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Since the release of "At The
Heart Of Winter" Immortal have gained a huge amount of new fans and a much
wider recognition as one of Norway's biggest and best selling acts. I would say
that this album was their second peak in the career having in mind the impact
"Battles In The North" had on the scene. Immortal are now as we speak
back with a brand new 
album; "Damned In Black". This is quite
different from the last one and more brutal too. It sounds like it's gonna be a
new highlight in the career of Immortal. I got Abbath and their new bassist
Iscariah to answer some simple questions.
Hellish greetings to thee Iscariah and Abbath! How are things in the Immortal
lair nowadays?
Abbath: Quite hectic.
You have recently recorded the music for your new album which is your 6th full
length. Moreover, you're still signed to Osmose. So, will the 7th album also be
released on Osmose or will you move over to some larger label for the future?
Abbath: That's difficult to answer at this point, but we'll see what offers we
get.
What has made you stick with Osmose for so long? You have always just signed
for two albums at a time, right?
Abbath: It has been perfect for Immortal to grow with a label like Osmose,
which has given us the priority we've been needing and have deserved. So far
we've only signed for two albums at the time, yes.
A band with such success as you had with the last album, you probably were
offered contracts by most of the larger labels, will you take any offers into
consideration now as I guess this new album will be the last on Osmose
according to your current contract?
Abbath: It depends on which label it is, and what kind of offers we get.
When signing with a new label what will you put in first place then?
Abbath: Top priority.
Right after the last album, "At the Heart of Winter", you were joined
by a new full time bassist (after years with Aeternus' Ares on session bass),
how did you get hold of Iscariah for this job and did he accept at once? Did
you offer him some nice groupies if he joined in, ha?
Abbath: Ares only did the European tour in 1998 as a session for Immortal, so
he was only involved for a couple of months, not years. Iscariah was asked to
join us permanently shortly after the release of "At The Heart OF
Winter" and since he has been following us from the very beginning as a
fan of the band, we didn't have to offer him things he knew he would get.
Iscariah toured with you last year, how do you think this went for being his
first tours ever, and I know he hasn't the best live experience in the past
either…
Abbath: Immortal was his first live experience as a performer, and his first
gig was in Hengelo (Holland) May 1999. I had a terrible ear-infection and he
was quite a nerve-wreck, but all though we had to stop the show halfway through
because of my ear got worse, his first show turned him into a fearless beast.
So Iscariah, how was it for you to enter Immortal right before the peak of
their career? Right after you joined in they started gaining success like never
before. How were you received by the fans, label and other bands?
Iscariah: I already heard "At The Heart Of Winter" before I joined,
so I kind of had a feeling how this would turn out when it came to breakpoints
in Immortal's career, but although I came in during a tight schedule just
before a tour, I felt quite comfortable actually. In the beginning when I met
the fans on tour, quite many thought I was Ares or Demonaz since almost nobody
knew that there was a new member. All in all people have been supportive
anyway.
It must have been quite a change from your past musical involvement with your
band Enchanted and Edged Circle Prod.? How was it entering a band which is
known for rehearsing very much and putting the music in the first place…did it
affect your way of living?
Iscariah: It was quite a change, of course, but after playing metal for 10
years you start to feel that you want to move on a bit. With Enchanted things
were really slow, and still is, but things will happen there also for sure. I
just have a couple of more things to do first (hehe). I was not used to this
intense rehearsing, but this is how I want it to be…so actually, it affected my
living for the better….this is my urge.
You're now a full time member of Immortal, right? What will now happen to
Enchanted and Edged Circle Productions? You mentioned something about a big
company showing interest in Enchanted last year.
Iscariah: Yes, we were in negotiations with a German label among others, but
they proved to be totally incompetent, so we didn't really care anymore. I
don't need these 7 album deals… I'm not a slut. I'm in permanently, yes, but
Enchanted is just on ice for the time being… We have plans on doing an album
this year, but this remains to be set off time for… Immortal is a priority as
of today. Edge Circle Productions is dead and buried…
Don't you think it will be hard to continue in Immortal as well as doing
Enchanted on the side, there won't be much time left for other things then if
both bands will be rehearsing as much as a band should be doing?
