Finland's Imhotep spoke to DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Silenoz recently about a number of topics including their new album, In Sorte Diaboli, and the band's criticism towards Christianity. A few excerpts follow:

Imhotep: It is a known fact that from day one Dimmu Borgir has always been critical towards Christianity. These days the Holy Bible is questioned everywhere, take The Da-Vinci Code for example, adding fuel to the fire. Is Dimmu Borgir on an identical mission?

Silenoz: “Yes, and we hope that people have thoughts and are conscious on these matters. Too many people of today are lazy, they don’t question religion nor other subjects. I can’t be narrowminded and accept things without raising questions. I do of course accept that others have different opinions, but I have a hard time handling people who have an opinion without any background that can justify their thoughts. If they can’t explain why they are Christians, I can’t see any reason to pay respect to them. I am able to respect a Christian as a person, but I cannot whatsoever show any respect for his Christianity since I look down on this kind of… nonsense. Why should I respect anything I don’t like? On the other hand, if he or she manages to explain why Christendom is important I can have a good relationship to the person.”

Imhotep: A lot of people say that Christianity is bad due to its history of development (the prejudices, mass murders etc). But here I am, in your coach, getting the impression that there is a deeper meaning behind your opinions.

Silenoz: “The negative aspects of Christianity will continue. Just look at our neighbour in the West. There’s a president who makes decisions with the guidance of religious beliefs. Everyone is able to see how that's going to end. At the same time there are others who resist due to religious conviction, and then it all crashes (we laugh). This is so obvious. It’s strange to witness such a never-ending story…”

Imhotep: Those of us who are not super-Christians (Silenoz laughs) have one thing that we, cynically speaking, can be grateful thanks to Christianity. Due to the inquisition, witchburnings and various other inventions, the population is reduced, without the Chruch the Earth would probably have been overpopulated years ago. So, we can thank the God and his sadists that we manage to have a good life here in Europe. But it seems like Islam is doing its best to become the number one these days…

Silenoz: “Yes, Islam is up there as well. Christendom in itself hasn’t been a real menace in modern times. It seems like the greatest danger comes from the East…”

Imhotep: Why do you choose to spend so much time on a plague named Christianity? You write lyrics, you make music and so on. Silenoz tells a story from when he was just a little metal-kid…

Silenoz: “It all started when I was a little Silenoz. I went to sleeping school (Sunday school) of my own free will, since where I lived there were few kids and this congregation was an opportunity I used to have some social life at the time. I was five or six, and you have to have some friends you know. I remember that there were not that much preaching, there were one hour when the words of the Bible were preached. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it had to do with “no, you can’t do that”-kind of rules. I was six years, and I felt that there was something wrong going on. Since I understood already as a boy that not everything was coherent, well… then there's hope (we laugh). This has been a part of my life ever since, and I guess I've had some unconscious hate that needed to be unleashed somehow. That’s the reason why I can’t write about much else in connection with Dimmu Borgir.”