Always one to make the headlines, Gaahl (the former vocalist of controversial Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth) has now announced his retirement from metal. Gaahl recently confirmed rumours that he has left his current band, God Seed, and in doing so has "basically retired from metal," he told Terrorizer [via Blabbermouth].
But, man, the land of metal never gets enough of this guy, so we're kind of bummed. Seriously, he fronted a great black metal band known for stirring the pot with live shows featuring naked models and decapitated pig heads, served time in jail for assault, had police investigate him for comments he made in Canadian director Sam Dunn's Metal: A Headbanger's Journey documentary (Gaahl said he was in support of church burnings), and famously gave one interviewer minutes of dead silence when he asked Gaahl a question Gaahl didn't like (see video below).
Then, he parts ways with Gorgoroth, gets into a dispute which drags on for years with his old bros about who owns the name (he lost early this year), starts hanging out with the fashion crowd in Norway and comes out of the closet.
Needless to say, we always got a kick out of his antics. But despite his ongoing Trelldom project remaining quite black metal-influenced, it looks like the metal world won't be hearing much from our beloved Gaahl in the near future, though he says he's not leaving the whole scene behind.
"It's not like I will cut out my metal friends because of this," Gaahl told Terrorizer. "It's not like that, my friends are still my friends. This decision just basically deals with my own art I will put out that I feel is right. There is very little honesty in music, it doesn't seem like people are interested in the concept or the cult of music anymore."
But, man, the land of metal never gets enough of this guy, so we're kind of bummed. Seriously, he fronted a great black metal band known for stirring the pot with live shows featuring naked models and decapitated pig heads, served time in jail for assault, had police investigate him for comments he made in Canadian director Sam Dunn's Metal: A Headbanger's Journey documentary (Gaahl said he was in support of church burnings), and famously gave one interviewer minutes of dead silence when he asked Gaahl a question Gaahl didn't like (see video below).
Then, he parts ways with Gorgoroth, gets into a dispute which drags on for years with his old bros about who owns the name (he lost early this year), starts hanging out with the fashion crowd in Norway and comes out of the closet.
Needless to say, we always got a kick out of his antics. But despite his ongoing Trelldom project remaining quite black metal-influenced, it looks like the metal world won't be hearing much from our beloved Gaahl in the near future, though he says he's not leaving the whole scene behind.
"It's not like I will cut out my metal friends because of this," Gaahl told Terrorizer. "It's not like that, my friends are still my friends. This decision just basically deals with my own art I will put out that I feel is right. There is very little honesty in music, it doesn't seem like people are interested in the concept or the cult of music anymore."