Immortal is a Norwegian

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 from

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 o ...

. 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 (including Grim, Armagedda and

Hellhammer Hellhammer was a Swiss metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are often r ...

), and were later joined by former 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, bring ...

(Reidar Horghagen) in 1996. In March 2015, long-serving member Abbath announced his departure from the group following a dispute with the other members of the band, and he went on to form a new band under his name called Abbath. It was initially reported that following Abbath's departure, the band would split up. However, In August 2015, Demonaz and Horgh said that the band would continue without Abbath. Demonaz would return to playing guitar with the band for the first time since 1997, and would do vocals as well. ''

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 ...

'' was officially released on 6 July 2018 under

Nuclear Blast Records Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. Although the band has been a trio for most of its history, several albums have been recorded as a duo, with varying combinations of Abbath, Demonaz, and Horgh.

History

First three albums (1991–1996)

Immortal arose from two short-lived bands,

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 ( ...

and Amputation, which were formed by Abbath and others in 1988. Immortal's original lineup consisted of ex-members from both of these bands. Old Funeral was founded by Abbath and Tore (Tore Bratseth), then went through a string of guitarists (including Demonaz,

Varg Vikernes Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian writer and retired musician best known for his early black metal albums and later crimes. His first five records, issued under the name Burz ...

and

Jørn Inge Tunsberg Jørn Inge Tunsberg (born 4 December 1970 in Bergen, Norway) is a death/black metal musician. He lives in Bergen and plays guitar in the black metal band Hades Almighty and the industrial metal band Dominanz. Tunsberg played in the bands Old F ...

) until disbanding in 1992. Demonaz and Jørn formed Amputation, which released two demos with Demonaz on guitar and vocals, Jørn on guitars, and Padden on drums, before disbanding in 1990. Members of Old Funeral and Amputation formed Immortal in 1991, with Abbath on bass and lead vocals, Demonaz on guitar, Jørn on guitar and Armagedda on drums. The music on their early demo recordings was death metal, Michael Moynihan, Didrik Søderlind: '' Lords of Chaos'', First Edition, Feral House 1998, p. 39. with lyrics influenced by

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considered ...

and Possessed.Brad Angle
''Immortal: The Brothers Grim''
In: '' Guitar World''. 2007. The band then became influenced by

Euronymous Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the N ...

and bands like Bathory and Celtic Frost. They released their self-titled EP in 1991, which saw a stylistic change to black metal. This was followed by their debut album ''

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 ...

'' in 1992. Immortal's early full-length releases were in traditional black metal style, but their most acclaimed album, ''

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 ...

'', marks the period when the band began to experiment with a complex fusion of black metal and German thrash metal, resulting in the sound of Immortal's later works. In 1995, the band released two video clips directed by British artist David Palser, entitled ''Masters of Nebulah Frost'', through

Osmose Productions Osmose Productions is a French independent record label created in 1991 by Hervé Herbaut, after he had spent three years running a small mail order company. They specialize mainly in death and black metal bands. Many of the groups who began w ...

. They featured many bizarrely-shot images of frozen landscapes and vast forests with the band performing two songs from the album '' Battles in the North'', "Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms" and "Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)", on a Norwegian mountainside. The video for "Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms" features Mayhem drummer,

(Jan Axel Blomberg). These clips have become the template for many other bands producing such works, similarly to how "The Call of the Wintermoon" is also highly influential.

''Blizzard Beasts'' and ''At the Heart of Winter'' (1996–1999)

Apart from the two core members, Abbath and Demonaz, Immortal did not find a stable lineup until 1996, when drummer Horgh joined the band and is credited on their album, '' Blizzard Beasts''. A major turning point for the band was in 1997 when Demonaz suffered acute

tendinitis 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 elbo ...

in his arm and was unable to continue playing, and Abbath took over for guitar. Despite this, Demonaz continued writing lyrics and has been a manager for the band, accompanying them on tour, releasing updates and giving interviews about how things are progressing with the band. Abbath and Horgh wrote and recorded the band's next album, ''At the Heart of Winter''. During the tours for this album, the band recruited Iscariah to stand in for bass duties, and made him a full-time member. Grim committed suicide in 1999; however, it is said that this was unrelated to his departure from Immortal and rather to his history of manic depression and suicide attempts. The band frequently headlines (as recently as 2007) a festival held in his memory, the Hole in the Sky festival.

''Damned in Black'' and ''Sons of Northern Darkness'' (2000–2003)

The next album, ''

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 ...

'' was more similar to their old style. It was well received, but is frequently overlooked as it came between two of their classic albums, ''At the Heart of Winter'' and ''

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 ...

''. In 2000, the EP ''Immortal'' was repackaged as part of the ''True Kings of Norway'' compilation by

Spinefarm Records Spinefarm Records is a Finnish independent record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. It is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. History Spinefarm Records was originally founded in 1990 by Riku Pääkkönen as a mail-order distrib ...

