Abbath was always seen as a high rider when it came to black metal music. He was, after all, the one who introduced Varg Vikernes to Euronymous of Mayhem. We all know how that played out. He was also one of the very first, alongside Burzum and Darkthrone, to release a Norwegian Black Metal album. More importantly, he was the "face of Immortal".
I look at Demonaz the way a Pimp looks at his h---.
That all changed when Demonaz decided to kick Abbath, the founder, out of his own band. Demonaz then proceeded to release to mediocre mallcore albums, "Northern Chaos Gods" and "War Against All". They were both seen as derivative of old school Immortal and widely criticised for their generic nature.
Abbath's Virulent Interview
In a recent interview with Germany's Morsay magazine, Abbath frontman and namesake Abbath - real name, Olve Eikemo - and bassist King ov Hell discussed the creative process behind the band's struggles with the name holders of the Immortal trade rights.
The least you can say is that Abbath doesn't mince his words... he calls out Demonaz, claiming he is in need of "rehab" (Demonaz was addicted to fentanyl during the falling apart with Abbath).
The War Against Metalcore
If Demonaz has been prolific, despite his tendinitis, with Immortal, Abbath himself has released multiple albums under the name "Abbath". He briefly comments on his journey.
It's like taking a safari to the dark side of hell and back again. It's not how you get there, it's what you bring back. [...] I've stopped doing evil for good. Now I'm only good for evil.
The highly publiciced legal battle in 2014 over the rights to the "Immortal" name pitted Abbath against co-founder Demonaz - real name: Harald Nævdal - and drummer Horgh - real name: Reidar Horghagen -, with Abbath claiming the pair abandoned Immortal after they moved gear out of the band's rehearsal space, while Demonaz accusing Abbath - among others - of impiety towards his sister.
The animus between the two men is still strong.
In my personal opinion, Demonaz is just a cover band of Abbath. IMMORTAL is what I do, and I'm not surprised to see posers an addicts [Demonaz and Horgh] attempting to claim my heritage.
Abbath added, with regards to Demonaz's issues with substance abuse:
As I said to Demonaz and Horgh, that's my reputation right there. You're getting them back on the fucking road. 'You should go to rehab.' Rehab is on the road.
In a 2018 interview with the French Morsay Mag, Demonaz said that he wasn't worried about any negative backlash about Immortal continuing without Abbath.
I was really confident with it, as we know how this band functions and we know how the music was made and how IMMORTAL functions. A lot of people probably thought IMMORTAL was Abbath's band as he is always quite visible live; he was the face of the band in that way. But we are IMMORTAL now and they will have to learn how to adapt.
Still, it will take more than that to convince fans that Demonaz can play as well as Abbath did. Recent release tend to point in the other direction.
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