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These early years in the history of "Immortal" were very important, as it was a time filled with mystery and inspiration. The musicians' homeland, its nature—including majestic mountains and deep fjords, dark forests and ruins—always meant a lot to the group. They named this land, where Abbath and Demonaz found their own sacred places, "Blashyrkh". The concept of "Immortal" was always based on "Blashyrkh", a fictional realm of demons and northern snowstorms.
The original lineup of the collective also included two other musicians. Guitarist Jorn Inge Tunsberg had played in their first band, "Amputation". As for Immortal's first drummer, Gedda (also known as Armagedda), he was considered the best drummer the group ever had until Horgh arrived in 1996. Even though Armagedda remained with "Immortal" for nearly two more years, the relationship between the musicians only deteriorated. Later, this became the primary reason for his departure.
The fate of "Amputation" proved short-lived — two demos ("Achieve the Mutilation" 1989 and "Amputation" 1990), played in a death/thrash style, did not bring the team much popularity, except that they caught the attention of the young label "Osmose Productions", which would later become the main patron of "Immortal". As a result, the band split up. This is where our narrative begins:
In the winter of 1990—1991, "Immortal" began working on their first recordings. Songs like "Enslaved in Rot" and "Suffocate the Masses" were some of the collective's earliest creations. After intensive rehearsals in 1991, the band recorded their first demo, "Suffocate". After a second demo, "Northern Upins Death", was recorded in the summer of that same year and again failed to achieve great success, guitarist Jorn was kicked out of the group, accused of all the team's failures. "Immortal" tried never to remember those four compositions again. Meanwhile, the French label "Listenable Records" became interested in the band's demo recordings and asked them to record a single. The arriving winter infused the musicians with new strength, and by the end of 1991, pieces such as "The Cold Winds of Funeral Frost" and "Unholy Forces of Evil" were created. The single was recorded in the winter of 1991. Of course, the visual side was always important for "Immortal". Work on a photo shoot was just about to begin when a giant storm hit, turning the weather into a real, icy winter. That same night, in bitter cold, the group began filming. It was so cold that it took more than an hour to finish the work:
Among the labels that showed interest in "Immortal's" work was the French "Osmose Productions". The band signed a contract for two albums, and in April 1992, Abbath, Demonaz, and Armagedda settled in to work at "Grieghallen Studios". A few months later, their first full-length album, titled "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism", was released. Immortal's first opus, produced by the legendary Eirik "Pytten" Hundvin, was warmly received by the public. The original title of the album was supposed to be "Battles in the North", but at the last moment, the musicians changed it to "Diabolical...", which they felt better suited the music presented on the disc (though we know that they use this title later).
A few months later, the band fell out with drummer Armagedda. The reasons were banal as always — personality clash. He was replaced by Kolgrim, who was virtually unknown to anyone. As it turned out later, Kolgrim became Immortal's worst drummer and was soon fired due to laziness and poor playing technique.
Meanwhile, the black metal movement in Norway became very popular. Mass media, radio, and television showed a keen interest in bands playing in this style. A television company from Bergen offered the group an interview and the chance to record a black metal video. The guys agreed, not knowing what a mistake it would be. Immortal decided to film a clip for the song "Call of the Wintermoon". The video was filmed in just 2 hours, and with this "hack-job", the guys appeared on television. During the broadcast of this tape—which, by the way, was filmed in the height of summer—Abbath, Demonaz, and Kolgrim tried to talk about their group's unique concepts, but a dull reporter, not listening to them, kept asking equally dull questions, which mostly boiled down to one thing: whether they were satanists or not. Demonaz stated that this was not the case, and that "Immortal" has its own style, which cannot be labeled as black metal if approached from the side of satanism. Now the team also prefers to avoid any labels, emphasizing that they play original music. In any case, the video turned out to be a failure, not reflecting the real essence of the song it was recorded for and, fortunately, was never released at all.
In November 1993, Immortal's second album "Pure Holocaust" was released, featuring Erik Brødreskift on drums. This disc became the first sign of the success of "Immortal" that we are used to hearing. And the next album did not take long to follow. "Battles in the North" was recorded in the autumn of 1994 and released on February 10, 1995. The disc became a kind of masterpiece, which is found on the shelves of most black metal fans. Constant problems with drummers, which simply haunted the group, could not prevent the release of such a powerful album. Abbath sat behind the drums himself.
In September 1996, together with new drummer Horgh, the fourth album titled "Blizzard Beasts" was recorded. It was not a masterpiece like the previous one, but it was still highly valued by fans.
But not all is joyful on the "immortal" front. In 1997, Demonaz was forced to stop playing guitar due to severe arthritis that afflicted the musician. But he does not leave the group and continues to write lyrics, as well as taking over all of "Immortal's" organizational work. The team physically lacks like-minded musicians, and the new album "At the Heart of Winter", released in early 1999, was recorded almost solely by Abbath.
In February 1999, a new bassist Iscariah joined the group. After various tours and performances on all sorts of stages, in April 2000, the group released their sixth album titled "Damned in Black". Like the previous one, this album was produced by Peter Tägtgren (Peter Tдgtgren). The disc turned out to be ambiguous. On one hand, with each year, "Immortal's" music acquires more hints of melody, while not losing its speed and brutality; everything is played at a high professional level. But on the other hand, some of the originality is washed away. Although in principle, Abbath called this album a logical continuation of "At the Heart of Winter", so it's hard to find fault with anything — they are taking from themselves, not others.
And by September 2001, a new album was practically ready, the release of which was postponed until the following year due to financial difficulties.
The year 2002, besides the spring farewell to bassist Iscariah, brought all fans of the group a new album "Sons of Northern Darkness", released on February 4. Iscariah couldn't really explain the reasons for his departure. At some point, he just felt that it would be better this way, that it would be right, and he is used to listening to his instincts. Also mentioned was a huge unrealized creative potential, which can now find worthy application in other bands. As for the album, the first thing that caught the eye was the new label — "Nuclear Blast Records". Apparently, that love for Osmose, which the musicians always told journalists about, was not eternal after all. The album itself continues the traditions of "At the Heart of Winter", just as solid, professional, and flawless.
2006 - 2009
In recent years, Immortal has resumed concert activities — they tour and participate in festivals. On August 29, 2008, they visited Moscow.
On April 15th, Immortal announced on the official website that the group had begun recording a new album. The recording will take place at Grieghallen and Abyss studios.
May 26, 2009 Immortal completed work on their new album, titled "All Shall Fall". The album was released in the autumn on Nuclear Blast Records.
www.immortalofficial.com — official website
Discography
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)
* All Shall Fall (2009)
EPs
* Immortal (1991)
Demos
* The Northern Upins Death (1990)
* Promo '91 / Suffocate (1991)
Added 2 minutes later
I'd like to know: who from "around here" listens...
Because they have a concert in Moscow in April, so I'm thinking of visiting... But the thing is, I have no one to go with for now.
And no one to stay with Ж(
