Zitat:Just before the kick-off of The Blackest Of The Black tour in the USA, with Danzig and others, Norwegian Dimmu Borgir releases a new DVD: ”˜The Invaluable Darkness”™, named after the tour from autumn 2007. The package comes out in a great packing and is made out of two DVD”™s and a CD: the CD contains the intimate show at the Norwegian P3 studio, the show of which some songs also made it to the DVD-part.

Core of the package are of course the two DVD-disks, in stereo and surround (choose by the menu): DVD 1 is a registration of last year”™s European tour (which explains the title) and ”˜Behind The Scenes”™-footage, where we get a nice look into the life of Dimmu Borgir off stage and the daily routine while being on the road. This part is a good omen of what the American audience can expect on stage this autumn. DVD 2 is a bit more versatile: a great recording of their 2007 Wacken show (with a different set list), an intimate show in front of just 60 people at the Norwegian P3 studio and the band”™s six videos and some other small things. The CD is, like just mentioned, the full audio version of the P3 show; twelve songs in stead of just the three hits that made it to the DVD footage.

The coverage of ”˜The Invaluable Darkness”™ tour concerns mainly the final show of the leg at the band”™s home base Oslo, added with footage from the shows in Berlin and London. The sound is adequate, although the guitars are a bit much in the background, compared to the drums and especially the keyboards. As you may have read in our interview from last month, the image is every now and then shown as if you are watching a malfunctioning TV-screen; the result of a, at that time, non working US camera of which the band decided to use it nevertheless, be it in an over-the-top malfunctioning mode.
The other part of this disk is a good depicture of the daily life when playing in such a band: not just the long lasting moments on the road (life in a nightliner), but also visits to the ESP-factory and the studio where the band”™s leather clothing is being made or, on the road, being repaired. For those unaware yet: life on the road can be a drag, which leads to jokes and puns not everybody will understand at once. To me, the Dimmu flip flops and the Peter Gabriel version about live drummer Laureano were nice examples of that part of the illustrious life on the road.

The second DVD is a top rendering of the massive show the band did at Wacken 2007. good sound, good visual footage and a well thought of set, which is a bit less orientated at the ”˜In Sorte Diaboli”™ album which cam out in September of that same year. As Silenoz told us, this show was kind of a gamble: due to the huge line-up of Wacken you don”™t have a lot of time to get the sound right. Well, they gambled right because the Wacken footage is in my eyes the best show of the three recorded, giving you a real deal Dimmu Borgir show. The second show on this disc contains three Dimmu Borgir hit songs (the favorites) of a show they did at the Norwegian P3 studio, in front of a selected audience of 60 people or so. No show issues on this one, just the band playing in their stage outfit in front of an intimate stage setting, something you are not likely to see a lot regarding the band”™s current status.
The third main topic concerns the six official videos the band has done so far, in which way you don”™t have to depend on the internet if you want to see one of them. The DVD offers the following songs: ”˜Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse”™, ”˜Vredesbyrd”™, ”˜Sorgens Kammer Del II”™, ”˜The Serpentine Offering”™, ”˜The Sacrilegious Scorn”™ and ”˜The Chosen Legacy”™. Of course you might miss videos like ”˜Mourning Palace”™ and ”˜Arcane Lifeforce Mysteria”™, yet those were more like live videos. What disappoints me a bit, is the footage from the Gold Award show, where the band is being presented a gold disc for the success of their album. On the other hand, such an award is of course a highlight for the band itself regarding public appreciation, so why not those few extra minutes on this disk? And finally there is the almost compulsory gallery part, and those who know the band, will know that there will be some fine theatrical pictures among them.

All in all this ”˜The Invaluable Darkness”™ DVD has turned out to be a nice treat to the fans, both the older, but especially the newer fans. The sound is not always sublime, yet on the other hand very honest, so without studio tricks which often kill the life feeling. Of all footage I have seen from this band, this is the most versatile one. When deal with the question whether it gives an honest display towards the American fans, I can say that I went to both the club tour (in Tilburg in stead of the places where this footage was being shot) and Wacken 2007 are truthful footage of those shows. Of course other bands have come up with even more spectacular DVD”™s, but the band”™s wish to give the fans value for money has been fulfilled: a very honest DVD!