Well this could certainly be interesting. Getting a real Artemis / Huntress vibe from that album artwork too. "The Killing of a Sacred Deer," indeed

Love that he brought back this symphonic sound. It somestimes reminds me a little bit of Prometheus by Emperor.


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His solo work never really clicked with me until now. This album is wonderful.

Written by nikarg on 17.02.2024 at 12:25

His solo work never really clicked with me until now. This album is wonderful.

Same here, I never enjoyed his solo work, but I am going to wait few weeks before giving it a go as I cannot stop listening to Eternal Storm

Edit 28th Feb
No. Still don't like his solo work. For sure he is great musician but the sound of it is not for me.

So far, my favorite album of 2024

Someone must be punching a review for this sooner or later.

I was expecting something "heavier", but I'm far from disappointed. Amazing compositions as always, some of Ihsahn's best work I think. No-one merges music genres/melodies/styles like this guy.

I really like the symphonic interlude track Anima Extraneae - sounds like something one of the more theatrical prog groups like Native Construct might have made. The rest of it - it's one of those albums that is inherently intriguing and overall enjoyable, but I would struggle to say what exactly I enjoy about it, which is a bit par for the course for my Ihsahn experiences. Very good, but probably one I won't revisit; probably the standout song for my tastes is At The Heart Of All Broken Things, really enjoy the symphonic granduer of it

Written by Cynic Metalhead on 19.02.2024 at 09:05

Someone must be punching a review for this sooner or later.

'tis done

Great record. Edit: I find myself coming back to this album. It seems to have more to offer. Interesting sounds and avantgardeish black metal with progressiveness. Cool

I really enjoyed the first listen. I wore out his last full album, which I think I enjoyed a lot more than most people.

I appreciate that he explores sounds and ideas and doesn’t get stuck with any specific thing. A real artist’s artist, in my opinion.

Looking forward to a few more spins!

It's self-(en)titled. All song TITLES are in CAPS. I had to know what was all the cry about.
Well, sadly, on this album the ego is BIGGER than the talent.
Let me summarize Ihsahn sound for you: tum turum turum tum turum turum tum turum turum. Then he transitions to some cinematic score and to his "clean" singing. Towards the song's end we are back at the synth drums doing their tum turum turum tum turum turum tum turum turum.
Song no.4 has some Diablo Swing intro misleading you to believe you'll finally hear something good and consistent, but nope, it's same uh ...Sahne (in german) again.
Song no.5 is like sonic diarrhea. I can't put my finger on the tune it's stolen from, pardon, took inspiration from and (mis)treated in his own recipe, but it's familiar (from a movie most surely)
Song no. 6 starts too like a movie. Bambi?
Song no.7 was a promise, but you'll soon realize that this still isn't worth your money.
Song 8 is cartoonish and I gave up hope from the remaining 3.
To me, apart form the synthetic soulless sound of instruments and their wailing, together with the spaghetti of clean and cold-stricken vocals, this whole album listens like an audio Curriculum Vitae of sorts: this is what he's sung, this is how he sounded in...and in...and how he sounds in... Disclaimer. the SAME!
I know he doesn't get tired of this, after all he must have played this same tune over many months and years, but I do. From a single listening session.
He should just compose movie scores as they are pecuniary more attractive than this this artsy fartsy exposure to 1000 monthly "listeners" on spot, who swear he's good. Though he won't, somebody must have lied to him that he has vocals and composer talent.
So, the tracks were written BIG, but they fall short. Down to EARTH. So much for promethean sparks and Icaruses' flights.
There are lots of artists that sound bigger in their modesty and moderation. Don't waste time listening on this, as time is precious and art is long.

^ This must be the funniest bashing of an album that I've read on the site for a long time. And let's not dig deeper into the grammar or the building of sentences because even most of Bad English's comments makes more sense. Thanks for the laugh though

Written by ivulv on 08.03.2024 at 12:50

It's self-(en)titled. All song TITLES are in CAPS. I had to know what was all the cry about.
Well, sadly, on this album the ego is BIGGER than the talent.
Let me summarize Ihsahn sound for you: tum turum turum tum turum turum tum turum turum. Then he transitions to some cinematic score and to his "clean" singing. Towards the song's end we are back at the synth drums doing their tum turum turum tum turum turum tum turum turum.
Song no.4 has some Diablo Swing intro misleading you to believe you'll finally hear something good and consistent, but nope, it's same uh ...Sahne (in german) again.
Song no.5 is like sonic diarrhea. I can't put my finger on the tune it's stolen from, pardon, took inspiration from and (mis)treated in his own recipe, but it's familiar (from a movie most surely)
Song no. 6 starts too like a movie. Bambi?
Song no.7 was a promise, but you'll soon realize that this still isn't worth your money.
Song 8 is cartoonish and I gave up hope from the remaining 3.
To me, apart form the synthetic soulless sound of instruments and their wailing, together with the spaghetti of clean and cold-stricken vocals, this whole album listens like an audio Curriculum Vitae of sorts: this is what he's sung, this is how he sounded in...and in...and how he sounds in... Disclaimer. the SAME!
I know he doesn't get tired of this, after all he must have played this same tune over many months and years, but I do. From a single listening session.
He should just compose movie scores as they are pecuniary more attractive than this this artsy fartsy exposure to 1000 monthly "listeners" on spot, who swear he's good. Though he won't, somebody must have lied to him that he has vocals and composer talent.
So, the tracks were written BIG, but they fall short. Down to EARTH. So much for promethean sparks and Icaruses' flights.
There are lots of artists that sound bigger in their modesty and moderation. Don't waste time listening on this, as time is precious and art is long.

😄😄 Nice review and I go with your advice. I will visit this album only when I get some extra time to spare.

This album is superb. So ominous and suspenseful. Didn't think symphonic black metal can be done quite this way. Extremely creative in its approach and great songwriting. I loved the shorter songs more, especially pilgrimage to oblivion and twice born.

Some of his best work. I'll need time to mull it over, but it may have dethroned After for the top spot.

AT THE HEART OF ALL THINGS BROKEN is simply magnificent.