Dimmu Borgir : Abrahadabra

Released on September 24, 2010 in Germany, September 27, 2010 for the rest of Europe, and October 12, 2010 in North America

"Abrahadabra", loosely translated as "I will create as I speak", was created by author Aleister Crowley in his work, Liber AL vel Legis, or The Book of the Law. This album is the second in the band's repertoire to deviate from the traditional three-word title. Silenoz explained, ""[It made] a lot of sense for us to move on from that. It has served its purpose. We are a band that's all about change and moving forward. An album title consisting of one word goes hand-in-hand with the new material." In addition, Silenoz referenced the changes in the band's "musical and lyrical content", as well as changes in the band's line-up playing a role.

Into Odem Arcarum...Whatever That Is

I was looking through some posts on No Clean Singing earlier when I came across a piece on Odem Arcarum, a progressive black outfit from Germany. The album art featured in the post caught my eye, as did the genre description: I'm almost always willing to lend an ear to anything that might push the genre envelope in some different dimensions.

The two songs that Odem Arcarum posted on their MySpace page don't disappoint, either. A total of about 18 minutes of music unfolds over the two tracks, combining pretty much all of the black metal textures you could think of: blast beats and tremolo picking, rhythms with odd and interesting accents, clean arpeggios echoing out of damp and dripping caves, mechanical-sounding voice effects favored by Shagrath from Dimmu Borgir, echoing whispers and enunciated screams. Odem Arcarum's selections don't seem to fall very far outside of the playbook for progressive black metal - it's clear, for example, that they really like Emperor - but I'm still drawn to what they're doing and want to hear more. It seems No Clean Singing had it right with the summation in their review: "...it’s easy to get lost in everything about this powerful album, and we highly recommend it."

The Trials of Uncool

While putting together the source material (aka, "watching the show") for my latest review (review here, photos here), I had my second-ever encounter with what I like to call the "my publication's not cool enough" syndrome. To be honest, the syndrome is an underlying current in all of my comped tickets because I tend to get attached to the guest lists of opening bands - in the case of this show, I enjoyed myself courtesy of Kataklysm - but it really expresses itself when it comes to photographing headliners. As it turns out, not every band is as psyched to have someone from About.com take pictures of them as I would hope, so twice in the past seven months - first with Megadeth and now with Dimmu Borgir, I had the pleasure of being barred from the photographer's well by the main act. As I result, every time I pack up my camera, I think, "will tonight be another night where I won't get to shoot the whole show because we're not cool enough? Will I chose to take pictures from the audience like every other fan, or just cut my losses?" Tough dilemmas, my friends, tough dilemmas indeed.

"Not being cool enough" is an odd feeling because after six shows, I'm starting to recognize certain photographers by sight; guys who clearly work for major metal publications because of their large cameras and consistent photo access. Even though I've never talked to any of these guys, the cool guys who can take pictures of any on they want, I feel a little intimidated: do they notice? Will they somehow take advantage of my lesser status by blocking me out of a key shot in a (sometimes over-) crowded well? Does it really matter, because they're professionals and I'm just an amateur exploring a hobby? The rational consciousness shrugs off, the irrational subconscious thinks about a little too much to be healthy.

The other half of the story is that the "not cool enough" syndrome is a little irrational. About.com is the biggest website you've started to hear of, with millions of visitors each month; so why doesn't it get the respect of major metal magazine when it comes to photo passes? The problem is perception, I'm sure; those millions of visitors tend not to be in the right demographic, so About.com doesn't have the same presence in the metal landscape as a Kerrang! or Metal Maniacs despite having many, many more readers as a whole. Fixing that perception will take a lot of work and isn't really something I can control, but that doesn't stop me from dreaming - and fearing - every time I pick up a camera.