Olve Eikemo (born 27 June 1973
), better known by his stage name Abbath Doom Occulta or simply Abbath, is a Norwegian
musician best known as a founding member of the
black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...
band
Immortal
Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life.
Immortal or Immortality may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film
* ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film ''The Wisdom of ...
. Before founding Immortal, Abbath performed with
Old Funeral
Old Funeral was a black/death metal band from Bergen, Norway.
History
Old Funeral was one of the first bands to form in the Norwegian extreme metal scene, formed in 1988. By 1992, the band had already dissolved. Since the breakup, many members ( ...
alongside future Immortal member
Demonaz. While working with Old Funeral, he also joined Demonaz's band Amputation which later became Immortal. He also plays bass in Demonaz's eponymous project.
Although he is primarily a guitarist, he is also proficient as a bassist and a drummer, having recorded all drums for Immortal albums ''
Pure Holocaust'' and ''
Battles in the North''. Following his departure from Immortal in 2015, he announced that he would be forming a new band under the
Abbath name.
Early life
Eikemo was born in
Odda
Odda () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county. It was located in southeastern Hordaland c ...
and grew up in Lysefjorden in
Os just outside Bergen in Norway.
As a young boy, he was an avid fan of
hard rock band
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
.
His first heavy metal album was ''
Creatures of the Night
''Creatures of the Night'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982. It was the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to that point. The album was dedicated to the memo ...
'', which made him feel "immortal". He started his musical career with the band
Old Funeral
Old Funeral was a black/death metal band from Bergen, Norway.
History
Old Funeral was one of the first bands to form in the Norwegian extreme metal scene, formed in 1988. By 1992, the band had already dissolved. Since the breakup, many members ( ...
.
He cites getting his first
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...
video and his first
Bathory album as the moment where "that was it" in his musical development.
Projects
Immortal
Immortal's history began in 1989 as death metal band Amputation. At various times throughout Immortal's existence, Abbath was lead vocalist, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, and lyricist, mainly due to the inconsistent line-ups they were able to put together. For a long time, however, Abbath served the band as vocalist, bassist and (studio) drummer while Demonaz played lead guitar. It was not until
Horgh
Horgh (born Reidar Horghagen, 7 May 1971) is a Norwegian drummer, formerly for Norwegian black metal band Immortal from 1996 to 2022 and Swedish death metal band Hypocrisy from 2004 until April 2022.
Career
Horgh joined Immortal in 1996, bring ...
arrived that Immortal was able to secure a steady line-up, but problems continued. After the release of ''
Blizzard Beasts'' in 1997, Demonaz was diagnosed with
acute tendinitis, and was consequently forced to quit as guitarist, but remained as lyricist and band manager. They released ''
At the Heart of Winter
''At the Heart of Winter'' is the fifth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on February 22, 1999 through Osmose Productions. It is the first Immortal album not to feature Demonaz on guitar, as he suffered from acut ...
'' in 1999, this time with Abbath handling guitar and bass, with Horgh still on drums. This album marks a large shift in sound and style for the music of Immortal. In 2000 they released ''
Damned in Black
''Damned in Black'' is the sixth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on March 27, 2000 through Osmose Productions, making it their last album released through their long-time collaboration with the French record la ...
'', with Iscariah on bass. ''
Sons of Northern Darkness
''Sons of Northern Darkness'' is the seventh album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. Musically, it continues the blackened thrash metal style heard on the two previous releases ''At the Heart of Winter'' and '' Damned in Black''. This was t ...
'' was released in 2002, with the same lineup.
Soon after the release of ''Sons of Northern Darkness'', Immortal ceased to exist. The break-up was not caused by tensions or problems, but was rather a mutual one between all members, who claimed to do this for personal reasons.
In early June 2006, it was announced through the German ''Rock Hard'' magazine that Abbath and Horgh would reunite as Immortal. They began practicing old material. In regard to when Immortal would start playing live again, Abbath said:
They began to tour again, recently playing shows at
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are ...
in Germany, and touring for the first time in Australia and New Zealand in March 2008. The newest Immortal album ''
All Shall Fall'' was released in September 2009 in Europe with a US release following a month later.
I
In 2006, Abbath started a new band called simply "
I". Abbath is the
frontman and
guitarist of I and is joined by former Immortal drummer Armagedda on drums,
Gorgoroth
Gorgoroth is a Norwegian black metal band based in Bergen. It was formed in 1992 by guitarist Infernus, who is also the only original member remaining, and the band have since released nine studio albums. Gorgoroth are a Satanic band and have ...
bassist
King ov Hell on bass,
Enslaved guitarist Arve Isdal on guitars, and former Immortal guitarist Demonaz writing lyrics. The debut album called ''
Between Two Worlds'' was released in 2006.
