He actually started out as their drummer, but switched places with Ole Jørgen Moe when they became aware of his singing abilities.

[citation needed] In 1995, he was on tour with the avant-garde metal band Ved Buens Ende and performed the supporting vocals.

According to an interview, Borknagar was set to tour Europe with Mayhem, about the same time he would be in the studio to record with Dimmu Borgir.

[1] Most recently, Hestnæs lent his voice to the animated television program, Metalocalypse, in the episode "Dethdoubles" as well as "Dethwedding" and "Dethcarraldo".

According to a Myspace post (in late August 2009) by Mustis, the keyboardist of Dimmu Borgir, both he and Vortex had been fired from the band.

The album features Asgeir Mickelson on drums (ex-Borknagar), and some guitar solos by Terje "Cyrus" Andersen.

The live band will include Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland, and Steinar Gundersen from Spiral Architect on bass.