"For me rock'n'roll is the basic of all."

The Norwegian supergroup I, featuring members of Enslaved, Gorgoroth and Immortal, shall release its black'n'roll debut album, "Between Two Worlds", in November 2006 via Nuclear Blast. Some two months earlier we caught up with the project's founder, mastermind, vocalist and guitarist - Mr. Olve Eikemo a.k.a. Abbath of Immortal...

Vassil Varbanov: Good evening, Abbath! How are you doing?

Abbath: Good, quite good!

V. V.: Let's get straight to the point. The main thing when starting a project like I is to find the right musicians for it. Did you have the possibility to choose among many, or it was rather a small circle?

A.: It's not that many to choose from, as it's a small scene here in Bergen. The guys in the band are friends of mine. Drummer Armagedda has participated in the first Immortal album, so I've known him for quite a while. Guitarist Ice Dale of Enslaved helped me out from the early days of I and the pre-production, so he's intoВ it since day one, while Armagedda and bass player King (of Gorgoroth fame) came later.

V. V.: I is definitely what we call a supergroup, so even now, two months before the official release of your debut album, the expectations are great. Do you feel any pressure because of this?

A.: Yes, I've been working under pressure for the last two years, although this is music I make for myself, not for the big crowd out there. However, I'm pleased to get all this positive feedback so far. People who've already listened to our music really seem to like it, probably because it offers something fresh.

V. V.: When speaking about black metal, most people think mainly about Norway, but there are good black metal bands hailing from other countries, too, for example Finland's Catamenia, Britain's Cradle of Filth, etc. What do you think of them?

A.: I haven't listened to Catamenia, and I've heard like half a song from the new Cradle of Filth album while I was doing an interview... It sounded ok, but it's not entirely my cup of tea.

V. V.: Recently a countryman of yours, Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir, got involved into a rock'n'roll project called Chrome Division. Are you tempted to do something like this with I, or you'll stick to black metal till the end?

A.: For me rock'n'roll is the basic of all. I like to have some rock'n'roll stuff in my music, like Venom and Motorhead and early Kiss and... I like the old stuff, you know, and I wanted to take a break with Immortal, that's why I called I an intermission project and went back to the roots. As for Chrome Division, I haven't heard them yet, but they say it sounds very much like Motorhead, so I guess I'm going to like it.

V. V.: Finally, what's next forВ you after the album's release?

A.: We'll start rehearsing with Immortal for the shows we're gonna do next year. I guess we'll continue rehearsing with I, too, but we won't do any shows... yet.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock