"We never do half-and-half projects."

Norwegian symphonic black metal masters Dimmu Borgir shall release a brand-new DVD, entitled "The Invaluable Darkness", on October 14, 2008. We got in touch with the band's guitars, main lyricist and founding member Sven Atle Kopperud a.k.a. Silenoz to find out more about it...

Vassil Varbanov: The idea to have you with us on the radio today is this upcoming Dimmu Borgir double DVD called "The Invaluable Darkness". To what extent can a band like you be excited about a DVD release?

Silenoz: I'd say we're very excited, because it's been quite a few years since our first official DVD back in 2002, so the fans have been waiting for a new one, and so were we.

V. V.: What shall we see in the new DVD? Is it just the band playing live, or videos, or what?

S.: Of course there are the videos we've done so far, and quite a lot of other material. You'll get to see the band in at least three different settings and... I think it's safe to say that it's value for money.

V. V.: We know Shagrath is working hard with his rock'n'roll side project Chrome Division. Are you, Silenoz, thinking of doing something alike?

S.: Yes, I actually already have an album written and recorded for a band called Insidious Disease. We're just looking to find a suitable record label to release it. We should probably have it out by the beginning of 2009.

V. V.: We heard you're planning to start writing the new Dimmu Borgir studio album soon, right?

S.: I hope so. First we're going to do a U.S. tour in support of the DVD release in October and November with Danzig. I hope that when we get back from that tour, we'll get everything settled and do arrangements for the new stuff.

V. V.: You've never played in Bulgaria so far, but I'm sure this will happen sooner or later...

S.: Yeah, I surely hope so. There are several countries that we still haven't been to, and we really wanna go and play there. We know there are quite a lot of fans in Bulgaria, so if the opportunity is there and everything is properly done, we'll show up.
V. V.: Metal Hammer Magazine quoted you saying that you might work with Max Cavalera on the production of the next Dimmu Borgir album. Is this true?

S.: I've never said that, ha-ha!

V. V.: In the same magazine Anthrax's drummer Charlie Benante is saying very good words about you, and that he's currently having Dimmu Borgir on his CD player and is amazed by the complexity of your sound. To what extent have you guys been involved in friendship with other musicians?

S.: The more you play live and especially at festivals, you get in touch with people that you grew up listening to when you were a kid, like Charlie and Scott from Anthrax - they're fans of ours, and Anthrax was a band that we grew up listening to... It's kind of funny to see how the circle comes back.

V. V.: I remember that before recording your previous album, "Death Cult Armageddon", you used the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, but there were also some very advanced talkings with a Bulgarian orchestra. Were you aware of this or it was a manager's decision?

S.: It's always the band that makes the final decisions. Back then we went with the Prague philharmonics, because they'd been loosely attached to metal before, so we figured we'll work with them and it turned out really well. It seems that lately they've got a lot more work, because there are more metal bands who want to use them.

V. V.: Ok, is there anything you'd like to add about your forthcoming DVD?

S.: I don't want to say too much about it, because I want people to see for themselves. I'll only say that we're really happy about it, and we never do half-and-half projects, so even if you're not a huge fan of the band, you'll enjoy it a lot.

V. V.: Finally, one of our best friends here at the radio, Billy Gould, went up to Norway last year to present you the Norwegian Grammy Award. Do you remember that moment?

S.: It obviously was weird, because metal bands are not used to receiving gold albums, but at the end of the day it showed that metal music is to be reckoned with in the future.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock