Harald Nævdal (born 6 July 1970), known by his stage name Demonaz Doom Occulta, or simply Demonaz, is a Norwegian musician best known as the founding

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 themselv ...

and chief

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

for the

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

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 ...

Career

In Immortal, he is known for his lyrics which, unconventionally for black metal, focus on icy landscapes and a fictional land called

Blashyrkh Immortal is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen. The group was founded in 1991 by frontman and guitarist Abbath Doom Occulta (Olve Eikemo) and guitarist Demonaz Doom Occulta (Harald Nævdal). The pair worked with various drummers (includi ...

. The story of Blashyrkh is gradually told throughout Immortal's albums. When writing lyrics he often takes long walks in the Norwegian countryside near his hometown of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

for inspiration. He was known for his simplistic but extremely fast guitar parts which always featured

power chords A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on amp ...

. He and

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Abbath 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 band Immortal. Before founding Immortal, Abbath performed with Old ...

comprised the core of Immortal in its early years, with other members fluctuating and little stability until drummer

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, bringin ...

joined the band in 1997. Demonaz played guitar on the albums ''

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 ...

'', ''

Pure Holocaust ''Pure Holocaust'' is the second album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on November 1, 1993, on Osmose Productions. It is generally faster sounding than its predecessor ''Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism''. The lyrics focus mai ...

'' and ''

Battles in the North ''Battles in the North'' is the third studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on May 15, 1995 through Osmose Productions. It picks up where its predecessor, '' Pure Holocaust'', left off, featuring extreme tempos, low- ...

'', with his last musical contribution to Immortal being the 1997 album ''

Blizzard Beasts ''Blizzard Beasts'' is the fourth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on March 20, 1997 through Osmose Productions. It is the last Immortal album to feature the performance of founding member Demonaz Doom Occulta ...

''. That same year, he was diagnosed with acute

tendinopathy Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis el ...

and could no longer play guitar at the speed required for Immortal. Instead, he continued to write lyrics for the band and often took the role of manager. He often accompanied the band on tour and was still seen by Abbath, Horgh and Apollyon as a member of the band. After having surgery to correct his tendinitis in 2013, he was able to play guitar again and has returned to that role in the band since Abbath's departure. Demonaz has appeared in all of

's music videos, including the music video for

All Shall Fall ''All Shall Fall'' is the eighth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal (band), Immortal. The album was released in Europe on 25 September 2009 and in the US on 6 October 2009. It is the only album to feature bassist Ole Moe, Apolly ...

, which was released in September 2010. Demonaz has started a band called Demonaz where he is the vocalist. The band also includes most of the members of the band I. He wrote the lyrics for the I album '' Between Two Worlds''. He has released his debut album, ''

March of the Norse ''March of the Norse'' is the debut studio album by Demonaz, released in 2011 through Nuclear Blast. Track listing Personnel * Demonaz - vocals * Ice Dale - guitars & bass * Armagedda - drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap s ...

'', in April/May 2011. On 31 May 2016, according to Immortal's official Facebook page, Demonaz was officially announced as the band's new lead singer following the departure of Abbath in 2015.

Discography

With Immortal

Played on

* ''

'' (1992) - guitar * ''

'' (1993) - guitar * ''

'' (1995) - guitar * ''

'' (1997) - guitar * ''

Northern Chaos Gods ''Northern Chaos Gods'' is the ninth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. The album was released on 6 July 2018. This is the first album after the departure of Abbath from the band and their first studio album in almost nine years ...

'' (2018) - vocals, guitar

Lyrics only

* ''

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 th ...

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2009)

Solo

* Demo (2007) * ''

(2011)''

With I

* '' Between Two Worlds'' (2006)

With Amputation

* Achieve The Mutilation (Demo) (1989) * Slaughtered in the arms of God (Demo) (1990)

External links

Official website of Immortal

1970 births Living people Norwegian black metal musicians Norwegian heavy metal guitarists Black metal guitarists Norwegian songwriters Musicians from Bergen Demonaz Immortal (band) members Old Funeral members 21st-century Norwegian guitarists {{Songwriter-stub