Abbath

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Olve Eikemo
Abbath in Toronto, 2010.jpg
Olve Eikemo (Abbath) in Toronto, 2010
Background information
Birth nameOlve Eikemo
Also known asAbbath Doom Occulta
Born (1973-06-27) 27 June 1973 (age 50)
Bergen, Norway
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instrument(s)
Years active1988–present
Formerly of

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. Following his departure from Immortal in 2015, he announced that he would be forming a new band under the Abbath name. [4] Although primarily a guitarist, Abbath is also a proficient bassist and drummer, having started his career as a bassist and recorded all drums for Immortal albums Pure Holocaust and Battles in the North .

Contents

Early life

Eikemo was born in Odda [3] and grew up in Lysefjorden in Os, outside of Bergen, Norway. [5] As a young boy, he was an avid fan of hard rock band Kiss and his first heavy metal album was Creatures of the Night , which made him feel "immortal". [5] [6] He started his musical career with the band Old Funeral. [5] He cites getting his first Venom video and Bathory album as a turning point in his musical development towards black metal. [7]

Projects

Immortal

Immortal was formed in 1991 by Abbath and Demonaz, alongside other former members of the extreme metal bands Old Funeral and Amputation. At various times throughout the band's history, Abbath has been the lead vocalist, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, and lyricist, due to the difficulties of upholding a stable line-up. During Immortal's early years, Abbath originally served as the band's vocalist, bassist and studio drummer, while Demonaz played guitar. A steady-lineup was secured for a brief time when drummer Horgh joined Immortal. 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. Immortal released At the Heart of Winter in 1999, with Abbath taking over guitar and bass duties. This album marked a large shift in sound and style for the music of Immortal. In 2000, the band 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 the album, Immortal decided to split and cited personal reasons for their break-up. [8]

In early May 2006, Abbath announced that Immortal would reunite. [9] [10] 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

A comeback tour followed the reunion with shows in Europe in 2007 and the band's first tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2008. A new Immortal album, All Shall Fall , was released in autumn of 2009. The band's performance at Wacken Open Air in 2007 was recorded and filmed for the release of the 2010 video album The Seventh Date of Blashyrkh . Abbath left Immortal in 2015 after a legal battle with the other members over the rights to the band's trademark. [11] [12]

I

I live at Hole in the Sky 2006 I(Abbath) by Christian Misje 03.jpg
I live at Hole in the Sky 2006

Following Immortal's break-up in 2003, Abbath started a new project called I in 2006. [13] Abbath served as vocalist and guitarist, and was joined by former Immortal drummer Armagedda, Gorgoroth bassist King ov Hell, Enslaved guitarist Arve Isdal, and then-former Immortal guitarist Demonaz as lyricist. [13] The band released their debut album Between Two Worlds in 2006 and performed their only concert at that year's Hole in the Sky festival in Bergen.

Abbath

After leaving Immortal in 2015, Abbath formed a new eponymous band and released their first self-titled album in early 2016. [14] Abbath followed up their debut with the album Outstrider in 2019. [15] Their latest album, Dread Reaver, was released in 2022. [16]

Bömbers

Bömbers is a Motörhead tribute band formed in 1996. The band consists of childhood friends Abbath "Killminister" on lead vocals and bass, Tore "Fast Tore" Bratseth (of Old Funeral and The Battalion) on guitars, and Jan Terje "Pez" "Party Animal" Pedersen (Punishment Park and Jef) on drums. [17] [18] Motörhead frontman Lemmy attended Bömbers' show at Garage in 1997 after his band's show in Bergen. [18] Abbath left Bömbers in late 2000 to focus on Immortal and returned after their break-up in 2003. Nicola "Morrigan" Trier (of Aeternus) filled in on bass in his abscense while Bratseth handled vocal duties. In 2005, Bömbers released the EP Bergen with covers of "Bomber", "No Class" and "Dead Men Tell No Tales". [19] During the Inferno Metal Festival in 2007, Abbath joined the German thrash metal band Sodom on stage and performed a cover of Motörhead's "Ace of Spades".

Personal life

Alcohol issues

The 2019 South American tour of Abbath was abruptly cancelled mid-tour, after during a show at Argentina, Abbath appeared to behave erratically and "too drunk to perform"; [20] the tour got cancelled the next day [21] and Abbath announced entering rehab later that month. [22]

Equipment

As of 2015, Abbath is an endorsee of Schecter Guitars. His signature model, RavenDark V, was released in 2017. [23] Abbath has used the following guitars and basses throughout his career:

Abbath uses an ENGL Ritchie Blackmore Signature E650 amp through either direct line in or a Marshall cabinet.

Abbath served as an inspiration for the appearance of the character Lars Ümlaüt from the video game series Guitar Hero . [24] The character wears many of the same on-stage outfits as Abbath and has nearly identical corpse paint. Abbath appeared in the 2008 documentary Until the Light Takes Us about early Norwegian black metal along with Demonaz. Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas has an Abbath-inspired character on the label of their Black Metal Imperial stout.

