Olve Eikemo (born 27 June 1973), better known by his stage name Abbath Doom Occulta or simply Abbath, is a Norwegian

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

best known as a founding member of the

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band

Immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

. Before founding Immortal, Abbath performed with

Old Funeral Old Funeral was a Norwegian death metal band from Bergen. History Old Funeral was one of the first bands to form in the Norwegian extreme metal scene, formed in 1988. By 1992, the band had already dissolved. Since the breakup, many members (su ...

alongside future Immortal member Demonaz. Following his departure from Immortal in 2015, he announced that he would be forming a new band under the Abbath name. Although primarily a guitarist, Abbath is also a proficient bassist and drummer, having started his career as a bassist and recorded all drums for Immortal albums '' Pure Holocaust'' and '' Battles in the North''.

Early life

Olve was born in

Odda Odda () is a list of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Hordaland counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality i ...

and grew up in Lysefjorden in Os, outside of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Norway. As a young boy, he was an avid fan of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

and his first heavy metal album was ''

Creatures of the Night ''Creatures of the Night'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band Kiss, released in 1982. It was the band's last for Casablanca Records, the only label for which Kiss had recorded up to that point. The album was dedicated to the memor ...

'', which made him feel "immortal". He started his musical career with the band

. He cites getting his first

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

video and Bathory album as a turning point in his musical development towards black metal.

Projects

Immortal

Immortal was formed in 1991 by Abbath and Demonaz, alongside other former members of the extreme metal bands

and Amputation. At various times throughout the band's history, Abbath has been the lead vocalist, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, and lyricist, due to the difficulties of upholding a stable line-up. During Immortal's early years, Abbath originally served as the band's vocalist, bassist and studio drummer, while Demonaz played guitar. A steady-lineup was secured for a brief time when drummer Horgh joined Immortal. After the release of '' Blizzard Beasts'' in 1997, Demonaz was diagnosed with acute tendinitis, and was consequently forced to quit as guitarist, but remained as lyricist and band manager. Immortal released '' At the Heart of Winter'' in 1999, with Abbath taking over guitar and bass duties. This album marked a large shift in sound and style for the music of Immortal. In 2000, the band released '' Damned in Black'', with Iscariah on bass. '' Sons of Northern Darkness'' was released in 2002, with the same lineup. Soon after the release of the album, Immortal decided to split and cited personal reasons for their break-up. In early May 2006, Abbath announced that Immortal would reunite. In regard to when Immortal would start playing live again, Abbath said: A comeback tour followed the reunion with shows in Europe in 2007 and the band's first tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2008. A new Immortal album, '' All Shall Fall'', was released in autumn of 2009. The band's performance at

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...

in 2007 was recorded and filmed for the release of the 2010 video album '' The Seventh Date of Blashyrkh''. Abbath left Immortal in 2015 after a legal battle with the other members over the rights to the band's trademark.

I

Following Immortal's break-up in 2003, Abbath began working on a new project called I that same year. Abbath served as vocalist and guitarist, and was joined by former Immortal drummer Armagedda,

Gorgoroth Gorgoroth is a Norwegian black metal band based in Bergen. It was formed in 1992 by guitarist Infernus, who is the sole original member remaining, and has released nine studio albums. Gorgoroth are a Satanism, Satanic band and have drawn contro ...

bassist

King ov Hell Tom Cato Visnes (born 27 November 1974),Between Two Worlds'' in 2006 and performed their only concert at that year's Hole in the Sky festival in Bergen.

Abbath

After leaving Immortal in 2015, Abbath formed a new eponymous band and released their first self-titled album in early 2016. Abbath followed up their debut with the album '' Outstrider'' in 2019. Their latest album, ''Dread Reaver'', was released in 2022.

Bömbers

Bömbers is a

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

tribute band formed in 1996. The band consists of childhood friends Abbath "Killminister" on lead vocals and bass, Tore "Fast Tore" Bratseth (of Old Funeral and The Battalion) on guitars, and Jan Terje "Pez" "Party Animal" Pedersen (Punishment Park and Jef) on drums. Motörhead frontman Lemmy attended Bömbers' show at

Garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicl ...

in 1997 after his band's show in Bergen. Abbath left Bömbers in late 2000 to focus on Immortal and returned after their break-up in 2003. Nicola "Morrigan" Trier (of Aeternus) filled in on bass in his absence while Bratseth handled vocal duties. In 2005, Bömbers released the EP ''Bergen'' with covers of "Bomber", "No Class" and "Dead Men Tell No Tales". During the

Inferno Metal Festival Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival that takes place every year during Easter in Oslo, Norway. The festival was founded by Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland in cooperation with Radar Booking in 2001 and takes place at R ...

in 2007, Abbath joined the German

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band Sodom on stage and performed a cover of Motörhead's "

Ace of Spades The ace of spades (also known as the Spadille, Old Frizzle, and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards. The actual value of the card varies from game to game. Design The ornate design of the ...

