Ihsahn: Pilgrimage To Oblivion

IHSAHN barely needs an introduction; over the past thirty years, he’s helped pioneer the second wave of black metal with EMPEROR, before striking out solo, retaining a black metal core but embracing everything from orchestras to jazz and prog. His influence is impossible to overstate, but he’s never rested on his laurels and instead, when we catch up over Zoom, he’s preparing to release his eighth solo album, one that, for the first time, is simply titled Ihsahn. One that, again for the first time, is in fact two separate albums under the same name; one symphonic, progressive black metal, and the other entirely orchestral.

“It’s been quite a few albums, over time,” he smiles when recalling that, on average, he’s released an album every two years since he was sixteen. Now though, there’s been a six year gap since Ámr, though he’s hardly rested on his laurels. “I did the two EPs, Telemark and Pharos that were part of a project; I wanted to take the extremes of the black metal elements of my catalogue and that aesthetic, and the Pharos EP was the opposite, with all my experimental songs.” Those, though not toured as intended, ended up having an impact on his next steps.

Once the two extremes were “out of [his] system,” ideas started to flow for his next body of work. “Having done all these deviations, in some sense, over the years, this time I wanted to lean on the core elements of what I’ve been doing,” he begins. In fact, drawing a straight line from his early career to now, black metal and its trappings have always been part of it. “With all my albums, I try to create a scenario where I have one foot on solid ground, something that I know, and I try to add something that brings me to the edge, to create the tension I need.”

To hear him tell it, “really, there’s nothing about this new album that’s innovative,” as it contains “the traditional black metal ensemble, traditional symphony orchestra setup, the storyline is a very Joseph Campbell style hero’s journey.” In reality, Ihsahn is a sprawling, epic undertaking that marries his extremity with DEVIN TOWNSEND-esque progressive moments, lush orchestras and a clear, driving ambition that makes IHSAHN’s own statements seem particularly contradictory to the music he’s created, not least in part because Ihsahn is very different sides of the same coin.

“It’s not like I took the metal version of this and then also wrote the orchestral version,” he begins, explaining that the entire album started life as a piano short score before being expanded on. “All the orchestral elements are in the metal record, it’s the same arrangement. There’s nothing in the orchestral arrangement that’s added or taken away.” A theme that he found emerging during its creation that he pursued is that of duality, with the metal side being the reflection of the orchestral versions. “I felt there could be more to it if you could present music in these two forms.”

He expands on this, singling out lead single Pilgrimage To Oblivion as an example. Opening with a clash of guitars and blastbeats with his acerbic howl, it’s a perfect example of black metal extremity. On the reverse of that, once removing all but the orchestra, solemn cellos instead introduce the piece. “It’s basically the same riff,” he explains, “but an entirely different interpretation and emotional expression of the same music.” The deeper into the creative process IHSAHN got, the more prominent the idea of duality became. He grins, “it’s not a new idea, but it’s still fascinating to work with.”

Naturally, the question of why he took until album eight to release a self-titled album comes up, though he’s quick to shut down any suggestion that it’s some kind of overarching statement about his music. “I found it really hard to find one title, given all the elements that went into this album, that was representative of everything,” he explains, “and secondly, I feel that it’s very representative of the core elements that have always been with me, so I felt now was as good a time as any.” Again it’s an understatement; from an outside perspective, Ihsahn certainly feels like a bold reaffirmation of its creator’s peerless, and fearless, creative spirit.

He’s reluctant to get too far into its complexity and difficulty, smiling instead that “music should be representative in and of itself; if a picture is amazing but the painter had a hard time during it, who cares? You can look at the Statue of David and you don’t need an explanation to know it’s amazing.” In fact, an emerging theme during our conversation is that while he pours as much of himself as he can into every album’s creation, it’s not for any external validation at all but his own restless creative drive.

When we ask what he’s most excited for fans to hear from the album, he replies simply “that entirely depends on what level of involvement people want.” He recalls his love of IRON MAIDEN and how looking at the artwork for the likes of Powerslave then hearing the music, the two matched and it made sense; there’s a hope that people see Ihsahn in a similar light. “I hope it’s like a big, impressive building. Some people might say, fuck that’s a big impressive building and walk past. It’s still a cool experience. Some people might want to go inside and hopefully I’ve managed to decorate the rooms nicely.”

He continues, “the way I talk about the complexities and layers, it might give the impression that this is hard to access in some way. But I don’t think this is any more or less accessible than anything else I’ve done.” His pushback against over-intellectualising something he earlier confessed to being a nerd over again echoes the duality of this self-titled undertaking. At once a sprawling, progressive, orchestral monolith of labyrinthine twists, turns and breathtaking depth, it’s also a piece that incorporates a surprising ease of accessibility, catchy melodies and, in its orchestral guise, almost meditative.

“It’s like with food or wine,” he smiles, “it’s very nice if you have someone to help guide the experience and tell you about the flavours. But if you think it tastes like shit it doesn’t matter!” A cavalier attitude, perhaps, but it’s no less true. “Music is subjective, I can’t tell you you’re not feeling something even if I think the music is crap,” he laughs. Unsurprisingly, Ihsahn is anything but; his drive to create something new out of old ingredients has borne remarkable fruit, a 100-minute sprawl of progressive metal and symphony orchestras, that’s a fascinating look into the mind of its creator, and begs the question of where he could possibly go next. Wherever it is, it’s sure to be unmistakably IHSAHN.

Ihsahn is out now via Candlelight Records.

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