I've probably listened to the self-titled album 100 times at this point, for both the standard and orchestral versions. It's a masterpiece, and easy S-tier.
Fun fact: "The Principal Of Fire And Demise" was supposed to be the first Ihsahn LP. Candlelight Records forced him to release it as an Emperor LP. The final "true" Emperor LP was "IX Equilibrium". This is why Sammoth is credited as "additional guitars" in the liner notes of "Prometheus"
Now I really have to listen down Ihsahns cataloge, thx for the little snippets included. Just knew his name and kinda his style of music by his connection to Einar Solberg. But yesterday while preparing to cook I randomly saw his album and thought 'let's give it a try'... I was not ready for what to come. ^^ HUBRIS AND BLUE DEVILS alone gives me a need to buy the vinyl. So while I can't give you my personal ranking now, I plan to comeback somewhere in time after experiencing what I have missed. :D Btw., your pronounciation of 'Das Seelenbrechen' (german for '[the] breaking of souls') was okay. :P
Having been a late comer to Emperor (got into them when Prometheus came out), I thought my preferences would be off from more seasoned Ihsahn fans, but your tier list is almost identical to mine. That makes me happy.
Before this new album, I had only ever heard his solo stuff through his songs he did with Einar Solberg (because I’m a huge Leprous fan) and the two classic 90s albums he did with Emperor. But man, his new album is incredible!
I just love The Advesary. I know the production is subpar, but the songs are fantastic. It's like Black Metal Opeth. On the other hand there is not really a bad or "meh" Ihsahn record. We are critizising on the highest of high notes here. Here's my ranking: S: After, Arktis, Self-titled (2024) A: Eremita, The Advisery B: Amr, Das Seelenbrechen
@forgemastermetal while still really good, I find the songwriting not as tight as some other albums, and the amount of saxophone present is almost a hindrance.
S: Arktis, Eremita A: angL, Ámr, Prometheus (It's an Ihsahn record, really.) A/B: Ihsahn (Too new to decide.) B: The Adversary C: After, Das Seelenbrechen, Telemark D: Pharos, Fascination Street Also, the outro to The Grave is some of the heaviest shit ever.
Ihsahn said something to the effect that Ámr was intentionally produced to sound more claustrophobic. I guess he was also listening to hip hop and electronic stuff more at the time? I'm willing to overlook the production for shit like Wake.
Yes! His latest album might just be my most favorite of 2024 so far! Thanks for this video. It's interesting to hear a pro's take on Ihsahn and his compositions.
I really respect Ihsahn and his talent but outside of his first two albums with Emperor and a handful of individual tracks, the rest just doesn’t do it for me. I want to like him, I should like him, but it’s just not my kind of prog unfortunately
@@forgemastermetal I’m not sure, it just doesn’t really grab me. Nothing more technical than that. I respect him but after I listen to the solo work I usually don’t remember any specifics, it’s just fine then I move on. Compared to the first two Emperor albums, which have seared themselves into my brain 😂
Would love to see Ihsahn get back to the days of IX Equalibrium, Prometheus, Peccatum musically. Didn't really care for any of the albums after the Ihsahn album"After" . Even the self titled album "Ihsahn" was ehhh for me. Something I wouldn't listen very much.
