Immortal (band)
 <tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3"> From left: Abbath, Demonaz </td></tr> | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information <tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Bergen, Norway</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Black metal</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1990 - 2003 |
Immortal is a black metal band from Bergen, Norway. The group began in 1989 as "Amputation", a death metal band. Immortal's early full-length releases were of a traditional black metal style, but their acclaimed album At the Heart of Winter saw the band begin to experiment with a complex fusion of black metal and German thrash metal. The resulting sound was a style which characterized Immortal's later works. Immortal has been influential to many modern metal artists. Its founders, Abbath and Demonaz, have attained a legendary status in the Scandinavian heavy metal scene. Out of these many bands Immortal has arguably maintained the most occult-mysticism image and way of life traditionally credited to black metal.[citation needed] Their peculiar music style of melodic black metal has guaranteed them a spot on the list of the best bands in the history of the genre, and has most definitely triggered the rise of their albums sales, even though most of the albums, with the exception of Sons of Northern Darkness, are quite difficult to obtain in some regions.[citation needed]
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Biography
"Amputation" recorded their first two demos in 1989 with Demonaz Doom Occulta and Jorn Tunsberg on guitars, Abbath Doom Occulta on bass and vocals. The group changed its name to "Immortal" around 1990-1991. Their third demo, Unholy Forces of Evil, saw a stylistic change to black metal and earned them a record contract. Tunsberg played many of the guitar parts of Immortal's first album Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism, but is not officially credited.
Gradually, Immortal gained immense popularity in the underground, releasing several highly-acclaimed records on the French label Osmose. Unlike many other black metal bands, Immortal's lyrical theme was not based around Satanism, but rather dealt with an imaginary kingdom called Blashyrkh where the eponymous God of frost Mighty Ravendark rules. Arguably, their best effort from this early period is Pure Holocaust, which served as a genre-defining milestone.
In 1995, the band released two video clips directed by British artist David Palser entitled Masters of Nebulah Frost through Osmose Productions. They featured many bizarrely-shot images of frozen landscapes and vast forests. These clips have become the template for many other bands producing such works.
Apart from the two core members Abbath and Demonaz, Immortal didn't find a stable lineup until 1996, when drummer Horgh joined the band. In 1997, main lyricist and guitarist Demonaz suffered an arm injury (acute tendinitis) and was unable to continue playing. Still, he continued writing new material and managed the band, while bassist Abbath took over the guitar duty. In 2000, Immortal signed a record contract with German label Nuclear Blast; this change to a more prominent record company didn't affect their style, something which they proved on their latest record, Sons of Northern Darkness.
Immortal decided to split during the summer of 2003 for personal reasons of the band members. However, in mid-October 2005, Abbath, Demonaz and original Immortal drummer Armagedda reunited, and along with Ex-Gorgoroth bassist King ov Hell and Enslaved guitarist 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 and was released november of 2006. Demonaz will primarily be the lyricist for the band.
In early June 2006 came word via a German Rock Hard magazine that Abbath and Horgh would resurrect Immortal once more. Abbath is quoted as saying:
“I didn’t really want to say it, but I don’t give a shit. We will come back, stronger than ever. I’ve met with Horgh for the first time in over a year. He’s built his new house here, right around the corner. In the next few days we will begin to rehearse our old ‘Blizzard Beasts’ classics. I’m already really hot on the idea. Immortal are timeless frost. One year more or less doesn’t make a difference. We have all the time in the world.”
In July 2006 it was announced that Immortal would reunite for a string of summer shows in 2007. They will headline the Inferno Festival in April, the Tuska Open Air festival in June/July and Wacken Open Air festival in August. They will also make two concerts in the United States in July 2007. Filling in as bassist for these dates will be Aura Noir bassist, Apollyon.[1]
Discography
Albums (Studio)
- Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism - (1992)
- Pure Holocaust - (1993)
- Battles in the North - (1995)
- Blizzard Beasts - (1997)
- At the Heart of Winter - (1999)
- Damned in Black - (2000)
- Sons of Northern Darkness - (2002)
Demos/Promos
- The Northern Upins Death [Demo] - (1990)
- Promo '91 "Suffocate" [Demo] - (1991)
- Unholy Forces of Evil [Demo] - (1991)
Bootlegs
Videography
- Masters of Nebulah Frost
Band members
Current members
- Abbath Doom Occulta (Olve Eikemo) - Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Drums & Lyrics - (1989-2003, 2006-)
- Demonaz Doom Occulta (Harald Nævdal) - Guitar & Lyrics (Switched to Lyricist & Band Manager after his injury) - (1989-2003, 2006-)
- Iscariah (Stian Smørholm) - Bass - (1999-2002)
- Horgh (Reidar Horghagen) - Drums - (1996-2003, 2006-)
- Apollyon - Bass - (2006-)
Past members
- Saroth (Yngve Liljebäck) - Bass (Live only) - (2002-2003)
- Ares - Bass (Live only) - (1998)
- Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg) - Drums (Live only) - (1995)
- Grim (Erik Brødreskift) - Drums (Live only) - (1993-1994)
- Kolgrim - Drums (Demo only) - (1992)
- Jörn Tonsberg - Guitar (Demo only) - (1989-1991)
Related Artists
Involvement of Immortal
General
Notes
- Pure Holocaust & Battles in the North were recorded with Demonaz on Guitar and Abbath on Bass guitar, Vocals, and Drums (despite Grim being credited on drums on Pure Holocaust).
- Abbath and Demonaz offered Hellhammer (of Mayhem fame) to join the group in 1995 but he declined, although he did play some live dates and appears in the video for the song "Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms."
- Drummer Grim (Erik Brødreskift), who toured with the band for 'Pure Holocaust' (see above) committed suicide on October 14, 1999.
- Immortal are well-known for their publicity photos, two of which are featured on Ruthless Reviews' Top Ten Most Ridiculous Black Metal Pics of All Time, with a third appearing on The Other Top Ten Most Ridiculous Black Metal Pics of All Time. In the second list, while Immortal are only featured at number eight, they are dubbed the "undisputed champions of ridiculous BM pics." On the original list, they are ranked numbers three and two. A supplemental photo of Abbath was added to the list after the original publication.
- Euronymous of Mayhem was said to have been an influence for the band to change their sound to a more black metal sound [citation needed](Lords of chaos)
- Joey DeMaio of Manowar has stated that Immortal are True Metal.
- Unlike many black metal bands, Immortal rarely focus on satanism, or anti-Christian themes, but rather use Viking imagery, and use the fictional world of "Blashyrkh" as the basis for most of their music.
External links
- Immortal Official site
- Immortal Tribute site (A Tribute to the Immortal releases inspired by the true essence of Black Metal)
Categories
Articles with unsourced statements | Black metal musical groups | Norwegian heavy metal musical groups | Norwegian musical groups | Reunited musical groups