Tuesday, March 10, 2009

FROM THE FREEZING MOON OF NORWAY WITH LOVE AND GRIMNESS: VARG VIKERNES PAROLED, INFERNUS WINS GORGOROTH NAME, SUSPERIA MEMBER SUFFERS HEART ATTACK:




"Suddenly,life has new meaning"-REVEREND BIZARRE's cover of BURZUM's "Dunkelheit"

I've seen kids wearing their BURZUM t-shirts here in the Hudson Valley Area of New York.
Ya know, the three extreme metal news articles, oh wait, FOUR that I'm going to report on, all involve bands from the beautiful country of Norway (Scandinavia) where the weather is cold and extreme metal is of supreme quality. Norway is a very beautiful country aesthetically with a wondrous history of the Heathen Norseman in an identity crisis of sorts. Hey, Norway has socialized health care, and the countries longest criminal sentences are only 21 years. Ask Varg Vikernes,(BURZUM mastermind) as he will be released from prison (after serving 16 years) for the murder of Oystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous MAYHEM guitarist)and burning three churches.
I have no comment, other that yeh, I liked VARG VIKERNES music, but personally he was quite excessive in his treatment of others and flat out misguided in his actions, and I could do without his political point of view. FROM BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
Varg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh) — the former BURZUM mastermind who is currently serving a Norwegian prison term for the August 1993 murder of MAYHEM guitarist Oystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous) and setting fire to three churches — will soon be a free man.

In September 2008, Vikernes's fourth application for parole was denied, but a couple of weeks ago he finally received the message he has been waiting for: after almost 16 years in prison, he will be released.

"I will have to report [to the parole officer] for one year — initially every two weeks, and then once a month," Vikernes told the Dagbladet newspaper.

Varg's mother, who last year wrote a letter to Dagbladet in which she argued that her son was being unfairly treated by the justice officials who repeatedly denied his parole application, is very relieved that her son will be able to join his family in Bø (a municipality in the county of Telemark, Norway), where he recently purchased a small farm.

"I am very happy that he has been so strong and that he held out," she said. "It will be good for the family that they can be together every day."

For the past couple of years, Varg has been allowed to leave the prison regularly to walk around Tromsø, Norway (where the prison is located) and visit his family: his mother, his wife, eighteen-month-old son and sixteen-year-old daughter.

"I'm ready for society — and I have been for many years," Vikernes told Dagbladet last July . "I have learned from my mistakes and become older. Now I just want to be together with my family. My mind has never been in prison; I think all the time about what I should do on the day that I am released." He added, "I have barely seen my son since he came into the world. Even though I hear his voice on the phone almost every day, it is very tough to not be present while he is growing up. I miss my family. And I look forward the day that I could work on my farm, create music, write books and be with the wife and kids around the clock — and live a normal life. I have received tremendous support from my family. It means a lot."

Last year it was reported that case workers at the Justice Ministry feared that Vikernes would be unable to adjust to life on the outside after his years in jail.

In denying his parole for the second time, the Justice Ministry emphasized that Vikernes escaped from prison in 2003 and that he has ties to neo-Nazi groups.

"I haven't been in contact with them for a long time. Police security services know this," Vikernes previously told the VG newspaper.
(EDITORS NOTE): Longtime GORGOROTH guitarist INFERNUS has claimed victory in the lawsuit vs. KING OV HELL and GAAHL for copy write over the bands name. INFERNUS was released from GORGOROTH in 2007, and claimed KING OV HELL went behind his back and filed for copywrite over said bands name. INFERNUS is an original member of GORGOROTH as GAAHL is GORGOROTH's third vocalist. (What happened to "Pest" the Lord Worm of Gorgoroth?) GAAHL and KING OV HELL will have to change the name of said project without INFERNUS into whatever they please but not GORGOROTH. This whole fight (INFERNUS vs. GAAHL and KING OV HELL) was acted out on MYSPACE as INFERNUS was locked out of said bands MYSPACE account. Best of luck to all sides in any future projects.
FROM BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
The verdict has been reached in the dispute over the rights to the GORGOROTH band name involving vocalist Gaahl, bassist King ov Hell and the group's estranged guitarist Infernus.

Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) filed a lawsuit against King ov Hell (real name: Tom Cato Visnes) in September 2008 claiming that King (the sixth bass player in GORGOROTH's history) went behind his back in September 2007 and secretly applied for trademark protection of the GORGOROTH bandname and logo, which Infernus had been using since 1992.

A posting on Infernus' MySpace page reads as follows: "Oslo City District Court has today [Tuesday, March 10] delivered a verdict on the main question in the GORGOROTH trademark case, which took place at the end of January 2009. The court has decided that King ov Hell's trademark registration #243365 of the band name GORGOROTH is NOT valid and shall therefore be deleted. The court states that King ov Hell and Gaahl excluded themselves from the band GORGOROTH when they tried to fire Infernus in October 2007. The court further states that Infernus cannot be excluded from GORGOROTH, unless he himself decides to quit. Infernus is very pleased, but not surprised, by this verdict. The remaining issues concerning financial matters and such are yet to be decided upon."

