For thirteen years Immortal served as one of the prime movers in the Norwegian black metal scene. Formed in 1990 by the duo of Abbath and Demonaz, their their early albums defined old-school black metal to a T, while it's their last three albums where they really started becoming a true metal force, growing and maturing as songwriters while never betraying their early roots. Their last album, 2002's Sons Of Northern Darkness, drew rave reviews from all walks of metal, considered by many to be one of the top albums of that year. In July 2003 came the somewhat sudden announcement that they were disbanding for personal reasons. The rhythm section of Iscariah and Horgh were later seen in Necrophagia and Hypocrisy, respectively, while mainman Abbath played in a Motorhead cover band for some time, and has since formed a new band called simply I, with a new album due in the fall. Immortal itself has also reformed, at least temporarily, for the purpose of playing a few select summer dates.