Olve Eikemo | |
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![]() Olve Eikemo (Abbath) in Toronto, 2010 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Olve Eikemo |
Also known as | Abbath Doom Occulta |
Born | Bergen, Norway | 27 June 1973
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | |
Instruments | |
Years active | 1988–present |
Associated acts |
Olve Eikemo (born 27 June 1973 [3] ), 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 Funeral 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 will be forming a new band under the Abbath name. [4]
Eikemo was born in Odda [3] and grew up in Lysefjorden in Os just outside Bergen in Norway. [5] As a young boy, he was an avid fan of hard rock band Kiss. [5] His first heavy metal album was Creatures of the Night , which made him feel "immortal". [6] He started his musical career with the band Old Funeral. [5]
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 longtime, however, Abbath served the band as vocalist, bassist and (studio) drummer while Demonaz played lead guitar. It was not until Horgh 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 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 , with Iscariah on bass. Sons of Northern Darkness 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:
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.
— Abbath, Rock Hard
They began to tour again, recently playing shows at Wacken Open Air 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.
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 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.
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. [7] [8]
Bömbers is a Motörhead tribute band formed in 1996. The band consists of Abbath on lead vocals and bass, Tore (ex-Old Funeral) on guitars, and Pez (Punishment Park) on drums. [9] During the Inferno Metal Festival 2007, Abbath joined the German thrash metal band Sodom on stage and performed a cover of Motörhead's "Ace of Spades".
As of 2015, Abbath is an endorsee of Schecter Guitars. A signature model was released, called the RavenDark V, in 2017. [10]
Abbath uses an ENGL Ritchie Blackmore Signature E650 amp through either direct line in or a Marshall cabinet.
The character Lars Ümlaüt from the Guitar Hero 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.
Immortal
I
Abbath
Dimmu Borgir
Enslaved
The Battalion
Immortal is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen. The group was founded in 1991 by frontman and guitarist Abbath Doom Occulta and guitarist Demonaz Doom Occulta. The pair worked with various drummers, and were later joined by current drummer Horgh in 1996.
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 as one of the most influential bands in the genre and important in the transition of death metal from its thrash metal roots, they were one of the first bands to incorporate guttural vocals, up-tempo blast beats, multiple tempo changes and dark atmosphere. They have been described as one of "the most influential and emulated bands in death metal", alongside Obituary, Death, Cynic, Autopsy and Deicide, and have been cited as an influence by many later bands. They were also the first death metal band to experience mainstream success in connection with being signed to Giant Records in 1992, heavy rotation of their music videos on MTV, and having the music video for the song "God of Emptiness" shown on an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head. Their first four albums – Altars of Madness (1989), Blessed Are the Sick (1991), Covenant (1993) and Domination (1995) – are considered classics in the genre.
Dark Funeral is a Swedish black metal band from Stockholm, founded by guitarists Blackmoon and Lord Ahriman in 1993. They emerged during the second wave of black metal.
Destruction is a German thrash metal band, formed in 1982. They are often credited as one of the "Big Four" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard. In addition to helping pioneer black metal by containing several elements of what was to become the genre, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the late 1980s, along with American bands Testament, Sacred Reich, Death Angel and Dark Angel. For most of the 1990s, the band was not signed to a record label and was forced to self-produce their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the early 2000s.
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Old Funeral were a black/death metal band from Bergen, Norway.
Brian Elwin Haner Jr., better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American musician, best known for being the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the band Avenged Sevenfold. He ranks No. 87 on Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Gates was voted as Best Metal Guitarist in the World by Total Guitar in 2016 and once again in 2017.
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 mainly on ice, snow, and fantasy landscapes. It is the first album to feature Abbath on drums.
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-fidelity production, and lyrics about coldness or wintery landscapes. This is the first album where the concept of Blashyrkh becomes a central focus. It is the last album to feature Abbath on drums.