Personal life

Alcohol issues

The 2019 South American tour of Abbath was abruptly cancelled mid-tour, after during a show at

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, Abbath appeared to behave erratically and "too drunk to perform"; the tour got cancelled the next day and Abbath announced entering

rehab Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation hospital, hospitals devoted to the rehabilitation of patients w ...

later that month.

Equipment

As of 2015, Abbath endorses Schecter Guitars. His signature model, RavenDark V, was released in 2017. Abbath has used the following guitars and basses throughout his career: * Schecter RavenDark V FR Abbath signature model *Schecter E-1 FR *

LTD In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by shares, the li ...

DV8-R (modified with a

Floyd Rose The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking Vibrato systems for guitar, vibrato arm for a guitar. Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1976, the first of its kind, and it is now manufactured by a company ...

tremolo system) *LTD V-401DX (with Seymour Duncan pickups) *GHL Jackson

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albu ...

copy *

Rickenbacker 4001 The Rickenbacker 4001 is an bass guitar, electric bass that was manufactured by Rickenbacker as a two-Pickup (music technology), pickup "deluxe" version of their first production bass, the single-pickup model 4000. This design, created by Roger ...

Bass * B.C. Rich Ironbird Bass * Westone Thunder I Bass Abbath uses an ENGL Ritchie Blackmore Signature E650 amp through either direct line in or a

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

cabinet.

In popular culture

Abbath served as an inspiration for the appearance of the character Lars Ümlaüt from the video game series ''

Guitar Hero ''Guitar Hero'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead guitar, lead, bass guitar, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match ...

''. The character wears many of the same on-stage outfits as Abbath and has nearly identical

corpse paint Corpse paint is a style of body painting, used mainly by black metal bands for concerts and band photos. The body painting is used to make the musicians appear inhuman, corpse-like, or demonic, and is perhaps "the most identifiable aspect of the ...

. Abbath appeared in the 2008 documentary '' Until the Light Takes Us'' about early Norwegian black metal along with Demonaz. Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas has an Abbath-inspired character on the label of their Black Metal

Imperial stout Stout is a type of dark beer that is generally warm fermented, such as dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout and imperial stout. Stout is a type of ale. The first known use of the word "stout" for beer is in a document dated 1677 in the E ...

Discography

Old Funeral * ''The Fart That Should Not Be'' * ''Abduction of Limbs'' Immortal * ''

Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism ''Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian black metal band Immortal (band), Immortal. It was released on 1 July 1992 through Osmose Productions. It is the only album to feature Armagedda on drums. Release The alb ...

'' (1992) * '' Pure Holocaust'' (1993) * '' Battles in the North'' (1995) * '' Blizzard Beasts'' (1997) * '' At the Heart of Winter'' (1999) * '' Damned in Black'' (2000) * '' Sons of Northern Darkness'' (2002) * '' All Shall Fall'' (2009) I * '' Between Two Worlds'' (2006) Abbath * '' Abbath'' (2016) * '' Outstrider'' (2019) * ''Dread Reaver'' (2022) Bömbers * ''Bergen'' (2005) Dimmu Borgir * ''

Death Cult Armageddon ''Death Cult Armageddon'' is the sixth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released on 9 September 2003. It has since sold over 100,000 copies in the United States; the first album under Nuclear Blast to do so; a ...

'' (2003) - backing vocals on "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" and "Heavenly Perverse" Enslaved * Isa (2004) - backing vocals on "Lunar Force" The Battalion * Stronghold Of Men (2008) - backing vocals on "Detonate" and "Man To Man (Warfare)"

References

{{Authority control 1973 births Living people Norwegian heavy metal bass guitarists Norwegian male bass guitarists Norwegian black metal musicians Norwegian heavy metal drummers Norwegian male drummers Norwegian heavy metal guitarists Norwegian heavy metal singers 21st-century Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Musicians from Os, Hordaland Black metal singers 20th-century Norwegian male singers 20th-century Norwegian singers 21st-century Norwegian male singers 21st-century Norwegian singers 20th-century bass guitarists 21st-century Norwegian guitarists 20th-century Norwegian drummers 21st-century Norwegian drummers Immortal (band) members Old Funeral members 21st-century Norwegian bass guitarists I (band) members Abbath (band) members Musicians from Odda