The witnesses that testified in court — besides Infernus, Gaahl and King Ov Hell themselves — during the January 28-30 trial in Oslo, Norway were as follows:

* Torgrim Øyre (former GORGOROTH member, booking manager at Hole In The Sky Festival)
* Anders Odden (ex-CELTIC FROST, CADAVER INC.)
* Tormentor (former GORGOROTH member, now member of the Infernus lineup)
* Espen Solheim Røhne (Norwegian distributor Indie Distribution, who has sided with Gaahl and King Ov Hell)
* Per Gyllenbäck (Regain Records, who has sided with Infernus)
* Asbjørn Slettemark (from Norwegian music industry magazine Faro Journalen)
* Gro Narvestad (Inferno Festival)

In a recent interview with Hungary's Fémforgács webzine (conducted in January), Infernus stated about the legal battle between him and his former bandmates, "I do not consider it as a war. It was basically King ov Hell who went behind my back and, in September 2007, secretly applied for a trademark ownership of the band name and logo at the Norwegian Industrial Property Office. Thereafter they have been commercially exploiting the name for whatever it was worth. Now I am suing him, and the vocalist as well. Whatever reasons they might have had to do what they did is to me of complete irrelevance. If they were not happy working together with me, they could have gone and started their own band, easy as that. . . I don't care what they have to say. They for sure have had their time in the media lately. And they will be having a chance to repeat that in court."
FROM BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
BLABBERMOUTH.NET has received the folowing statement from bassist King ov Hell (real name: Tom Cato Visnes) and vocalist Gaahl (real name: Kristian Espedal) regarding the latest developments in their legal dispute with guitarist Infernus over the rights to the GORGOROTH band name:

"Regarding the recent court case over the use of the name GORGOROTH, Gaahl and King confirm that parts of the verdict have been decided and went in favor of Infernus. This is only a partial verdict on the case. Because of the complexity of this case, there will be further court hearings and the final verdict will be announced within a few weeks.

"The judge came to the conclusion that it is impossible to kick out an original member even if he doesn't contribute musically or lyrically. The judge also states that one can't kick an original member out of a band even if that member performs actions which are viewed as disrespectful towards promoters, session members and other working partners.

"Gaahl and King wish Infernus the best of luck using the banner of GORGOROTH on his art.

"Gaahl and King will still present the art they are known for creating in GORGOROTH albeit under another banner. The new name will be announced shortly."

Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) filed a lawsuit against King ov Hell in September 2008 claiming that King (the sixth bass player in GORGOROTH's history) went behind his back in September 2007 and secretly applied for trademark protection of the GORGOROTH bandname and logo, which Infernus had been using since 1992.

The witnesses that testified in court — besides Infernus, Gaahl and King Ov Hell themselves — during the January 28-30 trial in Oslo, Norway were as follows:

* Torgrim Øyre (former GORGOROTH member, booking manager at Hole In The Sky Festival)
* Anders Odden (ex-CELTIC FROST, CADAVER INC.)
* Tormentor (former GORGOROTH member, now member of the Infernus lineup)
* Espen Solheim Røhne (Norwegian distributor Indie Distribution, who has sided with Gaahl and King Ov Hell)
* Per Gyllenbäck (Regain Records, who has sided with Infernus)
* Asbjørn Slettemark (from Norwegian music industry magazine Faro Journalen)
* Gro Narvestad (Inferno Festival)

Gaahl and King entered the studio on August 25, 2008 in the their hometown of Bergen, Norway to begin recording eight new tracks composed by the bassist for an as-yet-untitled new album. Along with Gaahl, King and Frost (SATYRICON) on drums, the full recording lineup includes Teloch (guitar) and Ice Dale (guitar). ENSLAVED's Herbrand Larsen once again produced the band in the studio.

Fan-filmed video footage of the Gaahl-fronted version of GORGOROTH performing on December 19, 2008 in Munich, Germany can be viewed below (clip uploaded by "eblinternational").
(ITP EDITORS NOTE): SUSPERIA vocalist ATHERA has unfortunately suffered from a heart attack as he is currently under observation in an intensive care unit in Norway. SUSPERIA recently signed to CANDLELIGHT and are currently working on a new release. All the best in health to ATHERA as SUSPERIA are a quality extreme metal band. FROM BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
Athera (real name: Pal Mathieson), vocalist with Norwegian metal band SUSPERIA, was rushed into Akershus Universitetssykehus Hospital in Lørenskog, Norway on the morning of March 9 suffering from acute stomach pains and heavy bleeding. Initial tests revealed that the singer had suffered a heart attack caused by a damaged blood vessel. Athera is currently in the intensive care unit under close observation, while further tests are carried out. He is expected to remain hospitalized for the foreseeable future. At this moment, future plans, including touring commitments, remain unchanged until a full diagnosis of his condition has been confirmed.

Athera (pictured below) recently completed vocals on SUSPERIA's fifth studio album, which is due for an early summer release through the band's new label, Candlelight Records. The group worked continuously throughout 2008 on the LP, which Athera described as "going back to the early days with the melancholic riffing and dark emotional vocals and coming all the way through to today, with a perfect blend of everything SUSPERIA has been and become."
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-