DIMMU BORGIR – Inspiratio Profanus

Well-known Norwegian symphonic black metallers Dimmu Borgir came upon the idea of recording and releasing an album consisting entirely of covers, which immediately piqued my interest simply because the idea of these guys doing something like that seemed like a fun thing to listen to.

Clocking in at roughly 32 minutes, the record is rather short and concise in that it does not outstay its welcome, and for the most part it actually is quite entertaining. Having said that, it lacks consistency and flow with respect to quality and substance, and some tracks are simply much more engaging, powerful, and potently delivered than others. The slightly more adventurous and surprising choices such as ‘Metal Heart’ (Accept), ‘Burn in Hell’ (Twisted Sister), ‘Dead Men Don’t Rape’ (G.G.F.H.), and the grand-sounding epic that is ‘Perfect Strangers’ (Deep Purple) are undoubtedly the highlights to these ears. The explosive rendition of the immortal ‘Black Metal’ (Venom) is impressive and confident too whereas ‘Satan My Master’ (Bathory) and ‘Nocturnal Fear’ (Celtic Frost) are neither particularly intoxicating nor rousing. The sound of the record is more raw and unpolished than I had anticipated, and I dig the more bare-boned production values and the fact that Inspiratio Profanus comes across as almost minimalistic compared to the band’s latter-day releases.  

In terms of longevity this is not necessarily an album that you will find yourself coming back to again and again, but it is certainly not without its merits and there is something refreshing about the whole project and Dimmu Borgir interpreting these classic tunes. Yeah, I must admit that I had fun with this one.