Interview by Kris Peters
Norweigian black metal outfit Immortal are widely regarded as one of the most important black metal bands in the world.
Ever.
Not a bad feat for a band who are, in essence, more of a driving project for the talents of guitarist come vocalist Demonaz than a fully fledged, functioning band in the truest sense of the world.
Immortal's triumphs and tragedies are well documented, with a number of extenuating circumstances conspiring over the years to potentially rob the musical world of one of its most vital exponents of their craft.
Thankfully, despite the adversities, Demonaz has remained true to his belief and vision with Immortal on the cusp of releasing their 10th studio album War Against All, which is also Demonaz's second as lead vocalist.
Demonaz is selective when it comes to interviews, so when offered a chance to spend 20 minutes alone with the great man HEAVY had pressed the button before the question had even been fully asked.
"Like every other time," he smiled when asked how he is feeling about the album being set free into the world. "I think it's always special to release something that you've been working on for a long time. This particular album took a long time to wait. It was actually finished being recorded more than a year ago, so I'm looking forward to finally getting it out."
To date Immortal have released two singles from the album, the title track and Wargod, with Demonaz shaking his head when asked if they were a good sonic representation of the album as a whole.
"Every song is different on this album," he measured. "It's the same as with Northern Chaos Gods. Even though it was a fast and intense album the songs are varied. They are different. War Against All is the fastest track, then you have Thunders Of Darkness which is a mid paced track and then you have Wargod which is the heavy one and there is an instrumental and a long song at the end of the album and two more songs like Return To Cold and Immortal which is also different. None of those songs have the same pace, the same tempo and there's a lot of variation in that universe."
In the full interview, Demonaz talks more about what to expect from the album, settling into his role as vocalist, the personal nature of creativity, the early days of the band, how he feels about the accolades, what's next for Immortal and more.
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