Norwegian black metal act Immortal has finished writing the material for their 11th studio album. The upcoming release serves as the direct follow-up to the 2023 record War Against All, issued via Nuclear Blast.
Band founder Harald “Demonaz” Nævdal confirmed the update on the official Immortal social media accounts on Sunday, April 19.
“Greetings, hordes! The writing of the next Immortal album is finished. The new material follows our steady path of fast riff-powered Blashyrkh metal. More news will follow!”
It is currently unconfirmed if additional session musicians will participate in the studio recording. Over recent years, Immortal has operated as a solo project driven entirely by Demonaz.
This lineup structure is the result of multiple legal disputes over the band’s trademark. In August 2020, a legal conflict surfaced between Demonaz and former drummer Reidar “Horgh” Horghagen. Demonaz had registered the Immortal trademark with the Norwegian Patent Office in July 2019, a move Horgh successfully appealed. Despite that ruling, Demonaz eventually retained the rights, releasing War Against All under the band’s name without Horgh.
This internal conflict followed a separate 2014 legal battle involving former frontman Olve “Abbath” Eikemo. Abbath attempted to claim the trademark, alleging the other members abandoned the group. The Norwegian courts ruled against him, maintaining the rights for Demonaz and Horgh at the time.
During a 2023 interview with Chaoszine, Demonaz discussed the resolutions of these conflicts.
“We have had some disputes. And there was problems already in 2014 with this. But everything is solved now. But I can’t tell you the details because [there is a settlement] agreement [in place preventing us from discussing it],” he said at the time.
“Most bands, they are, like, releasing two CDs or LPs and [they] disappear,” he continued. “I’ve had a band for more than 30 years, so it’s impossible not to lose some members or have agreements for so long time. I think every band that’s lasted more than 20 years or 30 years, you will see the same… Not every marriage is a happy marriage.”
When asked about his current contact with Abbath and Horgh, Demonaz provided an update on their dynamic.
“It’s been some time [since we’ve been in contact]. So that’s natural, I think. They’re busy with their stuff and I’m busy with my stuff. It’s not like in the old days when we were meeting up very often. But for me, it’s, like, there’s no bitterness. I’ve moved on, and they’ve moved on.”
