DIMMU BORGIR Guitarist SILENOZ: 'We've Never Been A Heavily Touring Band'

In a brand new interview with Zombitrol Productions, DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Sven Atle Kopperud (a.k.a. Silenoz) spoke about the relative lack of major touring the band has done in support of its latest LP, 2018's "Eonian".

"Since the album came out up until April of this year, we've done close to 70 shows, which is not really a lot when you consider the stretch [of time]," he said.

"From the outside, it looks like we haven't done that much, and I guess we haven't. We're a touring band, but we've never been a heavily touring band, at least not in the last decade. We're trying not to play just to play. We wanna obviously take it to the next level, and you gotta try and be smart about it. There's so [many] expenses in what we do, just to put on one show.

"Over the years, since we haven't played as much as other bands on the same level, we have made ourselves kind of exclusive in that sense. Once we do put on a tour, it [has] really good attendance. That's the upside of it. But let's say if we were going to put on a run in the U.S, the thing with how it's become so strict with visas, you don't really even know if you're going to get it on time. To have so much at stake, there's so much money involved. There's still a chance to take because how the climate has evolved over the last few years, even the last 2-3 years before we released the latest album, so many changes."

Elaborating specifically on DIMMU BORGIR's absence from North American shores, Silenoz said: "It's just trying to find the right timing, and we had two or three tours lined up for North America, but routing and availability and all these factors [came up] that people don't take into consideration. So that was put on hold, and, of course, with everything now, it's going to be more challenging later on. The main income [for bands] is to play live — doesn't matter what level you're at. That means a lot of competition [for] routing for North America. I hope we can manage to do a proper North American tour, at least for this album, once things are a bit more quiet. I think once things are a little back to normal, people are going to wanna go to shows again. There's gonna be a positive outcome of the situation," referring to the coronavirus music industry shutdown. "I think not this year, but next year, there's gonna be a boom in that area. It's a delicate situation for anyone that is an artist. Whether it's a musician, or actor, or painter, or journalist. The positive thing that I see, I feel that the album is pretty fresh from my perspective."

"Eonian" was released right in time for DIMMU BORGIR's 25th anniversary in 2018, about eight years after its predecessor, "Abrahadabra".

The songwriting core of DIMMU BORGIR still consists of guitarists Silenoz and Galder, along with vocalist Shagrath. They are joined in the band's current lineup by drummer Daray and keyboardist Gerlioz.