE, MEMENTO MORI, NOTRE DAME) to replace bassist/clean vocalist ICS Vortex (real name: Simen Hestnæs) on the band's upcoming album, "Abrahadabra", and world tour.

"Yeehaw! I'm so happy and proud to be in the coolest band on the planet (since KISS [circa] 1976)," Snowy told BLABBERMOUTH.NET.

Shaw (pictured below) announced on July 7 that he was quitting his post as vocalist for Swedish progressive/experimental metallers THERION after four years, two studio albums, live DVDs and numerous tours around the world.

ICS Vortex and keyboardist Mustis (real name: Øyvind Mustaparta) were fired from DIMMU BORGIR in August 2009. The remaining members of the band issued a statement at the time downplaying the impact that ICS Vortex and Mustis' departures would have on the sound of DIMMU BORGIR's next album, insisting that "the creative force in the band is highly intact, perhaps even more so than ever."

In early June, DIMMU BORGIR announced its collaboration with Norwegian composer and Berklee College of Music summa cum laude alumnus Gaute Storaas in addition to the 51 members of KORK (the Norwegian Radio Orchestra) and the 38-member Schola Cantorum Choir. To date, over 101 musicians have contributed to the making of "Abrahadabra", which will be released in Germany on September 24, in the rest of Europe on September 27, and in North America on October 12 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Composer Gaute Storaas has said of DIMMU BORGIR: "Their music is epic, thematic and symphonic already from the creation; they are clearly having an orchestral approach to composing."

The cover artwork for "Abrahadabra" was created by Joachim Luetke (ARCH ENEMY, KREATOR, SOPOR AETERNUS),the German artist / painter / graphic designer who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. Luetke's artwork and layout art also graced two other DIMMU BORGIR albums: 2003's "Death Cult Armageddon", which has sold 130,000 copies in the U.S. (according to Nielsen SoundScan) and debuted at No. 7 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, No. 10 on the Top Independent Albums chart, and No. 170 on The Billboard 200 chart; and 2007's "In Sorte Diaboli", which has sold over 75,000 copies in the U.S. (according to Nielsen SoundScan) and debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top Independent Albums chart and at No. 43 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Gateways", the first single from "Abrahadabra", is available for purchase via iTunes.

The word "abrahadabra" (which roughly translates into "I will create as I speak") first publicly appeared in Chapter III of "Liber AL vel Legis" (commonly referred to as "The Book of the Law") written by Aleister Crowley in Cairo, Egypt in 1904.

"Abrahadabra" track listing:

01. Xibir (2:50)
02. Born Treacherous (5:02)
03. Gateways (5:10)
04. Chess With The Abyss (4:08)
05. Dimmu Borgir (5:35)
06. Ritualist (5:13)
07. The Demiurge Molecule (5:29)
08. A Jewel Traced Through Coal (5:16)
09. Renewal (4:11)
10. Endings And Continuations (5:58)