. Also in 2000, Immortal signed a record contract with German label

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

; this change to a more prominent record company didn't affect their style, a fact proven by their record ''Sons of Northern Darkness''. Two months after this, Iscariah announced his intention to leave the band and was replaced by Saroth for the next few months.

Split (2003–2007)

Immortal decided to split during the summer of 2003 for various personal reasons of the band members. However, in mid-October 2005, Abbath, Demonaz, and original Immortal drummer Armagedda reunited, and along with

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 and Enslaved guitarist Ice Dale (Arve Isdal), they began work on a new project, dubbed I. This new band entered the studio at the end of April 2006 to record their debut album, '' Between Two Worlds'', released in November 2006. Demonaz also features as lyricist for the band. In early June 2006, German magazine '' Rock Hard'' reported that Abbath, Demonaz and Horgh had decided to resurrect Immortal and start touring again in 2007. Abbath is quoted as saying:

Reunion and ''All Shall Fall'' (2007–2014)

In 2007, Immortal reunited for a string of summer shows. They headlined the

Inferno 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 Rock ...

in April, the

Tuska Open Air Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, commonly shortened to Tuska ( fi, pain, agony), is a Finnish heavy metal festival taking place annually in Helsinki. The first Tuska took place in 1998 and the festival has since grown larger every year. The loca ...

festival in June/July,

Metal Camp Metaldays is a heavy metal music festival held annually in Tolmin, Slovenia, since 2004. The festival has been more popular every year with more media coverage and in order to not let it grow too big, in 2010 the tickets were limited to 12,000 ...

festival in July, and the

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 ...

festival in August. They also performed twice in the United States in July 2007. Filling in as bassist for these dates was Aura Noir bassist

Apollyon The Hebrew term Abaddon ( he, אֲבַדּוֹן ''’Ăḇaddōn'', meaning "destruction", "doom"), and its Greek equivalent Apollyon ( grc-koi, Ἀπολλύων, ''Apollúōn'' meaning "Destroyer") appear in the Bible as both a place of de ...

. Immortal first toured Australia and New Zealand in March 2008. Immortal in 2010

After the reunion, Abbath and Horgh decided to reform the band on a permanent basis. This was confirmed by Demonaz in an interview with Eternal Terror. Apollyon was the permanent replacement for Iscariah, and the three began working with Demonaz on material for their next album '' All Shall Fall''. ''All Shall Fall'' was recorded in April–May 2009, and was released on 25 September 2009. According to ''Decibel'' magazine's interview, work had begun on Immortal's ninth album stating in the article "four new songs already in the works for a follow-up to ''All Shall Fall''". Abbath and Demonaz were interviewed in the 2009 American documentary by Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell, ''

Until the Light Takes Us ''Until the Light Takes Us'' is an American documentary film about early Norwegian black metal by directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell. The film premiered at the AFI Film Festival in 2008, a year before it was released in film theaters. Feat ...

''.

Legal battle, Abbath exit and ''Northern Chaos Gods'' (2014–2020)

The members of Immortal were involved in a legal battle with each other over the rights to the Immortal trademark. They were also due to submit a new album to the

label, though little information regarding the album and its release had been disclosed. It is confirmed, however, by Abbath that the album had been completed with the aid of various musicians. In March 2015, Abbath left Immortal as a result of this conflict and an inability to move forward. Abbath has continued to record and perform as a solo act under his name. On 8 January 2018, the band posted via

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

an update on Immortal's upcoming ninth full-length, stating "We have put a massive amount of energy into this, and wanted to deliver our absolutely best. It has been a pleasure to finish the studio process and most of all being stoked about the final result.

Peter Tägtgren Alf Peter Tägtgren (born 3 June 1970) is a Swedish musician, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is the founder, main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of death metal band Hypocrisy as well as the industrial metal band Pa ...

has done an outstanding job in producing and mixing it. We now look forward to have it released, and are excited to share our 9th full length with you all." The album was released under Nuclear Blast Records as ''

'' on 6 July 2018. The album features original member Demonaz on vocals and guitar.

Legal battle, Horgh exit and ''War Against All'' (2020–present)

In August 2020, it was announced that Demonaz and Horgh were involved with a legal dispute over the rights to the band's name. Demonaz had registered the name with the Norwegian Patent Office as his exclusive trademark in July 2019, which was approved; however, Horgh chose to appeal the registration, and the matter was ruled in his favor, meaning that Demonaz no longer has the exclusive right to the Immortal name. Horgh was unaware of the initial sole registration made by Demonaz. On October 24, 2022, the band announced that their tenth studio album, ''War Against All'', would be released in 2023. It was also revealed that Demonaz was listed as the only member of the band, indicating that he won the dispute of the rights to the band's name against Horgh.

