While i don't expect there to be many Dimmu Borgir fans out there (perhaps you don't even know what it is) this is one of my favorite bands of all time. They are a symphonic black metal band from Norway and I find their mix of very fast metal combined the beauty of more traditional means (with a choir or brass section or piano) to be like no other.
source
As I am sure you can tell simply by the picture, their music tends to be about evil topics, namely witchcraft, Satanism, and what not. Like many bands, they aren't actually Satanists - it's part gimmick, part just being anti-religion in a general sense.
Anyway, moving on.
Dimmu Borgir has been around for more than 20 years and all along they have been chugging out incredible tunes. However, a massive change in the lineup happened in 2010 and while I still like some of their stuff after that time, it hasn't really been the same since.
source
In early 2010 ICX Vortex (bassist an clean vocals) and Mutis (keyboards) were released from the band. All members have been rather quiet about why this happened but it appears that Mutis was unhappy being uncredited with songs he had written or influenced a great deal. This video of Progenies of the Great Apocalypse is a perfect example of how great they sounded "back in the day" (skip ahead to 1:12 to hear the clean vocals.)
from the Dimmu Borgir official channel
Vortex was guilty of supporting Mutis in this endeavor and also (and this is purely speculation on my part) he was guilty of taking the limelight away from the lead singer, Shagrath. The songs where Vortex performed clean vocals were almost always considered the highlights of every album / live performance.
source
"Shagrath" is no doubt, the main focus of Dimmu Borgir and his lyrical style is like no other... however, it has been said by many of the massive amount of ex-members of this band that he is a control freak and very difficult to work with
When Dimmu Borgir released their first album without Vortex and Mutis entitled Abrahadabra, the sound was noticeably different. It was still better than 90% of the black metal out there, but it simply wasn't the same. There are a couple of good songs on the album but all clean vocals were filled with various guest singers. The music didn't have the soul that it used to. I can honestly say that there are only 2 or 3 songs on that album that I even recognize because for the most part, it isn't very good.
When their 10th album Eonian was released after their longest delay between albums (8 years) it was a massive disappointment. Certain critics raved about it, but the overall opinion was that the album lacked any sort of Dimmu Borgir-ness. I hadn't been this disappointed since they decided to cover Burn in Hell by Twisted Sister.
source
I don't know if it was an attempt to stick it to Vortex and Mutis but starting with the Abrahadabra album they replaced the clean vocals with the Schola Cantorum choir and the keyboards with the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra - this totals more than 100 musicians.
from the Dimmu Borgir official channel
This was the first track released on their latest album. Myself and most other fans agreed that this was not a great song and the addition of an entire choral section instead of one person, is just kinda lame.
When Dimmu Borgir performs live these days they cannot possibly replicate their studio sound at most gigs since doing so incorporates bringing near 100 people with them. Therefore, most of their gigs are heavily filled with backing tracks including ICS Vortex's voice.... and that is just dumb.
you don't normally expect a member of a metal band to be an incredible piano player do ya? Well, listen to this! source
In almost all instances, a person's favorite band can't stay awesome forever. In the case of Dimmu Borgir, I can pinpoint the exact moment where they went downhill as a group and it was the firing / departure of ICS Vortex and Mutis. Based on the extreme changes in sound, i think I believe Mutis when he says he was improperly uncredited with creation of their songs. How else can you explain such a massive shift in overall sound? He pursued legal action against the band, but I have no idea what came of that.
My apologies that this is so long - i'd be surprised if anyone other than 