If you caught Dimmu Borgir’s set at last summer’s Tons Of Rock you would have borne witness to the stalwarts of symphonic black metal in triumphant form.
There were the hits – Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse, Mourning Palace, etc – but they also took the opportunity of a festival show on home soil to dig out In Death’s Embrace for the first time in, like, forever.
And it was lots of fun. Now, fun might not be exactly, y’know, on-brand for black metal but as Dimmu co-founder and guitarist Silenoz says, there are no rules.
Speaking to MusicRadar for a video interview you can watch in full below, he says a little open-mindedness goes a long way even if your chosen métier is black metal with a theatrical taste for the apocalyptic.
He has heroes from across the musical spectrum, from ‘80s big beasts such as George Lynch and Chris Holmes in his W.A.S.P. pomp (a player who “plays for the song”), to bona-fide blues guitar royalty.
“Yeah, there’s plenty out there, but for the most part, I take inspiration from all different types of players,” he says. “Steve Ray Vaughan is a huge inspiration – I can’t even play half of what he does! [Laughs] Buy yeah, taking inspiration from different genres and being open-minded is important, I think.”
Of less importance is a musical education in the classical sense. Silenoz argues that one of the reasons the Second Wave black metal bands out of Norway sounded so distinct, was that they all hadn’t come fresh out of Berklee with a postgrad degree.
“A lot of the players were self-taught,” he says. “Some had some music theory, but I think most of us, generally speaking, are self-taught, and I think that also helps all the bands sound different from each other, even if we share the same genre. You can hear Emperor is Emperor, Darkthrone is Darkthrone, Mayhem is Mayhem. I think that it helps to not have too much music theory.”
Elsewhere, Silenoz walks through the features of his custom LTD Okkultist, which is based on his now über-rare signature guitar from the mid ‘00s and explains why he might be exploring all the multi-voiced capabilities of its aftermarket Fishman Fluence electric guitar pickups.
Wait, he hasn’t played clean tones live in aeons? We’re shocked, shocked!
Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Yungblud and more have been confirmed for Tons Of Rock 2026. See Tons Of Rock for ticket details.
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