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 acute tendinitis in his hands. The album marks a shift in Immortal's musical sound, towards a black metal and thrash metal fusion.
Sons of Northern Darkness is the seventh album by the 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 the band's first release on Nuclear Blast Records and the last album to feature Iscariah on bass, who admitted to only play bass on the opening track "One By One", with the rest of the album's bass tracks being played by vocalist/guitarist Abbath.
Damned in Black is the sixth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal. It was released on April 27, 2000 through Osmose Productions, making it their last album released through their long-time collaboration with the French record label. It's their first album where bass guitar duties are handled by Iscariah. Besides some death metal influences, mostly manifested in the opening track "Triumph", the musical style started to embrace a more blackened thrash metal sound, a style that would be more present on their next album, Sons of Northern Darkness. During the recording session in the Abyss studio, the band also recorded "From The Dark Past", cover version of influential norwegian black metal band Mayhem, which later appeared on Originators of the Northern Darkness - A Tribute to Mayhem compilation.
Horgh is a Norwegian drummer, currently playing for Swedish death metal band Hypocrisy. He is also the current drummer for Norwegian black metal band Immortal.
I were a Norwegian black metal supergroup formed in 2006. The band features Immortal members Abbath and Armagedda, Gorgoroth bassist TC King, and Enslaved's Ice Dale. The band cites Bathory as one of their major influences.
Between Two Worlds is the debut album by Norwegian black metal supergroup I. The album was recorded at the Lydriket Studio and later mixed by Peter Tägtgren at the Abyss studio. The album showcases Abbath's straightforward metal style rather than his black metal style. The album displays a clear influence from classic metal bands, which although present in Abbath's primary band Immortal, is here the sole focus of the music. A limited edition digipack was released, which includes three bonus tracks. A limited edition metal box was also released, also featuring the three bonus tracks, and was limited to 1000 copies.
Harald Nævdal, known by his stage names Demonaz Doom Occulta and Demonaz, is a Norwegian musician best known as the founding guitarist and chief lyricist for the black metal band Immortal.
The Older Ones is the first compilation album by Norwegian blackened death metal band Old Funeral, which was made up by key players in the Norwegian black metal scene, including bassist/vocalist Olve "Abbath" Eikemo (Immortal), guitarist Harald "Demonaz" Nævdal (Immortal) and guitarist Kristian "Varg" Vikernes (Burzum). By the time this album was released, the members had already gone their separate ways, with Immortal a growing concern for Abbath and Varg in jail.
Abbath is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 2015 by former Immortal guitarist and vocalist Abbath Doom Occulta after departing from Immortal earlier in 2015. The band released their first album, Abbath, on January 22, 2016, and played live for the first time at Tuska Open Air 2015.
Abbath is the self-titled debut album by Norwegian black metal band Abbath. It was released on January 22, 2016 through Season of Mist. It is the only album to feature drummer Creature before his departure in December 2015. The album is composed mostly of content that Abbath had originally prepared for the next Immortal album which was ultimately never used for it following his departure from the band in 2015.
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 since All Shall Fall (2009), marking the longest gap between two studio albums by Immortal. It is also the first Immortal album to feature Demonaz on vocals and the first one since Blizzard Beasts (1997) to feature him on guitar. Peter Tägtgren played bass on this album. In an interview before the album's release, Demonaz said he wanted to make the album as "grim, dark and cold as possible".
New title | Vocalist for Old FuneralBassist for Old Funeral 1988–1992 | Disbanded |
Vocalist for Immortal 1990-2015 | Succeeded by Demonaz Doom Occulta | |
Bassist for Immortal 1990–1997 | Succeeded by Ares | |
Preceded by Kolgrim | Drummer for Immortal 1993–1996 | Succeeded by Horgh |
Preceded by Demonaz Doom Occulta | Guitarist for Immortal 1997-2015 | Succeeded by Demonaz Doom Occulta |
New title | Vocalist for IGuitarist for I since 2006 | Incumbent |