Abbath leaving Immortal initially led us all to believe that the band had completely broken up and was done for good, considering Abbath was the frontman and main songwriter. Then we found out that Immortal was working on new music, just lyricist and guitarist Demonaz alongside drummer Horgh. So what the hell happened? Well, now Abbath comes out and says he was essentially forced to quit.
This is along with previous comments saying he left because he felt like the group wasn't going anywhere anymore.
"It was never my intention to go solo but I really feel like I've been forced into it. Apparently they [lyricist/guitarist Demonaz and drummer Horgh] are going to continue on [as Immortal] without me and that's fine — but it was very disappointing that no one, not even [Immortal's record label] Nuclear Blast, wanted to hear my side of the story. The other guys wanted to do things solely on their timetable and also claimed that I need to go to rehab, which was just nonsense, because I've always delivered, live and in the studio — always. My plan was to go into the studio last year. If I had my way,Immortal would have been on tour right now … I just think they ended up being in it for the wrong reasons. They weren't showing any passion for what we were doing."