Ihsahn has released the second single from his forthcoming eponymous album. ‘Twice Born’ is a fraught maelstrom of symphonic metal that continues the conceptual storyline from the previous single, ‘Pilgrimage To Oblivion’. His upcoming album, simply titled “Ihsahn”, will be out on February 16 via Candlelight Records
Daring to push the realms of creative expressionism even further with his 8th studio offering, the Norwegian progressive metal visionary will release two melodically interlinked versions of the same album: one prog metal, one fully symphonic, both creating a cinematically-influenced masterpiece.
Accompanying the new single are two videos, one for each version (metal and orchestral). The video for the metal version was filmed by Shaun Hodson at Loki Films. For the orchestral version of the track, an animated visualizer by Costin Chioreanu has been created.
Commenting on the new track, Ihsahn says: “This second single, ‘Twice Born’, picks up the conceptual narratives right where the previous single, ‘Pilgrimage to Oblivion’, ended. Both the metal version of this song and the orchestral version will be accompanied by two more videos, continuing the storylines. Musically this song is perhaps slightly more playful than ‘Pilgrimage To Oblivion’ but follows the same interplay of screams, guitars, and orchestra.”
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 endeavor 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 is 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.
“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.”
“Ihsahn” features 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. The artwork was created by Ritxi Ostari, and pre-orders are underway HERE.
“Ihsahn” Tracklisting:
1. Cervus Venator
2. The Promethean Spark
3. Pilgrimage To Oblvision
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