ABBATH
After Abbath split with Immortal in 2015, he formed another band,
Abbath, taking advantage of his already popular name in the black metal music industry. The band released their first album in early 2016, and played live for the first time at
Tuska Open Air 2015.
Bömbers
Bömbers is a
Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
tribute band formed in 1996. The band consists of Abbath on lead vocals and bass, Tore (ex-
Old Funeral
Old Funeral was a black/death metal band from Bergen, Norway.
History
Old Funeral was one of the first bands to form in the Norwegian extreme metal scene, formed in 1988. By 1992, the band had already dissolved. Since the breakup, many members ( ...
) on guitars, and Pez (Punishment Park) on drums. During the
Inferno Metal Festival
Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival that takes place every year during Easter in Oslo, Norway. The festival was founded by Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland in cooperation with Radar Booking in 2001 and takes place at Rocke ...
2007, Abbath joined the German
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
Sodom on stage and performed a cover of Motörhead's "
Ace of Spades
The Ace of Spades (also known as the Spadille and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards in English-speaking countries. The actual value of the card varies from game to game.
Design
The orn ...
".
Equipment
As of 2015, Abbath is an endorsee of Schecter Guitars. A signature model was released, called the RavenDark V, in 2017.
*
Schecter RavenDark V FR Abbath signature model
*Schecter Hellraiser Hybrid C-1
*Schecter
Gary Holt V-1
*LTD V-401DX (with Seymour Duncan pickups)
*LTD DV8-R (modified to accept a
Floyd Rose tremolo system)
*GHL Jackson
Randy Rhoads copy
Abbath uses an ENGL Ritchie Blackmore Signature E650 amp through either
direct line in or a
Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
cabinet.
In popular culture
The character Lars
Ümlaüt from the ''
Guitar Hero
''Guitar Hero'' is a series of music rhythm game video games first released in November 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs ...
'' series of video games features much of the same clothing Abbath wears, and nearly identical
corpse paint. The reference is more apparent in ''
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock'', as Ümlaüt's hair is jet black (rather than blonde) just like Abbath.
Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas has a character similar to Abbath on the label of their
Imperial stout
Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout.
The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...
.
Discography
Immortal
* ''
Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism
''Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on 1 July 1992 through Osmose Productions. It is the only album to feature Armagedda on drums.
Release
The album was issued as ...
'' (1992)
* ''
Pure Holocaust'' (1993)
* ''
Battles in the North'' (1995)
* ''
Blizzard Beasts'' (1997)
* ''
At the Heart of Winter
''At the Heart of Winter'' is the fifth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on February 22, 1999 through Osmose Productions. It is the first Immortal album not to feature Demonaz on guitar, as he suffered from acut ...
'' (1999)
* ''
Damned in Black
''Damned in Black'' is the sixth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on March 27, 2000 through Osmose Productions, making it their last album released through their long-time collaboration with the French record la ...
'' (2000)
* ''
Sons of Northern Darkness
''Sons of Northern Darkness'' is the seventh album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. Musically, it continues the blackened thrash metal style heard on the two previous releases ''At the Heart of Winter'' and '' Damned in Black''. This was t ...
'' (2002)
* ''
All Shall Fall'' (2009)
I
* ''
Between Two Worlds'' (2006)
Abbath
* ''
Abbath'' (2016)
* ''
Outstrider'' (2019)
* ''Dread Reaver'' (2022)
Dimmu Borgir
* ''
Death Cult Armageddon
''Death Cult Armageddon'' is the sixth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released on 9 September 2003. It has since sold over 100,000 copies in the United States; the first album under Nuclear Blast to do so; and ...
'' (2003) - backing vocals on "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" and "Heavenly Perverse"
Enslaved
*
Isa (2004) - backing vocals on "Lunar Force"
The Battalion
* Stronghold Of Men (2008) - backing vocals on "Detonate" and "Man To Man (Warfare)"
References
{{Authority control
1973 births
Living people
Norwegian heavy metal bass guitarists
Norwegian male bass guitarists
Norwegian black metal musicians
Norwegian heavy metal drummers
Male drummers
Norwegian heavy metal guitarists
Norwegian heavy metal singers
Norwegian multi-instrumentalists
Musicians from Os, Hordaland
Black metal singers
20th-century Norwegian male singers
21st-century Norwegian male singers
21st-century Norwegian singers
20th-century bass guitarists
21st-century Norwegian guitarists
20th-century drummers
21st-century Norwegian drummers
Immortal (band) members
Old Funeral members
21st-century Norwegian bass guitarists
I (band) members
Abbath (band) members
Musicians from Odda