Demonaz and Horgh shared their version about reasons of Immortal split
Nine months after Immortal’s ex-leader report that the band "for the time being, will rest", the guitarist Harald 'Demonaz' Nævdal and the drummer Reidar 'Horgh' Horghagen issued the following update:
"IMMORTAL — Finally in position to answer about the band conflict.
After the IMMORTAL trademark case was closed by "PATENTSTYRET" (Norway’s Patent Office) in November 2015, Demonaz and Horgh can finally share their side of the story for the first time.
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. We were forced to confront him about it.
Abbath recently told Australian website (TheMusic.com.au) that we wanted things solely on our own timetable and that we claimed he needed rehab.
The band had to reschedule rehearsals all the time because of him. Even then, he did not show up. He told the band, friends, and family that he needed to go to rehab again. He had got help from a clinic before. We offered to wait for him to recover this time also. Sadly he changed his decision.
Instead of trying to solve his problems, he went behind our back and secretly applied for a trademark ownership of the bands logo and name. It was hard to believe that his problems had led him to such a point.
When his attempt to get the rights was discovered by the band, he all of a sudden went solo. His accusations against the band in media changed from day to day. The fans started to question his version and wanted us to speak about what really happened. Unfortunately, we had to wait until the case was all closed, to make a statement.
His trademark application was denied and the case closed by Patentstyret in November, 2015. One of the reasons was because he had only contributed as a co-writer of music in IMMORTAL. Nor did he contribute any lyrics or titles to the bands albums. The fact is that the music has always been a result from the band as a unit.
IMMORTAL will record the new and long awaited album in 2016, which will be released by Nuclear Blast Records. We are well prepared and looking forward to present the new material to the fans. We did not want to rush things, but take the time to deliver another high quality IMMORTAL album.
More news is coming soon."
We’d like to remind you that this March Metal Hammer magazine posted the open letter of the Norwegian black metal band Immortal’s ex-leader Olve Eikemo in which he informed that the group is over. According to Metal Injection with reference to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, one of the reasons for the split (as it was alleged by Eikemo) was the refusal of the other band members to pay for the rehearsal room. In turn, Immortal’s guitarist Harald 'Demonaz' Nævdal and drummer Reidar 'Horgh' Horghagen insisted that the musician provided "incorrect information" and soon their lawyer would make an official statement.
In late April, the independent record label Season of Mist announced the contract signing with Eikemo’s new band Abbath. Later, the group has announced the release of their debut album "Winter Bane" for January 22, 2016.
In August, Immortal reported on the official Facebook page that "Immortal never stopped" and the musicians Harald 'Demonaz' Nævdal and Reidar 'Horgh' Horghagen started recording a new material.