Iscariah: Enchanted is not rehearsing as much as a band should anyway…never
have, so that's not a problem here. As I said, not much is happening with
Enchanted today and I guess would not anyway even if I did not play in Immortal
as well, but things will when I have time set off for it.
You weren't a part of the song writing for "At the Heart of Winter" album,
but for your new one you have been writing music, haven't you? Does this song
writing differ from your past experience where you were the one and only
song-write (in Enchanted) to now when you're a part of the whole process?
Iscariah: No, I did not take part in the creating-process for this album, but
with the next one, I will contribute with some material. I had enough to
indulge into with the extreme amount of playing, so for me to contribute with
that as well would just be too much at once… Lately I have been able to take a
step back and look at the big picture and have placed myself more on the map if
you know what I mean… Now things are more settled and I can focus on such
things as well.
The music on your new album will be
harder you have said, what's the biggest difference and how will it sound?
Abbath: This one is a bit more hard and intense than "At The Heart Of
Winter" with a more marked and brilliant sound.
You also didn't record the vocal when you first were over in the Abyss, why was
this delayed? Didn't you have any vocal lines done/ready or wasn't there enough
time to get things done properly? By the way, how was it recording in such a
large studio as Abyss?
Abbath: Some stuff became undone the first month we were in studio, stuff like
the vocals and leads, so we had to book one more week and we got the first one
in February. Abyss is a fucking great studio, and the best thing about it is
the man who runs it, Peter Tägtren. He is one of the reasons why we reached
this higher level. We have learned a lot working with him in his studio.
So what's the plan for the rest of this year then? Are you planning on playing
as much live as you did last year? Are there any gigs/tours confirmed already
for the summer/autumn? Do you think playing live is an important part of being
a well known band?
Abbath: Immortal is definitely a live-act and we get stronger and stronger the
more shows we do. We have already a lot of touring-offers and we'll try to take
as much as possible. The first on the list is 3 weeks in North and South
America during March. Playing live is extremely important for Immortal and it
keeps the spirit in the band stabile.
How was it first time you entered the stage on one of the last year's many
festivals in front of so many people? Where did you have the biggest crowd? Have
you managed to get a favourite country when it comes to playing live? Norway
isn't the best country for this thing, the last gig in Oslo wasn't too
successful considering the amount of people showing up though…
Abbath: We did 8 or 9 festivals last year. The first one was the "Artefact
Fest" in Strasbourg (Fr) at the end of May and it was a powerful
experience playing in front of the 5-6000 people who showed up that day. Biggest
crowds were Wacken Open Air (D) and the Rockwave Fest. in Athens, Greece. There
were between 10 and 15000 people and these two festivals had the best audience
for Immortal so far on festivals, but also Dynamo Open Air in 1998 was awesome
with about 10000 people in front of the Black Metal stage. The reason only
350-400 people showed up at the gig in Oslo was because it was advertised only
4 days before the show, so there were only people from Oslo there. Otherwise it
would have been packed.
Quite a few local bands, in Bergen that is, has gained more and more success. Aeternus
is said to have a bright future with their last album (a very good one indeed),
Obtained Enslavement have just launched their new opus "The Shepherd and
the…" album which shows some awesome potential. Where do you see the
Norwegian in five years? The last few years 90% of the newcomers have either
been shit or utter shit compared to the average quality back in the early
nineties.
Abbath: As long as there is Immortal and other killer bands like Emperor, Dimmu
Borgir, Mayhem, Darkthrone to mention some, then the Norwegian scene will grow…
I'm sure. The latest albums from Aeternus and Gorgoroth has bigger potentials
and I think we will hear more from them in the future… Obtained Enslavement as
well.
Oh well, we shall sign off now…Any last thoughts, ideas, statements or any
other shit you want the readers to waste their time on?
Abbath:
DIE HARD!