Ihsahn- angL (Candlelight Records)
Oh dear, where to begin. I believe that as a person, Ihsahn is one of the
most influential and iconic characters within the Black Metal community. He
has been around the scene from just about the beginning of the Norwegian
black metal uprising, definitely a part of all the controversy surrounding
the church burnings and murders, and paved the way for an immense amount of
young bands to change their musical direction towards a new style of
symphonic black metal. Emperor was phenomenal in every way, and I have
always loved their entire catalog, now they cease to exist, and every member
has gone on to do many other projects. And with Ihsahns second solo album,
I feel like Emperor has come back, progressed and set a new standard for
modern day extreme music.
Ihsahns first solo album "The Adversary" was a formidable album, and did
enjoy it. But I feel it lacked something, not anything so much apparent,
and it's hard for me to put my finger on it exactly. That is in no way the
case here, not by any means. AngL starts off to me where Emperor left off,
in the same vane, and I get the same feeling as I did the last time they put
out an album, which to me is a very good thing because the other band
members efforts were not as reminiscent to Emperor as I had wished. One of
the first things I notice on the album is the drumming, it is absolutely
flawless, performed by Spiral Architect/Borknagar/Harding Rocks Asgeir
Mickelson. Track one is a great opener, and sets the bar for an outstanding
album. Track two "Scarab" is flawless, there is amazing acoustic breakdowns
that is extrememely beautiful and pleasant to listen to, it compliments the
track very well. The piano passage with Ihsahns clean singing is
extraordinarily serene and genuine and flows together greatly with the
entire song. This track defines what I feel is everything you could
possibly ask for in a song, extreme brutality, perfect screaming, awesome
breakdowns, brilliant choruses and stunning use of clean singing. Track
three "unhealer" starts off with a very solemn guitar passage, very much
like early Novembre, invoking feelings of sorrow and depression,
representing an immensely dark overture. Ihsahns clean vocals are very
prominent in this track, and his progression as a "real" singer is apparent
here. They have steadily gotten better and more professional over the
years. The transission from beautiful to brutal is amazing in this track,
and Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt's low growls fit the song extremely well.
Track four "Emancipation" is a very interesting track, and keeps you
guessing and waiting for what is going to come next, with the back and forth
screaming to singing. Track five "Malediction" starts off very Emperor
esque, reminding me of songs off of "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk," and all
in all it is a very "Black Metal" track which was very well thought out
heavy. Track six "Alchemist" is a highly technical opus, with varied time
signatures, and Ihsahn performs some spooky, dark clean singing that again
fits very well with the song structure and different variables. Track seven
"Elevator" is likely progressive, definitely resonant of an Opeth song,
where it is still technical, brutal yet still being spellbinding, and the
breakdown into the clean singing part transitions well and in no way awkward
and it all flows together very nicely. Finally track 10 "Monolith" opens
with a serene and atmospheric acoustic guitar portion, but jumps right into
an intense and epic run, making this song a great closer to an outstanding
album.
Ihsahns clean vocals are very strong and powerful on this album, and it
makes for a very emotional and intense listen. I'm extremely impressed over
all with this disc, and could not be more exuberant with a single album. I
pretty much have been waiting for this release for a long time now, and
could not be happier with what has been presented here. We now know that
Ihsahn has still got "it" and hopefully he knows this so he can keep making
amazing songs for a long time to come. I seriously suggest everyone to pick
this record up as soon as it is released, whether you are an old school fan,
or would like something new to add to your collection, either way any
extreme metal fan should own this and cherish it forever.
\m/ Listen or Die \m/
Sam Nastasuk