05 March 2013

Norway




We’ve touched down on the mainland of Europe, far north near the Arctic circle, north of the North Atlantic on the coast of the Norwegian Sea. Yes, we’ve touched down in Norway & if you don’t think I’m going to honor its homeland by posting up some Black death metal, then you’ve been to the wrong Sabbat.

Immortal is a black metal band from Bergen, Norway. Immortal was founded in 1990 by current frontman & guitarist Abbath Doom Occulta (Olve Eikemo) & former guitarist Demonaz Doom Occulta (Harald Nævdal). Both Abbath & Demonaz have been to their share of graveyards & seen their share of corpses. They were founding members of Old Funeral in 1988. Abbath was also a founding member of Amputation in 1989. Amputation featured Demonaz Doom Occulta on guitar & vocals, Jørn Inge Tunsberg on guitars, & Padden on drums. 


When the group took the name Immortal around 1990 - 1991, they added Abbath Doom Occulta on bass & lead vocals, also replacing Padden with Armagedda. They released their self-titled EP in 1991. This was followed by their debut album Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism in 1992. Although Jørn had already left the band, his guitar parts were left on the record even though he was not credited in the album insert.

The album was issued as a standard CD, a limited edition LP, a limited edition picture disc & a limited edition tape. The picture disc was later reisseud by Osmose Productions in 1998 & the regular LP was reissued in 2005, limited to 1000 copies.

Immortal's early full-length releases were traditional black metal, but their acclaimed album At the Heart of Winter saw the band beginning to experiment with a fusion of black metal & German thrash metal. The resulting sound has been an influence to many modern metal artists. The band strives to maintain the most occult-mystical way of life traditionally credited to black metal.

With albums such as Pure Holocaust, Battles in the North, At the Heart of Winter, & Sons of Northern Darkness, the band creates an imaginary world that is plagued by war & suffering, a world called Blashyrkh, ruled by the Mighty Ravendark. This world is inspired by Demonaz's daily walks in the icy Norwegian forests that surround his home.

The bands over-the-top appearance with corpse paint & the cult-classic artwork of album covers for Battles & At The Heart has helped contributed to their notoriety.

The band has also distanced itself from the criminal activities & controversy that have become associated with Norwegian black metal royalty. There have been a few incidents with ex-members of Immortal, such as original rhythm guitarist Jørn's conviction for church burning, as well as Erik "Grim" Brødreskift's suicide in 1999.


Immortal - Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism, Osmose Productions OPLP 007, 1992.
decryption code in comments

Ceremonial Crypt Side -

Intro   
The Call of the Wintermoon  
Unholy Forces of Evil            
Cryptic Winterstorms
Cold Winds of Funeral Dust

Eternal Frost Side – 

Blacker than Darkness           
A Perfect Vision of The Rising Northland 

Enjoy, if you dare...


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