Ihsahn announced new self-titled concept album presented in two versions

“Art taps into the metaphysical and the archetypes of our existence – it lets us experience loss, death, love – it prepares us for all of those things in some way. That’s the value, that’s the perspective I wish to create from.” – Ihsahn 

IHSAHN has announced the release of his new album on February 16 via Candlelight Records / PIAS. The Norwegian progressive metal visionary has dared to push the realms of creative expressionism even further with his eighth studio offering. The release will embody two melodically interlinked versions of the same album: one metal, one fully symphonic, both creating a cinematically influenced masterpiece that is simply, definitively entitled Ihsahn.

Ahead of the release date, Ihsahn has shared the frenetic first single “Pilgrimage To Oblivion” with accompanying video filmed by Shaun Hodson at Loki Films. For the orchestral version of the track, a visualiser by Costin Chioreanu has been created. 

Pre-order and listen to Ihsahn HERE

Commenting on the new single, 

“‘Pilgrimage to Oblivion’ serves as a rather immediate introduction to the overarching musical and conceptual aspects of the album. The lyrics go directly into the storyline and the video is the first in a sequel of videos portraying the whole story.”

Whilst his musical journey has been frequently revelatory, the masterful control of rhythm and movement displayed throughout Ihsahn shows his work as a songwriter and composer at its most focused and self-assured. A gargantuan endeavour and one that Ihsahn professes to be one of the most complex projects he has ever undertaken, is a labyrinthine rabbit-hole of his own design, the scale of ambition immediately apparent. Wholly self-produced and scored over the course of three years, the metal version has been mixed by Jens Bogren, the orchestral version mixed by Joel Dollié and both versions were mastered by Tony Lindgren. Ihsahn freely admits that the process pushed him to his limits. It began, simply, with a piano.

Comments Ihsahn, 

“On average, I´ve been releasing a full-length album every second year since I was 16. And, you know, that has given me some opportunity to explore different options, so for my eighth full-length solo record, I thought, ‘okay, how can I do what I do best, but also raise the bar tenfold? At the heart of what I do is black metal, extreme distorted guitars and screaming, but since the earliest Emperor recordings you’ll hear the keyboard parts influenced by classic soundtracks by the likes of Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Bernard Herrmann, John Carpenter and so on. So, I approached the writing with the intent to present the material in its full-blown metal expression, but also to arrange the orchestral parts in such a way that they would work independently. Somehow an attempt to write a soundtrack within the structures of the full production, allowing me to explore different, and sometimes contrasting, variations of essentially the same music. In the end I wrote all the music as a piano short-score and arranged it for a typical band ensemble and orchestra, accordingly, making sure everything interlocked.” 

It’s that compositional core that allowed Ihsahn to build the two records from the ground up – a Herculean feat for the self-professed, self-taught musician, but it is perhaps that very absence of formal training that allowed him to throw out the rulebook and simply follow his instincts, and the time afforded by the pandemic created the natural gap required to so heavily invest himself in the project. As Ihsahn explains, that self-induced pressure came from a desire to keep his loyal fanbase and himself interested, which is not only the defining feature of his latest record, but it’s also the central characteristic of his entire solo career. 

“To create something worthwhile, you can’t aim for what an audience might expect, but you can aim to make something the best that it can be. When given the opportunity to make a record, it’d be arrogant to assume it’d be another Dark Side Of The Moon, or OK Computer, or Black Album, but somehow it’d be arrogant not to try!?! Admittedly, this is the hardest and most complex musical project I have ever done, and in the end, on a personal level, also the most gratifying. I really had to step up, and I learned so much in the process.”

And from the orchestral grandiosity of opening track “Cervus Venator” – whichever side of Ihsahn you choose to sit down with first – the epic, soundtrack qualities and richly hewn textures of Ihsahn are immediately apparent. It is a masterwork by any standard, and the definitive expression of Ihsahn‘s boundless capabilities as an artist. It’s a journey he’s eager for his dedicated fans to connect with.

Joining Ihsahn on this album are Tobias Ørnes Andersen and Tobias Solbakk on drums and percussion, with Ihsahn’s son Angell Solberg Tveitan adding additional percussion and violins by Chris Baum. Artwork for the album was created by Ritxi Ostariz with all promotional photography by Andy Ford. 

Not satisfied to only create a dual-record, there is also a conceptual story which underpins both sides of Ihsahn – a pair of separate but interwoven Wagnerian narratives revolving around the traditional hero’s journey, and while Ihsahn is reticent to tell all, he is confident that meaning will soon emerge for listeners willing to show equal commitment.  

Since 1991 Ihsahn has defied expectations and pushed boundaries. More than any other artist to emerge from the fertile black metal scene of the early ’90s, Ihsahn has firmly established himself as an unpredictable maverick. As the founding frontman of Emperor he is universally lauded as one of extreme music’s most important and influential voices, and he stands as the figurehead for what was arguably black metal’s creative apex. What is even more important to note is that as a solo artist Ihsahn has all but outgrown the confines of that achievement, and over the course of seven records he has forged a sterling reputation for innovation and unabashed originality that’s as genre-bending as it is gleefully indifferent to the weight of expectation. Starting with the release of 2006’s critically acclaimed The Adversary he has never made the same record twice, and it is that resistance to a templated approach that has become the cornerstone of his gloriously creative second act. 

Watch our recent interview with Ihsahn right here: