Country: Norway
Genre: Progressive experimental metal
Full length: Ihsahn
Format: Digital
Label: Candlelight Records
Release date: February 16, 2024
Once again, returning to the well in search of new ground for extreme metal, I find it in the new self-titled release from Ihsahn, the musician known for his work with Peccatum, Thou Shalt Suffer and Emperor. I was caught off guard by the soaring classical piece that opened this album, the first indication of how much Ihsahn has evolved as a musician since I last heard him perform on his solo project.
In 1994, Emperor released "In the Nightside Eclipse" with a sound unmatched by other bands at the time, which gave the genre a much-needed push forward. Not only was the music in your face with scorching guitars and blasts, but it was also massive, majestic, and deep, a vehicle to Norway's pagan past with cold, dead spirits returning to haunt the listener.
Ihsahn is notable for building on Emperor's achievements without adhering to the typical guidelines associated with branching out. After years of staring into the abyss, the abyss is looking into him, bringing out what it has found in the immeasurable depths of his mind and finding the places where it all fits. You’ll find that what's revealed is not all ugliness and nightmare if you listen carefully.
“Ihsahn” features an unconventional, well-balanced, tight-knit blend of experimental black metal and outlandish classical music, with a vocal range that’s equally disparate. The distinctive style he brought to “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” and “IX Equilibtium” (Emperor) is still present here, infusing you with that unnerving sensation of all the frigidness of Norway in winter, made all the more chilling by the melody he brings to other verses.
Rather than softening things up, the assonance of the ariose strings and canorous vocals heighten the songs’ eccentric quality, a quality that can only be described as far off the beaten path. Ihsahn’s self-sufficient experimenting achieves a transcendent operatic theme with carnivalesque songwriting, discordant and melodic chords, traditional and uneven metre, unhinged and beauteous passages, jazzy refrains and varying degrees of intensity.
Completely chaotic and lacking any saleable inclinations, “Ihsahn” leaves some of its tracks somewhat unresolved, providing an air of mystery that lasts until the final track leaves impressions of something thoroughly extraterrestrial. The musical canvas on which this is painted, complete with clear production and a burnished resonance, might not appeal to everyone, but if you approach it not as black metal, prog, experimental or anything else, you might see it as Aldous Huxley saw the universe once the doors of perception were cleansed. -Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Ihsahn: All vocals and instruments, songwriting
Track list:
1. Cervus Venator
2. The Promethean Spark
3. Pilgrimage to Oblivion
4. Twice Born
5. A Taste of the Ambrosia
6. Anima Extraneae
7. Blood Trails to Love
8. Hubris and Blue Devils
9. The Distance Between Us
10. At the Heart of All Things Broken
11. Sonata Profana
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