Ov Hell was originally intended to be a Gorgoroth record/project, but extended legal battles over the rights to the Gorgoroth name, which occurred between bassist King ov Hell, singer Gaahl and guitarist Infernus, who has continued on with the band while King and Gaahl have moved on. This project changed shape again and was then supposed to be called God Seed, but that didn't pan out, either. Thank Satan himself that bassist King ov Hell isn't bitter or sour about all that legal rigmarole and is happy with how 'The Underworld Regime' turned out.

"All drama concerning Gorgoroth is part of my past now," King told Noisecreep. "I don't think about it anymore. I`m concerned about the present and the future. The drama didn't change my way of thinking or my music. It did however take away focus at times on non-musical topics, but that was all."

Ov Hell features music that the despot has worked on since 2006. "The music have been aimed for three different projects," King revealed. "The first one I asked to participate was Frost of Satyricon. He did the drums on [Gorgoroth's] 'Ad Majorem Satanhas Gloriam' and it was natural to ask him to do the drums on my next black metal project. He recorded the drums in early 2008 when I still thought the album was to be the next Gorgoroth album."

King has worked with guitarist Ice Dale through numerous bands and projects in Bergen, Norway and says, "He helped me out with the pre-production, and it was natural to have him also do the guitars on the album, since he plays guitar and does it better than me. Teloch did some additional guitars on two tracks when I aimed for the record to be the next God Seed album. Teloch has been part of the Gorgoroth and God Seed lineups for years and it was natural to have him participate in the album. All of the musicians involved are personal friends of mine and can deliver high quality work on a strict time schedule."

'The Underworld Regime' is out April 13 through Prosthetic.

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