Swear I tried. This album is not for me... =/

When some songs shows a slight of promising moments (like ''Citizen'' and ''Homecoming'') it simply does not get anywhere.

Good tunes....

Ihsahn's solo debut effort is probably the hardest to get into out of all six of his releases. I say that not necessarily because it was his first venture into solo musicianship, but more to do with the fact that it sticks out because of its obvious classical mannerisms and really intricate progressive song structures. There's not a song here which doesn't render itself sophisticated. Even the forthcoming previews (Called By the Fire", "And he Shall Walk...") are unique, complicated (too much for some listeners) compositions but at the same time it's really nice to hear Ihsahn share a new direction. I'll always look back on this record as a real bold, daring musical move for his musical career, but in the end he made it work.

Hard to believe such great albums followed this one. Maybe Ihsahn wasn't experienced enough at the time to release a quality product or he should have called Jens Bogren to handle the mixing earlier. And that is regarding the production only, most songs lack a bit of direction as well.

This album for fans of Emperor, King Diamond, and Rush.

Very good album indeed.