Album review: Ihsahn – Ihsahn

By DAN SOUTHALL

IHSAHN has been a part of the heavy metal community since his teens years as part of black metal originators Emperor and continuing through a successful solo career that has pushed the boundaries of what many think he should be doing as an artist. As this album was in the works it was rumoured this would be a return to his ‘roots’, as a way to prove he can still do whatever his mood dictates.

Opening with enormous cinematic scope, the album lulls the listener into a false sense of musical comfort before kicking in proper with “The Promethean Spark” sounding like it has come straight from an Emperor writing session, with added bombast courtesy of violins making their presence known amongst the black metal soundtrack laid out.

Doubling down on both heavy and symphonic, “Pilgrimage to Oblivion” and “Twice Born” play into each other in a swirling mass of beautiful strings and symphonics as well as heavy riffs creating a musical drama that is difficult to produce and even more difficult to master..

“Anima Extraneae” serves as a quick breather between musical suites and sees Ihsahn change and get a little cleaner musically on “Blood Trails to Love” and “Hubris and Blue Devils”. Both tracks pivot in a slightly more prog playfulness that his solo music has built a reputation on. Ihsahn leaves the best of this more experimental side until the penultimate track “At the Heart of All Things Broken”, summing up the album in all of its nine minute glory, as if to neatly summarise what came before and prepare the listener for the second part of the album, the much talked about orchestra-only variant of the album.

If you find yourself drawn to symphonic soundtracks or just want to impress those you love with something bombastic this has you covered. If on the other hand you are too cool for this kind of musical culture move on, but remember that this is the second side of the musical tale and should be ingested at least once so the entirety of the story can be fulfilled in your minds eye, much like when Fleshgod Apocalypse released a full orchestra soundtrack to their King album. As essential as the ‘heavier’ side of the album, both parts are made to be engulfed as complete halves of the same story. You should indulge it in all of its magnificence.