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Ihsahn
Ihsahn - After

01. The Barren Lands
02. A Grave Inversed
03. After
04. Frozen Lakes On Mars
05. Undercurrent
06. Austere
07. Heavens Black Sea
08. On The Shores

With 2006’s hugely promising ‘The Adversary’  showcasing Ihsahn’s immense ability to think well beyond the limits of Emperor and into bold new pastures, few could have anticipated how outstanding a follow-up would be unveiled in ‘angL’. That stunning piece of sumptuous, progressive metal was extreme in the most vital sense of the word, and were it not for the arrival of Opeth’s immense ‘Watershed’ within the same week, it might very well have taken 2008 for its own.

Fast forward two years, and there are no such risks with ‘After’. If there is to be a better album released in 2010, it’d quite possibly have to rival anything that’s emerged since the turn of the millennium and would at least, if nothing else, have to make some epic use of a saxophone. This is a swirling, sprawling masterpiece composed of no less than eight minor journeys in their own rights; be it the murky jubilation of the title track or the compelling and thunderous ten minute epic ‘Undercurrent’.

It’s impossible to pick one definitive highlight of an album that is essentially flawless in its conception and its delivery, but look no further than its final and longest track in ‘On The Shores’ - a meandering, expansive piece of doomy heaven that climaxes in a wonderfully galloping midsection and a chest-beating finale of spectacular effect. “This is the After,” croons Ihsahn. “Where nothing transcends.” Beyond this, very little will.

‘After’ is out now on Candlelight.
Reviewed by Merlin Alderslade






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