DIMMU BORGIR Guitarist Rejects 'Sellout' Accusations

DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Silenoz recently spoke to The Grand Rapids Press about the group's main-stage slot on this summer's Ozzfest and their status as the most visible representative of the European black metal scene. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

On criticism from their peers that they've sold out:

Silenoz: "It was never the intention or motivation to make money on the music, or we would never have played this style of music. That in itself is a huge achievement. Other people can bitch and moan as much as they want, but we're here, and they're not, so they can all (expletive) off."

On recording "Death Cult Armageddon" (2003) with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, prompting comparisons to movie soundtracks as grandiose as John Williams' "Star Wars":

Silenoz: "We take pride in the traditional black metal attitude and mythology, but we have never been really a straightforward black metal band. Ever since we started, we always felt like underdogs, and that's good motivation to not sound like anyone else.

"We've always felt that, whatever we come up with that sounds cool, we use it and try to incorporate it with the traditional stuff as well.

"As we evolve, everything gets more and more varied -- and that's good, especially for us as musicians, because it's more challenging."

On DIMMU BORGIR's lyrical approach:

Silenoz: "It's cool that people have their own opinion about (the subject matter),and ask questions about it. Especially with the religious aspect of the world -- people just go along with whatever is said and told, and don't ask questions about things. Especially in Scandinavia and Norway, we've had Christianity shoved down our throats for 1,000 years, and, for some of us, that's something we feel is totally wrong."

On being signed to an "indie", the Germany-based metal label Nuclear Blast Records:

"We'd rather be a priority at a smaller, independent, full-on-metal label than at a major label that doesn't have the same (worldwide) distribution. We're really happy with where we are at the moment."