page_title: Gaahl
section_title: Post-Gorgoroth (2008 onward)
hierarchical_section_title: Gaahl / Career / Post-Gorgoroth (2008 onward)
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: God Seed au Hellfest 2009: Gaahl.
context_page_description: Kristian Eivind Espedal, better known by his stage name Gaahl, is a Norwegian vocalist, musician and painter. He is best known as the former frontman of Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. He is also the founder and lead vocalist of Trelldom and Gaahlskagg. Since leaving Gorgoroth he has been involved with God Seed, Wardruna, and Gaahls Wyrd. He was the focus of the documentary True Norwegian Black Metal and also appeared in the film Flukt.
context_section_description: In July 2008, Gaahl revealed in an online interview that he was involved in the launch of Wynjo, an upcoming fashion collection for women, together with Norwegian modeling agent Dan De Vero and designer Sonja Wu. At the same time, it was also revealed that he and De Vero had had a "close relationship" since 2006. It was stated that they were no longer a couple but remained good friends. In an interview for the November 2008 issue of Rock Hard, Gaahl confirmed his homosexuality.
  Shortly thereafter, De Vero said that he had received threats from black metal fans, both at his door and by phone and email. It was also alleged that a fight had erupted backstage at the 2008 Wacken Open Air, triggered by homophobic remarks. Allegedly, the person who made the remarks had to be hospitalized. However, Gaahl denied that anyone had ever "said anything derogatory" to him in person. When asked by the webzine FaceCulture if he thinks people will see him and his music differently now that he has publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, Gaahl answered:
  Mankind is known to be narrow-minded, so ... maybe some [will have a negative reaction]. But I guess it will even out the score in a way. I think it will be positive for some and negative for some. It's always good to have some negative as well. Otherwise you would end up with equality and equality is the worst thing in the world. Equality is stagnation. It doesn't let anything grow. It holds back.
  In March 2009 the name dispute ended when Oslo City District Court ruled that Infernus was the rightful owner of the Gorgoroth name. It also found that by trying to oust Infernus, Gaahl and King had instead excluded themselves from the band. That month, Gaahl and King assumed the name God Seed.
  In early 2009, Gaahl spent two months in Spain. King stated in an interview that Gaahl had been spending time in Spain working on lyrics and vocal arrangements for the debut God Seed album. However, in another interview in April 2009, King stated that:
  We have recorded everything in the studio and are just waiting for Gaahl to put vocals on it. So we have only vocals and the final mix to go before it's all done. It's sometimes a nightmare to work with him in the studio because of the pride he puts into the smallest details. If he's not in the right mood or doesn't find the correct words we get nothing done. At times I've spent days in the studio counting seconds with nothing happening. It's the same way now, but I know in the end the result will be unique and powerful.
  In summer 2009, God Seed performed at Hellfest Summer Open Air in June and With Full Force in July. In August, Gaahl revealed that he had quit the band. His bandmate King later clarified that Gaahl had in fact chosen to retire from metal music for the time being. King put the band 'on hold' as a result.
  In January 2010, Gaahl was hired by Den Nationale Scene in Bergen to play a role in Svartediket, a performance for the 2010 Bergen International Festival. This caused controversy due to Gaahl's anti-Christian standpoint and support for church burnings. The Bishop of Bjørgvin spoke against Gaahl's involvement.
  Gaahl appeared in the 2012 Norwegian historical action-thriller film Flukt (Escape), starring as archer 'Grim'.
  In 2012, God Seed reformed and released their debut studio album I Begin. The band later played their final show in August 2015.
  In September 2015, Gaahl announced his new band, Gaahls Wyrd, who played their first live show at the Blekkmetal Festival in Norway on November 13, 2015. In regards to forming the new band, Gaahl stated:
  I'm very pleased with what me and Tom have done together. We've created a lot of good songs, but I think the difference between us is probably the reason why I've started this new band. I've made a lot of my favourite songs that I've created in God Seed and I've brought with me one of these characters from that band.
  Besides his musical career, Gaahl is also painting. He has an exhibition of his paintings in the Galleri Fjalar in his hometown Bergen.
caption: Gaahl at Hellfest in June 2009
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-H5", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2009:12:06 18:35:08", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Manual", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]", "Image ExifOffset": "372", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "814", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4047", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:06:19 11:11:54", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:06:19 11:11:54", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF LightSource": "Tungsten (incandescent light)", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "257/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1700", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2266", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}