...the "Stormblast" album is a result of natural development musically. Even if the sound is not as good as we wanted to be, it is still a lot better than the sound on the "For All Tid" album. We have also progressed a lot both as songwriters and musicians since our first release. We are very satisfied with the "Stormblast" album and as far as the response goes, it seems that a lot of other people around are also satisfied.
Silenoz / Dimmu Borgir interview, 1997
DIMMU BORGIR released their second album, Stormblåst, on this day in 1996 through Cacophonous Records.
I suppose the reason why Norwegian bands sound different is because we have much more than just riffs in a song. We do things complete in an 'orchestral' way so to say, if you know what I mean. The secret must be that everything that Norwegian bands do is done with the subscription of a true dark feeling, and with that I do not mean the foreign bands are not capable of doing the same, but almost every Norwegian has its own actual feeling, a true spirit of cold and darkness. So I guess the definition of "Norwegian Sound" is not valid, it doesn't exist. Not for us Norwegians anyway.
Silenoz / Dimmu Borgir interview, 1997
One thing that is highly important for us is to show the world our massive hate towards God and the messengers of Christianity. Almost every lyric is written from a Satanic perspective, drawn out of ideas and notions of what we want OUR world to be like. We feel an obligation to represent Satan, the dark and evil side of life - and if we are able to both possess and provoke the other human beings on this earth through our music - together with the written part, which in our case is just as important - we have done exactly what we feel our mission is. But since the lyrics so far have been written in Norwegian, a lot of people have misunderstood and thought that we are a band that sing about the Vikings. Even though I don't blame those who thought so, I still think it is too easy and narrow-minded to jump to a conclusion like that. We have therefore decided to quit writing Norwegian lyrics and instead concentrate on writing them in English, not only because of this matter, but also because we have signed to a bigger label (Nuclear Blast), where we obviously have the opportunity to reach a lot more people and new listeners.
Silenoz / Dimmu Borgir interview, Chronicles of Chaos, 1997