September 13: Norwegian composer, vocalist, guitarist Olve Eikemo – AKA Abbath Doom Occulta - is 40-years-old today.

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Olve Eikemo was born 13 September 1973 in Bergen, Norway. As a young boy he was a great fan of the band Kiss. He started his musical career with the band Old Funeral before his band Immortal was formed.

Although he is primarily known for playing guitar, he is also proficient as a drummer, using techniques such as blast beats and double bass as heard on the Immortal albums Pure Holocaust and Battles In The North.

Immortal's history begins in 1989 as death metal band Amputation. At various times throughout Immortal's existence, Abbath was lead vocalist, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, and lyricist, mainly due to the inconsistent line-ups they were able to put together.

For a long period of time, however, Abbath served the band as vocalist, bassist and (studio) drummer while Demonaz played lead guitar. It was not until Horgh arrived that Immortal was able to secure a steady line-up, but problems continued.

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. They released At the Heart of Winter in 1999, this time with Abbath handling guitar and bass, with Horgh still on drums. This album marks a large shift in sound and style for the music of Immortal.

In 2000 they 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 Sons of Northern Darkness, Immortal broke up as a decision arrived by mutual agreement between the members for personal reasons.

In 2006, Abbath started a new band called simply, "I". Abbath is the frontman and guitarist of "I" and is joined by former Immortal drummer Armagedda on drums, Gorgoroth bassist King ov Hell on bass, Enslaved guitarist Arve Isdal on guitars, and former Immortal guitarist Demonaz writing lyrics. The debut album called Between Two Worlds was released in 2006.

In 2008, Immortal begun to tour again, playing shows at the Wacken festival in Germany, and touring for the first time in Australia and New Zealand. Their album All Shall Fall was released in September 2009 in Europe with a US release following a month later.

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For more about Immortal, visit their Website at –

http://www.immortalofficial.com/

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