Discography

Immortal

I

Abbath

Bömbers

Dimmu Borgir

Enslaved

The Battalion

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immortal (band)</span> Norwegian black metal band

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 former drummer Horgh in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bathory (band)</span> Swedish black metal band

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Old Funeral was a black/death metal band from Bergen, Norway.

<i>At the Heart of Winter</i> 1999 studio album by Immortal

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, as well as the last album until Sons of Northern Darkness to feature Abbath on bass. The album marks a shift in Immortal's musical sound, towards a black metal and thrash metal fusion.

<i>Sons of Northern Darkness</i> 2002 studio album by Immortal

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 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, which is the last time he would contribute to playing bass before his departure in 2015.

<i>Blizzard Beasts</i> 1997 studio album by Immortal

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 until Northern Chaos Gods (2018) and the first to feature Horgh on drums. Demonaz was later diagnosed with acute tendinitis which prevented him from playing guitar at the required speed for Immortal's music. Stylistically, Blizzard Beasts has primarily songs that are less than three minutes long, contrasting with Immortal's usual longer song lengths.

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<i>Between Two Worlds</i> (I album) 2006 studio album by I

Between Two Worlds is the only 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.

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Harald Nævdal, known by his stage name Demonaz Doom Occulta, or simply Demonaz, is a Norwegian musician best known as the founding guitarist and chief lyricist for the black metal band Immortal. He is currently the only official member of Immortal, and has previously been a member of Old Funeral and Amputation.

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<i>All Shall Fall</i> 2009 studio album by Immortal

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<i>The Older Ones</i> 1999 compilation album by Old Funeral

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 Varg in jail and Immortal a growing concern for Abbath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbath (band)</span> Norwegian black metal band

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. To date, the band has released three studio albums: Abbath (2016), Outstrider (2019) and Dread Reaver (2022).

<i>Abbath</i> (album) 2016 studio album by Abbath

Abbath is the 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 and the only one to feature King Ov Hell before his departure in June 2018. 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.

<i>Northern Chaos Gods</i> 2018 studio album by Immortal

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, and their final album to feature Horgh on drums before being dismissed from the band following a legal dispute with Demonaz over ownership of the band's name. 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".

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References

  1. ↑ "ABBATH Signs With Season of Mist, Announces Band Lineup". Blabbermouth.net. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Grow, Kory (2 April 2010). "Immortal's Abbath Talks About Burzum's Varg Vikernes". Revolver . Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Abbath: My Life Story". Team Rock. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Abbath Puts Immortal To Rest, Launches New Band". Blabbermouth.net. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "Mörk longing in Lysefjord" (in Norwegian). 31 May 2008. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "COPENHELL - ABBATH (IMMORTAL) INTERVIEW". YouTube . 5 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Aites, Aaron; Ewell, Audrey. 2008. Until the Light Takes Us (deleted scenes). Variance Films.
  8. ↑ Blabbermouth (18 July 2003). "IMMORTAL Split Up!". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  9. ↑ Blabbermouth (6 June 2006). "IMMORTAL To Reunite?". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  10. ↑ Blabbermouth (21 December 2006). "IMMORTAL: 'We Can't Wait To Finally Perform For You Again'". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Blabbermouth (11 December 2014). "IMMORTAL Members Embroiled In Legal Battle Over Rights To Band Name". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  12. ↑ Blabbermouth (26 March 2015). "ABBATH Puts IMMORTAL To Rest, Launches New Band". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  13. 1 2 Blabbermouth (11 April 2006). "I Featuring IMMORTAL, ENSLAVED, GORGOROTH Members: Deal With NUCLEAR BLAST Signed". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  14. ↑ "Metal Hammer". louder. 8 February 2024.
  15. ↑ Kennelty, Greg (2 July 2019). "ABBATH Streams New Album Outstrider". Metal Injection. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  16. ↑ DiVita, Joe (12 January 2022). "Abbath Debuts Fierce New Song 'Dream Cull' + Announces 2022 Album". Loudwire. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "BOMBERS: Ex-IMMORTAL Frontman's MOTÖRHEAD Tribute Band Release Studio Effort". Blabbermouth.net . 28 October 2005. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  18. 1 2 Svendsen, Roy Hilmar (4 March 2016). "– Ble helt Elvis i beina da jeg så Lemmy". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  19. ↑ Blabbermouth (28 October 2005). "BOMBERS: Ex-IMMORTAL Frontman's MOTÖRHEAD Tribute Band Release Studio Effort". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  20. ↑ "Abbath Got Too Drunk, Show Cut Short". MetalSucks. 14 November 2019.
  21. ↑ "Abbath Officially Cancels Remainder of South American Tour". MetalSucks. 14 November 2019.
  22. ↑ "Abbath Is Entering Rehab". MetalSucks. 25 November 2019.
  23. ↑ "Guitars : RavenDark V FR Abbath Signature".
  24. ↑ Dare, Tom (1 April 2015). "Blogs Of War: Why All Metalheads Should Mourn Immortal's End". Louder. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
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