Well, Dimmu Borgir are back, well sort of, with a covers album appropriately titled: ‘’Inspiratio Profanus’’, their first release in over 5 years. This is a compilation of covers recorded throughout their 30-year career with a few new songs. They announced this release a few weeks back with a big reveal on their website and a lot of people were disappointed that it was not a new album. They obviously have not done much studio work in the last decade and a half and have fallen into subtle obscurity pretty much.

You would think that fans would be happy to see the Symphonic Black Metal band back in action with something new, but they have been the subject of online backlash because most of these cover songs were already included as B-Sides to other releases, so I guess fans felt a bit slighted? Didn’t Megadeth do the same thing back in 1995 with ‘’Hidden Treasures’’ and no one bat an eye when they did that? Give them credit because they are releasing something new and at least you don’t need to buy the Japanese versions of albums or Eps to get these songs, they all come in one elegant package!

I can understand some part of the criticism but I think it’s pretty interesting to have these all together and also at the same time, take a gander at bands that have inspired their 30-year journey. I honestly didn’t know that they did covers and I have followed their career on and off for the last 2 decades so I think this was a pretty nice surprise, especially the bands they chose to cover, it’s all over the place. I was not expecting some bands yet some bands felt logical to cover when you really think about it.

When I was younger, the word ‘’Profane’’ met more than one thing to me. I knew it was related to something more satanic, devilish, and evil but also I thought it meant profound as well. So in this case, I think both apply so well to these songs. You have the profound impact of bands on their style and you have the bands that jumpstarted the Black Metal movement in the early 80’s. So it’s a nice mash-up of bands that have influenced them in more ways than one.

Things start off with Venom’s Black Metal, a fitting choice if there ever was one! The godfathers of the genre have influenced generations of bands in the genre so this was a logical cover song. Dimmu Borgir did a great job covering the classic, not diverting too much from the original yet the musicianship is a lot better than Venom. Venom didn’t know much about their instruments back then and weren’t that proficient yet this was a masterful entry in a genre they created!

Things get in the same groove with the second song, ‘’Satan My Master’’, by Bathory. Another classic band of the genre, Dimmu Borgir elaborates a masterclass by covering this song and bringing it up one notch. Obviously, it’s not easy to reach those notes Quorthon screams yet Shagrath does an adequate job. It’s a natural follow-up to the Venom classic so nothing is random in the order of the songs on this EP.

Next up is GGFH’s ‘’Dead Men Don’t Rape’’. I had no clue who this band was before listening to this new release. They are an Oakland-based Industrial Metal band so this was quite a surprise to see Dimmu Borgir covering them but it shows the world what they can do out of their element. I was able to track down the original, GGFH sounds like a more aggressive version of Front Line Assembly. Dimmu does a damn good job covering it, it feels quite natural and they go outside the box on this one.

Well, it makes sense to cover the incredible Celtic Frost. They are covering ‘’Nocturnal Fear’’, it’s from one of the most influential Black Metal albums ever, ‘’Morbid Tales’’. They actually covered another version of this song at the end of this EP, which was kind of weird honestly. I don’t really know why they did that, they could have covered something else, it’s not the epic climax I was expecting at the end of ‘’Inspiratio Profanus’’. They did a great job covering the classic Celtic Frost song, it’s the most accurate cover of this EP, they really made them proud.

Now you get two great covers of bands I had no clue influenced them, Accept and Twisted Sister. You rarely hear any band covering these two legendary bands, other than Anthrax that did ‘’Destroyer’’ like 15 years ago and as for Accept, you don’t see covers in the wild that often, though, I know Rage did an awesome job on ‘’Fast as a Shark’’ but that was back in 1992!

I was pleasantly surprised that they were able to cover these two bands. Two Hard Rock and Metal bands that have created timeless music and never really got the respect they deserved. Dimmu Borgir go out of their way to make these versions stand out. I mean Shagrath belts out the song with such passion and adds his personal touch with the harsh vocals so these songs are pretty much completely transformed yet you had the magic of the original vibes.

Now we come to the first single off of this new release, ‘’Perfect Strangers’’ by Deep Purple. Now you got my attention! The symphonic elements present in a lot of what Deep Purple have done in their 50-year career have influenced so many bands out there, in every genre imaginable. On this song in particular, Jon Lord does an incredible job with the arrangements and it’s such a powerful song. It feels like an orchestra is playing the song with them and you can clearly see the orchestral/symphonic elements that Dimmu Borgir have taken from them. This is a prime example of Dimmu Borgir integrating this into their music and making it a big part of their sound. Shagrath sounds like a mix of Michael Kiske (Helloween) and Geoff Tate (Queensryche) and shows off some impressive chops! I was blown away but the quality of his clean vocals and showed me he was not a one-trick pony.

“Inspiratio Profanus” might be a rehash of old releases but the fact of the matter is this is a great compilation of songs, varying styles, and bands from all over the world with Dimmu Borgir adding their own unique twist on them. I may have wanted a new album but a cover album is not something we see much nowadays in the Metal world so this was a refreshing take. They show the world what they can do outside of their realm and how bands can take influence from any genre to create and forge their own sound without sounding a pale comparison.