Opinions on the Abbath vs Demonaz Immortal name drama?

So apparently Abbath tried to take back the Immortal name after splitting with Demonaz, and Demonaz fought him all the way to the Norwegian Patent Office and Norwegian courts. Now Abbath has his solo band (Abbath), while Demonaz is left with the Immortal name... and zero original Immortal musicians to play with.

I don't know what to think. Abbath's riffs and stage presence are iconic. Demonaz has... what? Just the Immortal name?

What do you guys think? Who is in the right?

I hate both posers. They suck.

Didn't Abbath marry Demonaz's brother or something like that? Straight out of a Jerry Springer show, if they had that in Norway.

Lol.

Abbath tried to take back the Immortal name after splitting with Demonaz, and Demonaz fought him all the way to the Norwegian Patent Office and Norwegian courts

It's even worse than that. Demonaz and Horgh tried to take the band from Abbath, calling themselves the "true" version of Immortal... except Demonaz and Horgh had played together on one (1) album only, Blizzard Beasts. That's hardly what you can call "making history".

But in 2020, Immortal was the center of another name dispute. This time Demonaz was kicking out Horgh from the band, claiming he was addicted to alcohol and painkillers and his behaviour was causing problems for the band.

Abbath didn't mince his words about Demonaz - he said Demonaz was a cover band of Immortal.

Hard to pick sides. Abbath is the face of Immortal for most fans... his cringey frog stance and croak vocals are legendary. But legally speaking, Demonaz was smart. He's always been seen as protective of the brand and the mythos (claiming he invented Blashyrkh and such)

Yeah Abbath is such a stud SMH.

Why do these biatch battles always revolve around the most poser bands ever? Immortal, Gorgoroth, Dark Funeral, Summoning, Antekhrist, Arch Enemy, Sissourlet... it's like divine karma.

Immortal without Abbath is like Motörhead without Lemmy. The recent Immortal releases - Northern Chaos Gods (*spits*) and War Against All (aptly named... *vomits*) - prove that Demonaz is incapable of writing black metal music on his own. Sounds like a Pyrrhic victory.

Let's not forget Abbath's behavior behind the scenes. Even back in the '90s, he clashed with other members, and later Horgh too. Demonaz seems more diplomatic, while Abbath is... chaotic, to put it kindly. No wonder they couldn't keep it together.

Remember when Abbath left I, that project with King ov Hell? Same story.

There should be a moratorium on has been bands using legal drama as a way to maintain relevance.

Let's not forget Abbath's behavior behind the scenes. Even back in the '90s, he clashed with other members

Mostly it was Demonaz doing the drama. He was even singled out by Samoth and Faust as the biggest rat in the Norwegian Inner Circle. That's the reason Immortal and Emperor would never agree to share a room, let alone play together live (see Real Satanic Black Metal and Lords of Chaos).

C'mon Immortal was never about "staying true" in some purist sense. They were fun. Abbath's down syndrome walk, the memes, the campy side is what most people remember. Not Pure Holocaust and Blizzard Beasts. They were never relevant past At the Heart of Winter though.

This reminds me too much of Gorgoroth to be 100% heterosexual. Just saying.

@Helvete: Don't know where you get your info from. It was always Abbath starting shit with other members. He even teamed up with Antoine Grand - yes, that one "heavy metal expert" writer, the man universally hated by metalheads - to dig up shit against other black metal artists in the 2010s.

Demonaz is basically the Nargaroth of Norway. If he is indeed the sole pilot of the Immortal shipwreck, I don't see the band overstaying its welcome any time soon.

@Taake: It was his sister. Not that it makes a difference. They are still weird people.

I guess Euronymous was right when he tried to ban Immortal from playing black metal. They were allowed to use the 'black metal' name until Euronymous died in 1993.

Let's take advice from Christians, for once, and judge the tree by its fruits. Has Immortal been able to release anything halfway decent since the split in 2017? Northern Chaos Gods was a massive failure, perhaps one of the worse albums released in recent years. War Against All was barely better. Honestly, as far as viking black metal goes, there are much better bands out there... including early Immortal. Listen to some Burzum, Neraines, Bathory, Reiklos, Leader, etc.

