against Dimmu Borgir", and he wished Hestnæs the best; Hestnæs then stated that had he not gotten the ultimatum, he would still be in Borknagar to this day. Hestnæs first contributed on the recording of Spiritual Black Dimensions by adding a new vocal element: his own "clean" and "operatic" singing which added a new element to Dimmu Borgir as a band. Hestnæs stepped in as session bass guitarist when Nagash left the band to fully concentrate on The Kovenant; he was, until late August 2009, the permanent replacement on bass and a full member of Dimmu Borgir. In 2005, Hestnæs became Arcturus' new singer following the departure of both Garm in 2003, and Spiral Architect's Øyvind Hægeland in 2005. Hægeland departed from the band due to the distance he lived from the other band members and Hestnæs took over as lead vocalist for the band, making it the second band in which Hestnæs would be the successor to Garm as vocalist. In September 2005, the band released their fourth full-length album, and first full-length without Garm on vocals, Sideshow Symphonies, which was met with varying acclaim. In 2005, Hestnæs was voted one of the top ten vocalists in Terrorizer Magazine and Arcturus was voted among the ten best live acts of 2005. Sideshow Symphonies was also ranked among the top ten albums of the year in the magazine. In 2007, at a concert in Melbourne, Australia, Hestnæs stated that the concert would be Arcturus' last show. On 17 April, the band officially announced they had disbanded. 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 have been fired from the band. Vortex later stated he will remember the days before the greed and music industry took over Dimmu Borgir. He also stated he has an interest in reviving "a band or three". He is currently scheduled to meet with Lamented Souls in mid-September about a new album. In 2010, it was announced Hestnæs would be returning to Borknagar as a live member on bass and vocals. Furthermore, Arcturus would be resurrected to headline the ProgPower USA festival in 2011. Hestnæs released his first solo album in 2011, entitled Storm Seeker. The album features Asgeir Mickelson on drums