With Emperor in the 1990s, Ihsahn defined black metal. In his solo career since then, he's been defining himself: Over the course of three top-notch records -- The Adversary in 2007, Angl the following year, and now After -- he's pushed the style he developed beyond its limits, imbuing it with the dynamics and emotion that his earlier work sometimes lacked. The trilogy's conclusion is possibly its best, and undeniably its most experimental, entry.In many ways, After is a logical progression from the preceding two albums. Once again, Ihsahn pays more attention to his gentle material than he ever has before, offering listeners such gems as the layered and almost peaceful title track and the expansive "Austere." Once again, he gives his fans some truly epic, huge choruses, such as that in "Frozen Lakes on Mars." And once again, he reaches new heights in his ability to pile guitar after guitar on the mix without anything sounding cluttered.
But in other ways, After is a whole new animal entirely. Throughout the record, psychedelic, progressive, and even jazz influences are prevalent, rounding out the blend of metal, Scandinavian folk, and classical that Ihsahn has been perfecting ever since leaving Emperor. Two of the songs top ten minutes in length.
Most impressively, a jazz saxophone appears in about half the tracks. This is no mere gimmick: The instrument works with the music here as it does nowhere else, somehow sounding lonely and cold enough to fit in without losing its trademark soul and zest. It's rare that someone does something truly new in music, but this might be one of those times. Listen especially to the wailing solo played over the outro to "On the Shores," which closes the album; it is one of the moodiest and most interesting passages of music Ihsahn has ever composed.
Despite all this progress, however, this is still fundamentally an Ihsahn record. When the heavy guitar riffs come storming in, for example in opener "The Barren Lands," they're as angular and haunting as ever; when Ihsahn screams, there's no mistaking who it is; and that old sense of barrenness and evil pervades every second of this record. Longtime fans, even the hardcore metalheads who like to lob accusations of "selling out," will find a lot to like here.
Only a few people are putting together high-quality, innovative metal songs right now. Ihsahn is one of those people, and it looks like he'll be one for some time to come.
-- Robert VerBruggen is an associate editor at National Review.