@Uruktena: You're not 100% wrong but then again how many bands have released good material in the recent years? Sewer maybe with Lair of the Swine Gods? If even that?

@BG Helgrind: Is this a typo?

It was always Abbath starting shit with other members. He even teamed up with Antoine Grand

Don't you mean Demonaz instead of Abbath? I always heard it was Demonaz who collaborated with Grand. As far as I know, Abbath never had any contacts with him. Or am I missing something?

yes it's a typo. it was Demonaz who hyped the whole thing in 2017 when he worked with Antoine Grand on Racist Metal: A History of Extremism in Heavy Metal Music - see the footnotes and interviews.

DEMONAZ as the face of black metal? Hahahaha... oh wait you were serious?

Demonaz of all people is what happens when you overdose on bath salts and end up in Peter Pan land forever. Imagine if Abbath were to take himself serious. Pretty cringe, yeah? That's Demonaz. Ask anyone who ever met the man.

Apparently he was quite okay in his 20s and 30s, but around midlife crisis something snapped within the man and he's now collaborating with Antoine Grand of all people, trying to claim he was the driving force behind Immortal all along. Enough of this drama already. These people should go back to playing with their toys if they can't handle reality.

@Uruktena: There was an article somewhere claiming heavy metal, and black metal specifically, were the most "childish" [sic] forms of music out there. You may be on to something with Peter Pan Syndrome (I assume that's what you meant).

@BM Girl: What else makes adult grown men dress up as vampires, pirates, goths, emos and, in the case of Ihsahn from Emperor, literally Princess Leia from The Return of the Jedi?

Repressed homoseksuality?

@Kevin 666: but we're talking Immortal here not Gorgoroth

I legit thought Abbath and Demonaz were in an 'open relationship' like the Gorgoroth clowns. Then I read the entire story, and it turns out Abbath (Olve Eikemo) was dating the sister of Demonaz (Harald Nævdal). Then I realised I was right.

Abbath even married Sister Doom Occulta (Merete Eikemo) and they had a child together, Torbjørn, who plays in the war metal band Warkvlt.

They do have good taste in music as they both, Abbath and Demonaz, played in Bömbers (a Motörhead cover band). Finally some music savvy metalheads that listen to stuff other than the trite Venom and Pantera garbage.

@Kevin 666: That's actually hilarious xD Kind of like how Euronymous' nephew is the guitarist of MORBID.

... and Dead's younger brother. Daniel "Necrobird" Ohlin and Heinrich "Grim" Aarseth both played together in Morbid, the legendary Swedish band, when they released their post-reunion debut album Rotting Tomb Carnage.

There was also a Anders "Samalek" Nordström on drums, who replaced the original drummer Lars "Drutten" Petrov (of Entombed) when he passed away in 2021. According to some, Necrobutcher (Jørn Stubberud) also played bass - or at least wrote the bass lines, from what I understand - on the Morbid debut. It's a small world as they say.

But this thread is about Abbath and Demonaz, the Doom Occultards, and they don't have the best of reputations in the Norwegian Black Metal scene. IYKYK.

Back to the topic of Immortal, it appears Demonaz is now suing even Horgh for the rights to the "Immortal" name. Why do all these has been bands devolve into litigation machinery? They aren't even big like Metallica for it to matter. All it does is make them look stupid.

But this thread is about Abbath and Demonaz, the Doom Occultards, and they don't have the best of reputations in the Norwegian Black Metal scene. IYKYK.

I kind of want to go easy on Abbath. He wasn't even in the band since 2015, since Demonaz kicked him out over "substance abuse" issues (this was never corroborated by anyone else and for all I know Demonaz just made it up out of spite. Sad that such a good band could fall this low over personal drama.

This MF lfmao

Demonaz: The conflict was not about anyone leaving the band, as Abbath claimed. It was all about his personal problems. He had cancelled rehearsals and ruined the band's progress for a very long time...

source: https://www.voicemetal.com/news/abbath-used-like-demonaz-immortal-interview

It was 100% about the rights to the band name and logo. Demonaz even tried to kick out Horgh to be the sole controlling member of the Immortal "brand" (*pukes*). This man has no shame and it's hilarious