IHSAHN - Ihsahn

Artist:  Ihsahn
Album:  Ihsahn
Year:  2024
Genre:  Black Metal / Progressive 

Without hearing a single note off this record, I made a bold prediction that Ihsahn would be my favorite record of 2024.  Once I learned of this album, the hype engine in my head skyrocketed.  Ihsahn is a revelation in music.  He’s innovative.  He’s relevant.  He’s unique.  He’s dangerous.

At the age of 53, I’m finding it more and more difficult to get stoked over a new release.  For a few years now I’ve been trying to unravel what the hell my problem is…and I’ve come up with nothing except I’m a cynical old fuck.  Well, I’m not completely dead on the inside yet because this is a record I’ve had high anticipation to hear and I was counting down the days until its release.

Ihsahn is a master.  From his brutal beginnings in an embryonic black metal scene to the progressive metal innovator he is now, there is no denying the ferocious persistence to his craft.  He will keep you guessing, but no matter what direction he chooses to go in, it is always top tier quality. When you expect him to turn left, he goes right.  When you expect him to go right, he runs you over.  Ihsahn has never abandoned his barbaric black metal roots; he’s just surrounded them with advancing and experimental intricacies that show the growth of a professional musician.  This is extreme music.  Dare I say more extreme than his previous work in Emperor due to the challenging nature of what he’s presenting.  No, not because it’s the fastest, heaviest or most deranged.  It’s extreme because of the bold and adventurous compositions.  These are not just songs, but deep creations put to tape.  There are peaks and valleys.  There is hostility and meekness.  There is dark and there is light.  Ihsahn’s musical brain is just different than many of his peers as proven by the orchestral version of Ihsahn that was released simultaneously as this record.  I know the word “refreshing” probably isn’t a term metal fans like to hear, but after watching many hours of interviews with the man, I believe he’d appreciate that descriptor of his music.  This eponymous album may just be his best work to date.  It’s complex but doesn’t ever lose the listener.  For those wondering if he’s given up his signature black metal voice yet, there’s plenty of it on this record and he is still as virulent and terrifying as he ever was.  So far, “A Taste Of Ambrosia” is my favorite song of the year with virtuoso writing that balances melody and bleak emotion.  There are generational artists in every genre of music and my prediction is that his name will be chiseled in stone along with the other innovative greats in music history.   

Listen to "A Taste Of The Ambrosia" here.