Lyrical style

Immortal's lyrics are based on an overall theme, a realm called ''Blashyrkh'' which is said to be " demon-and-battle-filled" and a "fusion of gothic, Nordic, and heroic themes." The idea for Blashyrkh came about from Demonaz and Abbath's feelings of isolation living in

. They created Blashyrkh to mirror those feelings, basing it on Norway, including "winter landscapes", "the woods, the mountains, the darkness, the fog", and "glacial valleys". When writing lyrics, the band's lyricist Demonaz often takes long walks in the Norwegian countryside near his hometown of Bergen for inspiration. Unlike many early black metal bands, Immortal does not have satanic-themed lyrics, opting instead for basing the genre's inherent concepts of darkness and evil in the fantasy setting of Blashyrkh. However, on the band's first album, there were a few satanic references but without any lyrics attacking religion.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1992) * '' Pure Holocaust'' (1993) * '' Battles in the North'' (1995) * '' Blizzard Beasts'' (1997) * ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2000) * ''

'' (2002) * '' All Shall Fall'' (2009) * ''

'' (2018) * ''War Against All'' (2023)

Other releases

* Untitled demo (1991) * ''Immortal'' (EP, 1991) * ''Masters of Nebulah Frost'' (VHS, 1995) * ''True Kings of Norway'' (5-way split, 2000) * ''Live at BB Kings Club New York'' (DVD, 2003) * ''Valley of the Damned / Hordes of War'' (2-way split, 2009) * '' The Seventh Date of Blashyrkh'' (DVD, 2010)

Members

Current members

* Demonaz Doom Occulta (Harald Nævdal) – lyrics (1991–present), guitars (1991–1997, 2015–present),

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(2015–present)

Past members

* Abbath Doom Occulta (Olve Eikemo) – vocals (1991–2015), guitars (1998–2015), bass (1991–1998), studio drums (1993–1995) * Jørn Inge Tunsberg – guitars (1991) * Armagedda (Gerhard Herfindal) – drums (1991–1992) * Grim (Erik Brødreskift) – drums (1993–1994; died 1999) *

(Reidar Horghagen) – drums (1996–2022) * Iscariah (Stian Smørholm) – bass (1999–2002) *

(Ole Jørgen Moe) – bass (2006–2015)

Live members

* Kolgrim (a.k.a. Padden) (Jan Atle Åserød) – drums (1992–1993) *

(Jan Axel Blomberg) – drums (1995) * Ares (Ronny Hovland) – bass (1998) * Saroth (Yngve Liljebäck) – bass (2002–2003)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:22 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:120 top:10 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors= id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lyrics value:gray(0.35) legend:Lyrics id:Lines1 value:black legend:Studio_albums Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1991 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1992 LineData= at:01/07/1992 color:black layer:back at:01/11/1993 color:black layer:back at:15/05/1995 color:black layer:back at:20/03/1997 color:black layer:back at:28/02/1999 color:black layer:back at:05/04/2000 color:black layer:back at:05/02/2002 color:black layer:back at:25/09/2009 color:black layer:back at:06/07/2018 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Demonaz text:"Demonaz" bar:Jørn text:"Jørn Tunsberg" bar:Abbath text:"Abbath" bar:Iscariah text:"Iscariah" bar:Apollyon text:"Apollyon" bar:Armagedda text:"Armagedda" bar:Padden text:"Padden" bar:Grim text:"Grim" bar:Hellhammer text:"Hellhammer" bar:Horgh text:"Horgh" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Abbath from:start till:13/07/2003 color:Vocals width:3 bar:Abbath from:start till:01/01/1998 color:Bass bar:Abbath from:01/01/1998 till:13/07/2003 color:Guitar bar:Abbath from:01/01/2007 till:01/03/2015 color:Vocals width:3 bar:Abbath from:01/01/2007 till:01/03/2015 color:Guitar bar:Demonaz from:start till:31/12/1997 color:Guitar bar:Demonaz from:start till:13/07/2003 color:Lyrics Width:3 bar:Demonaz from:01/01/2007 till:end color:Lyrics Width:3 bar:Demonaz from:01/03/2015 till:end color:Vocals width:7 bar:Demonaz from:01/03/2015 till:end color:Guitar bar:Jørn from:start till:01/08/1991 color:Guitar bar:Iscariah from:01/01/1999 till:01/07/2002 color:Bass bar:Apollyon from:01/01/2007 till:01/03/2015 color:Bass bar:Armagedda from:01/01/1991 till:01/09/1992 color:Drums bar:Padden from:01/09/1992 till:01/12/1993 color:Drums bar:Grim from:01/12/1993 till:31/12/1994 color:Drums bar:Hellhammer from:31/12/1994 till:01/01/1996 color:Drums bar:Horgh from:01/01/1996 till:13/07/2003 color:Drums bar:Horgh from:01/01/2007 till:24/10/2022 color:Drums

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Immortal Norwegian black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 1990 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Bergen Nuclear Blast artists