According to this Facebook statement by Season of Mist, King ov Hell has quit Abbath due to the lyrical direction the band's new album is taking.

It's pretty strange because I've never really heard of someone opining that Carl Jung was strongly aligned with Christian theology. I'm really wondering if there aren't more personal issues as well, but that's pure speculation based on Abbath's erratic behaviour.

Regardless, the Abbath camp seems to be almost comically in disarray again. I thought the debut was pretty strong and I'm still looking forward to the new album, but I can't help but feel a little worried that the front man's world seems to be crumbling around him.

That is very strange indeed. He must be confident that he will find a better project elsewhere. Regarding what he's saying about maintaining artistic integrity, he certainly has come a long way from that dubious Gorgoroth era, then. Or perhaps it wasn't King's failing as much as it was Gaahl's, but still... Quite weird.

It does seem very odd - I know King ov Hell has something of a reputation as one of the biggest egotistical douchebags in the entire black metal scene, even among his peers, but it does seem incredibly odd. By this logic, he should have refused to join Gorgoroth because the name comes from the work of J.R.R Tolkein who was Roman Catholic . I do also wonder if personal issues aren't involved...I remember hearing about that Inferno Festival fiasco that happened last year, and the band/label never released any statement on it to clarify what the fuck happened. Wonder if that's related in some way.

Let's see:


Carl Gustav Jung inspired lyrics for an Immortal (Abbath) album?!?

Apparently for the new Abbath album.

Hahaha yeah he must be living with lots of regrets then I guess.



That's exactly what I was thinking about.

Yeah, but I mean that the lyrics use to be similar for both bands, right?

No, the Jung inspired lyrics are exclusively going to be on the new Abbath album, they've never done anything Jungian in Immortal that I'm aware of.

Well, it does strike me as odd that they'd go from writing about immortalesque wintery war themes to Carl Jung.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeah, this reeks of fish.

It's pretty clear that King is sick of Abbath's substance issues and they've decided this is the best way to both push the new album and get King as far away from Abbath as possible.

I am by no means an expert about Jung, but I remember researching him (reading a few wikipedia articles...) a year or so ago. He does use mythology, unlike Freud who was purely secular, but I never felt that he was more strongly connected to Christianity than any other mythology. He discussed characters from Greek, Roman and Norse mythology in several places.

Also, wouldn't it be hilarious if King played bass on the new Immortal live performances?

Such kinds of logic just aren't very smart. I mean, how does using social media sit with KOH's ideology then? Certainly not far-fetched that many religious people of various sorts are involved in there as well. And that's merely one out of a myriad examples.

Seems like either an excuse to leave for different reasons or he's just making something out of nothing... Nobody would have cared or probably even noticed this vague "connection" he's talking about. Either way, good for him for being able to walk away, I'm sure being in Abbath pays better than 100% of other black metal bands. P.S. please don't join Immortal.

That's got to be the lamest excuse I've ever hear for someone leaving a band. They always dance around what's really going on in these official "statements" to save face but there is definitely more to the story than we're getting. Even if Abbath's new lyrics coincide with Jung's philosophy, I seriously doubt he wrote anything that could be tied to christianity.

I mean, Judas Iscariot did all those Blake inspired songs and he was a Christian mystic, too. Seems flaky. Anyway, good riddance! This guy has never been anything of note - Abbath can find a better bassist and hopefully stay sober enough to perform live. I've never seen him but I missed his gig at Party San last year due to travel connections and apparently he was somewhat "worse for wear", shouting "I'm drunk - it's okay, it's happened before!". The first Abbath album was cool, so this should be interesting, too.

Where was King's integrity when it came to attempting to steal Infernus's band name from him, I wonder?

Exactly.

This could've easily just been brushed off as "creative differences" but the specifics of this incident just make me wonder how many actual instances of "creative differences" departures are rooted in things this asinine...

I don't know about that. Have you given his God Seed material a chance? Their only album got really good responses from many critics in Norway, and it's the only black metal album I've heard being brought up in conversation with music hipsters in Norway, who don't really listen to the genre. It's too bad they never followed up with a 2nd album.

I completely forgot about how incredible that God Seed album is. I like it better than anything else Gaahl and King have ever worked on.

Try again.


THANKS.

And don't forget the Ov Hell album.

Carl Jung was heavily inspired by the gnostic thoughts in Christianity. While he was very careful never to flaunt his beliefs (because of the time and place where/when he lived) he continuously hits points in his text that relates heavily to gnosticism. He even wrote Septem Sermones ad Mortuos. This was revealed by Martin Buber and lead to Jung defending himself by trying to disconnect himself from gnsoticism. he did so badly and with false evidence (among other things claiming the writing of the text was a sin of his youth while in reality he penned it when he was 41 years old). And shortly after the debate he wrote to father Lachat that his psychology is to be regarded as "a continuation of the hermetic tradition".

Among many other things most evidence points to Jung being heavily influence by gnostic though despite wanting to ditance himself from it in the public eye.

So, what's the deal with the lyrics? Are they pro-xtian or merely about this branch of esoteric xtian thought? It will be important to make this distinction in order to determine to what degree this explanation is a pretense.

Didn't King quit Gorgoroth because being a teacher interfered with the satanic image?

Actually he tried to steal the band name and lost the legal battle

This is just a lame, edgy excuse to leave a declining situation. The live shows i've seen are not good at all and the response to the Abbath solo album was lukewarm at best

I'm a huge fan of Abbath's guitar style and songwriting, i hope he realizes the situation and gets himself togheter ASAP

Black metal musicians are such wimps these days. Lawsuit this, lyrical direction that.

In 1991 this would have been settled with battleaxes at dawn.

In 991.

It wouldn't surprise me if Abbath these days is kind of a jerk and difficult to work with but jesus fucking christ King has to be the biggest douchebag dumbass in the entire black metal scene. He's a fucking session bassist that meanders between established bands and then tries to either take them over or stir up needless drama. He should just stick to his shitty solo project and keep selling his image. Such a joke.

Purely secular? Like the Oedipus complex?

Yes.

That was actually a rebuttal

It was? Maybe you should just tell me why you think I'm wrong and be upfront about it instead of asking a rhetorical question.

A purely secular theory of the mind does not mean you cannot use characters and story arcs from mythologies to make your point. A purely secular theory of ethics could invoke the stories in the Bible, without being "religious" for that reason.
If you compare it to Jung's use of archetypes and mythology and how he relates it to the collective unconsciousness you will see how different these two approach the subject. Joseph Cambell wrote an essay or an article which explained it very clear, I'll post a link if I find it online.

So, this inspiration from gnostic thought could be the source / reason why he stated that an ideal archetype for the Ego would be Lucifer?

Black metal fans are such wimps these days. Gossip this, gossip that.

In 1991 they would have been listening to the music they liked.

Where did he say Lucifer was an ideal type for the ego? I think I've read somewhere that he has written about Satan, Lucifer and Jesus Christ as archetypes for the ego but in that order. Satan as the ego that is dependent on the lowest in man (carnal nature, subconscious etc). Lucifer as the ego enlightened but in a false way. And then Jesus Christ as where ego and self become one in what is called Selfhood which is the great goal.

Wow if you get upset for drawing on Christian imagery in lyrics, there goes pretty much everything in metal

You have a good point here. Thanks for explaining what you meant.

A valid point, especially provided that he bears "St. Peter's Cross" on his forehead!

I read that King is loomed down upon by alot of BM artists