Immortal

"Writing the lyrics comes very naturally," Immortal lead singer Demonaz explains. "I walk in the woods a lot. I just walked for four hours tonight. It was beautiful." When asked to describe the surrounds, he claims his lyrics themselves offer ample description of a Norwegian winter's natural beauty; the ideas come straight from the source. Some might find it odd the purveyor of seemingly extreme and violent music would behave so, but I believe it of the man now calmly chatting away, anticipating a hot cup of tea at the interview's end.

A sharp contrast awaits him when Immortal arrives in our desolate and drought-ridden land this March. It's their first Australian tour and the terms of the trip appear to have been dictated without compromise. A single band (Tasmania's Ruins) will be supporting nationally, with no local supports yet announced. While many fans would blithely obliterate their piggy banks for the chance to see Immortal on stage, support or no, it seems out of kilter with the established norm for big names in extreme metal (compare the tantalising opening lineup of Portal and Nazxul for Mayhem's Brisbane show in May).

To anyone seeking an explanation, Demonaz proves no more help than I. His tone changes markedly and his lyrical answers become curt and to the point. "So there's one band? I didn't know that." Tight lipped indeed, and not much freer regarding the new album itself, which he assures me is well under way despite the coming tour's intervention. "Abbath and I are writing songs for the new album at the moment; we're still working on them, working on the album's concept and all of that." Despite his excitement, he remains reluctant when discussion focuses too intently on the new songs. "I can't really talk about it. We have songs we think are ready and we think we have the title ready, but it can all change. For now we are rehearsing and will play an Immortal show as usual... But I can tell you it will be brutal. Heavy. An Immortal album." Demonaz seems keen to consider tour and album separately, hinting that while each show would bring the very best of Immortal's long history to their fans, new material is something best saved exclusively for future consideration. A minor pity for those already dying to hear the follow up to 2002's 'Sons Of Northern Darkness', but no great shame given the wealth of icy grimness pent up in the band's earlier works.

His professed ignorance on matters of management may be explained through the members' frustration with the bureaucratic aspects underpinning the band. He attributes Immortal's five year break to this very fact. "For us it was all getting too much. We had to deal with labels, deadlines and promoters all the time and it was like we weren't doing it for ourselves any more. If we only sell 100 records we'll be happy ... we started this for us and it will always be that way."

Many of Immortal's contemporaries have undergone bouts of abrupt change recently - some have reformed after years of absence, others yet have parted ways (nastily in the case of Gorgoroth) and the return of Attila to Mayhem has certainly caused no little stir. The music hasn't escaped, either, with albums like 'Ordo Ad Chao' and 'The Cult Is Alive' raising more than the odd ireful brow of late. I ask Demonaz if he has felt any pressure to adapt and change, as so many others clearly have, or whether Immortal will ride on, aloof and defiant. "We've never been part of a scene, we don't look at what other bands are doing and we just do what we want to do."

One unavoidable change the band has had to undergo, however, was the relegation, through injury, of Demonaz to a permanently off-stage position in 1997. Despite the comings and goings of members (most recently the addition of Apollyon on bass), the on-stage incarnation of Immortal has remained a 3-piece throughout. "...and that's how it's meant to be. A guitar, a bass and drums. All the good bands were 3 pieces. Look at Venom or Celtic Frost," Demonaz asserts. And when the others take stage? "Well, we live and breathe Immortal. Everything we do is because of Immortal... When they're on stage, that's like my hour of freedom," he chuckles. "It's when things are almost out of my hands and I can watch what happens. But mostly I make sure everyone is doing their job behind the scenes, making sure things work."

Mike Cross

Immortal play at Fowler's Live on Fri 14 March