immortal

Abbath and Demonaz
Background information
Origin	Bergen, Norway
Genre(s)	Black metal
Years active	1990–2003 2006–Present
Label(s)	Nuclear Blast Records Osmose Productions
Associated acts	Old Funeral Mayhem Gorgoroth I Hypocrisy
Website	Official Immortal Website
Members
Abbath Doom Occulta Demonaz Doom Occulta Horgh Apollyon
Former members
Hellhammer Armagedda Erik Brødreskift Saroth Iscariah Jorn Ares Kolgrim

Immortal is a pioneer black metal band from Bergen, Norway. The band was formed from the remnants of Amputation, a death metal band from 1989.^[1]

Biography

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. It has arguably maintained the most occult-mysticism image and way of life traditionally credited to black metal. Their peculiar musical style of black metal has guaranteed them a spot on the list of the best bands in the history of the genre, and with recent (2006) mid-price reissues of their classic back catalog in major markets (i.e. North America), their music is now much more widely available.

Amputation recorded their first two demos in 1989 with Demonaz Doom Occulta on guitar and vocals, Jørn Inge Tunsberg on guitars, and Padden on drums.^[1] The group later reformed as 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.^{[citation needed]}

Gradually, Immortal gained immense popularity in the underground, releasing several highly-acclaimed records on the French label Osmose Productions. Their highly acclaimed album from this period, Pure Holocaust, 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 did not find a stable lineup until 1996, when drummer Horgh joined the band. In 1997, Demonaz (then main lyricist and guitarist) suffered acute tendinitis in the arm 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 record Sons of Northern Darkness. Two months after this, Iscariah announced his intention to leave the band.

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 is the primary lyricist for the band.

In early June 2006 came word via the German magazine Rock Hard that Abbath and Horgh would resurrect Immortal once more. Abbath is quoted as saying:

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, Metal Camp festival in July, and the 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 the Aura Noir bassist Apollyon.^[2]

After the reunion, Abbath and Horgh decided to reform the band and have been hinting at a new album to be released with-in 2008. This was confirmed by Demonaz in a recent interview with Eternal Terror [1]. Apollyon is also now an official member of Immortal.

Discography

Cover of Immortal's Sons of Northern Darkness.

Full-length albums

• 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)
• Upcoming 8th Album (2008)

Limited Editions

• Battles in the North (Limited Edition) (1995)
• Sons of Northern Darkness (Metal Box) (2002)
• Two Worlds (Metal Box) (2006)

EPs

• Taranis (1990)
• Immortal (1991)

Demos

• The Northern Upins Death (1990)
• Promo '91 / Suffocate (1991)

Bootlegs

• Live in Zaandam (1996)
• Destroying Divina (2003)

Video

• Masters of Nebulah Frost VHS (1995)
• The Call of the Wintermoon
• Blashyrkh Mighty Ravendark*
• Grim and Frostbitten Kingdoms

Members

Current members

• Abbath Doom Occulta (Olve Eikemo) - vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, drums (1989-2003, 2006-)
• Demonaz Doom Occulta (Harald Nævdal) - guitar (up to 1997), lyrics (switched to lyricist and band manager after his injury) (1989-2003, 2006-)
• Horgh (Reidar Horghagen) - drums (1996-2003, 2006-)
• Apollyon (Ole Jørgen Moe) - bass (2006-)

Past members

• Iscariah (Stian Smørholm) - bass (1999-2002)
• Saroth (Yngve Liljebäck) - bass (live, 2002-2003)
• Ares - bass (live, 1998; lead singer of Aeternus)
• Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg) - drums (live, 1995)
• Grim (Erik Brødreskift) - drums (live, 1993-1994)
• Kolgrim - drums (demo, 1992)
• Jörn Tonsberg - guitar (demo, 1989-1991)

Notes

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Pure Holocaust and 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, committed suicide on October 14, 1999.
• Euronymous of Mayhem was said to have been a main influence on the band in changing their death metal sound to the black metal they became known for.[2] However, Immortal tended to distance themselves from the chaotic "behind-the-scenes" of the black metal underground,
• 80's metal band Manowar have taken Immortal on tour with them, and band member Joey DeMaio claims that Immortal play "true metal."
• Unlike most black metal bands, Immortal's lyrical content rarely focuses on Satanism or anti-Christian themes, but rather focus on themes involving winter, darkness and the like. The band's own fictional world of "Blashyrkh," where the God of Frost Mighty Ravendark rules, is the basis for most of their music.
• The Song "One by One" has featured soundtrack in the game Tony Hawk's Project 8.

References

External links

• Official Immortal website
• Official Immortal MySpace

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