STEINMETAL (7/10)

Far beyond the brink of vagueness, like striding slowly into a dense condensation without ever knowing where one's next step will be. It takes an imaginative state of mind to contract such a musical instability, plain irrationality but not in the sense of an illiterate individual, yet out of the bursting cognizance of a genius. Adventuring is not a bad word, especially for a prolific musician such as Ihsahn, also the ultimate leader of the re-emerged EMPEROR, with his newest, and fifth in number, solo creation under the banner of "Das Seelenbrechen" (Roughly translated: "The Soul Crushing"), via Candlelight Records. Ihsahn's travelling through the far reaches of Metal in progression, has been leading his creative writing into new boundaries of madness while utilizing the darkness as a constant guide, letting the listener's cognition a coercive spin within the clutches of a transcendent, yet deadly oblivion. Generally, it felt to me like a wicked experimentation, sometimes it reflected as farfetched and overbearing but on the other hand, plenty of ingenuity with various of dimensional layers as an spontaneous essence.

As if Ihsahn has been going through quite a lot in the past ten years or so, since appearing with his solo project, or did he? May true or false, it is unknown to me as I have never had the chance to have a little chat with guy. However, and it became quite clear to yours truly that Ihsahn might be having a hard time sticking to his created niche, always on the move searching for more answers, additional constituents that will keep his musical fuel fresh, bitter, darkened and atmospheric. It is not just about the mere usage of trumpets, replacing the Saxophone, but it is the twist between confusion and turmoil to a meager shrewd vindication, a release, like a supposed feeling of floating in the air. In comparison to previous efforts, nothing on "Das Seelenbrechen" can be pronounced as flowing or easy listening, one will need to buckle up and be ready for a craze, a foundation of ambiguity.

Ihsahn proved even harder that he and EMPEROR are two different beings. However, as it would seem on this album, Ihsahn himself demonstrated two different personalities. One created several kinds of assorted riffing parched on a variety of time signatures, creepy echoes and effects of noise and disruption, psychotic drumming commanded by Ihsahn's top notch growling voice with a few flickering clean singing endorsements. This framework is quite evident with its majestic obscurity on roughed extremity of "Hiber" and the overly intriguing riff mastery on "NaCl" that was mind blowing. The second character revealed a darkened yet a gentle soul of a mysterious persona, generating ambient fretwork, enchanting clean vocal experience, and an avant-garde kind of aura that appeared quite intoxicating kind in the likes of "Pulse". This is an exquisite slow moving musical encounter of no other, engulfed by an electronic darkwave like harmony; this is possibly one of Ihsahn's best vocal performances I have ever tuned to since getting to know his solo works, portraying coldness, overcasting a shadow of inspiration upon its impressive buildup.

Coming to a general point, "Das Seelenbrechen" isn't such an easy listener, it has its own twisted chaos like on the "Tacit" tracks of the noise gates of "See", which were too much to bear, nevertheless to listen while somewhat being overly out of place (That is not the beauty of progression, no sir). On the other hand, as always, I was hard for me to deny Ihsahn's cleverness and his utmost talent on being inventive, taking Metal music into places that only a few dare to take. This is a recommended album that I believe that anyone who is referring to himself as a Metalhead should take under consideration.

DANIEL FOX (9/10)

Progressive Metal, such that crafted by monumental composers such as Ihsahn, exists to engage one's mind, and to push the envelope set by one's expectations. Following the conclusion of the story set by his first 3 albums, "Emerita" featured a move to a more emotionally complicated atmosphere, and these feelings are continued on in another release (a year later!), "Das Seelenbrechen". It never fails to astonish me, how such albums are composed and recorded, in their entirety, by a single mastermind, and this latest release is no exception.

"Hiber" kicks off the album with a fast-moving, yet terrifyingly foreboding motif of hard-hitting, tumbling drum work, and layers upon layers of eery guitar arpeggios. It is an extremely diverse song, forever evolving; each new movement is a downright shock to one's system, most definitely one of the album's highlights. "NaCl" is one of the more complex tracks on the album, and rightly chosen as the album's single. The main riff is a prominent motif and, while incredibly avant-garde sounding, rather catchy; IHSAHN ones again showcases his diverse range of vocal styles, laying down some very easily-listening and breezy cleans. As one can expect, the feel of the song changes with each passing riff; quite possibly my favorite piece on this release. "Tacit2" and "Tacit" are both strange, yet interconnected songs. The former weaves a large multitude of tracks and ensembles, thus merging a great range of musical styles, ranging from black to industrial and serves to create a brain-scrambling wall of sound. The latter appears somewhat more accessible, epic and symphonic sounding, but the virtuosic drum work provided by Tobias work as a perfect contradiction, turning the track into something much more bombastic. "Sub Ater" is an almost entirely instrumental piece that weaves harmonized clean guitar and piano melodies, with eerie ambience, to create a dark, melancholic journey through a very grey soundscape.

Some progressive music can prove to be accessible and easy to get into, but the latest work crafted by IHSAHN is by no means a novice piece. People new to progressive music, metal, or anything avant-garde or strange, may be turned off. But for people like myself who like to experience intelligent, strange and abstract songwriting on a daily basis, it's perfect.