Silenoz (born Sven Atle Kopperud, 1 March 1977) is a Norwegian

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themsel ...

who is a founding member, along with Shagrath and

Tjodalv Tjodalv (born Ian Kenneth Åkesson in 1976) is a Norwegian drummer. He is a founding member of both Dimmu Borgir and Old Man's Child. He now plays in Black Comedy and Susperia. Tjodalv played guitar on the first Dimmu Borgir albums ''Inn i evigh ...

, of the Norwegian

symphonic black metal Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. Notable symphonic black metal bands include Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and Carach Angren. History ...

band

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, ...

of which he is the primary songwriter. He is also guitarist for the death metal supergroup, Insidious Disease.

Biography

Silenoz has been Dimmu Borgir's guitarist since they started. He also composes and writes lyrics for most of the band's songs. He contributes vocals (on " Stormblåst", its re-record, and "

Godless Savage Garden ''Godless Savage Garden'' is a compilation album by Norwegian black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released in 1998 by Nuclear Blast and re-released on 3 October 2006 with 2 bonus tracks. The first four tracks were recorded during the ''Enthron ...

") and bass (on " Stormblåst MMV"). He also sang lead vocals on their debut album " For All Tid". At first, he was known only as Erkekjetter Silenoz (''Arch-Heretic Silenoz'' in Norwegian). Another band Silenoz, or "Ed Damnator" as he was called, played rhythm guitar and occasional bass in was the Norwegian

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band, " Nocturnal Breed". Before becoming a musician Silenoz used to work in a kindergarten. Silenoz has written the majority of

's lyrics and also based the songs in the album In Sorte Diaboli on a narrative of his composition. Silenoz was featured as a voice actor in the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

cartoon Metalocalypse. This episode kicked off the second season of the popular show and debuted on Adult Swim Fix on Friday 21 September 2007. Silenoz originally played bass, but he 'felt limited by only four strings'. He has played guitar since 1991, saying that he was inspired to play the guitar by Judas Priest, Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen - in his words 'Real guitar players'. For many years as guitarist in Dimmu Borgir, Silenoz appeared with long hair. However, as of 2012 he has appeared with a shaven head whilst maintaining a beard and various piercings.

Stage name

Silenoz explained in an interview that his stage-name is derived from an alternative Latinised spelling of the Greek " Silenus," the name of a satyr-like being in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...

who was a tutor to the wine god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

, and was said to possess special knowledge and the power of prophecy while intoxicated. In the early days of the band, he used as stage name Erkekjetter Silenoz (''erkekjetter'' being Norwegian for "arch heretic"), having it shortened later to Silenoz.

Equipment

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

Okkultist Custom V guitars (Maroon & Natural Finishes) *

SV Series guitars *

Viper guitar *

Jackson Guitars Jackson is a manufacturer of electric guitars and electric bass guitars that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson. The company was acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2002, which manufactures Jackson-branded guita ...

(formerly) * Seymour Duncan pickups * EMG Pickups (formerly) *

Marshall amplifiers Marshall is a British company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, speaker cabinets, brands personal headphones and earphones, drums and bongos. The company also owns a record label called Marshall Records. It was founded in London ...

Mesa Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a ...

amplifiers *

ENGL Engl or Engl. may refer to: * England, a country that is part of the United Kingdom *English * Engl (surname), a German surname *Engl., taxonomic abbreviation for botanist Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1 ...

amplifiers * Blackstar amplifiers *

Boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

guitar effects *Dean Markley - Blue Steel guitar strings * Dunlop Tortex picks *

Shure Shure Incorporated is an American audio products corporation. It was founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a consumer and professional audio-electronics manufacturer of mi ...

wire-less systems

Videography

* ''Behind the Player: Dimmu Borgir'' (DVD, 2010, Alfred Music Publishing)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silenoz 1972 births Living people People from Nannestad Dimmu Borgir members Rhythm guitarists Norwegian male bass guitarists Norwegian black metal musicians Norwegian heavy metal guitarists Norwegian heavy metal singers Norwegian male singers Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Norwegian rock guitarists Norwegian rock singers Norwegian songwriters Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Norwegian bass guitarists