Ihsahn’s debut solo album Adversary was proof of the musician’s evolution from his genre-defining black metal past to a more traditional metal approach. There were bits of death metal, some traditional Iron Maiden/ Mercyful Fate styling and it was all still wrapped up in a vaguely black metal feel. It was also evident that Ihsahn was getting better and better as a songwriter and as a guitar player. I loved the Adversary and thought it was a terrific and logical follow up to the last Emperor album, Prometheus.

angL, released earlier this year sees Ihsahn team up once more with Asgeir Mickelson (drums) and new addition Lars Norberg (bass) who have played together in Spiral Architect while also turning up in a variety of bands including Borknagar. Backing band thus taken care of, all Ihsahn had to do was come up with a bunch of songs that could match up to The Adversary. Luckily, he’s gone one better than that.

The music on offer is for the most part, progressive melodic death metal with clean acoustic guitars, raging Euro-death and some terrific guitar playing from Ihsahn. Ihsahn also shows off his continuing growth as a vocalist with some nice clean vocals through the album. There’s also an obligatory guest vocal spot on the album, this time from Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt who does a great job. The one thing that really stands out on this album is Ihsahn’s superb guitar playing. His leads on this album are at a whole new level and his riffing sounds pretty damn unique too. It’s progressive without ever coming across like Opeth (even the song with Mikael Åkerfeldt), it’s heavy enough to satisfy just about anybody and there are these little fills that Ihsahn uses superbly to accentuate the songs.

There’s no filler material here at all but the opening trio of Misanthrope, Scarab and Unhealer is a terrific start to the album and the quality just does not drop. Elevator (imagine Solefald and Arcturus jamming together) and Threnody do a fantastic job in showcasing Ihsahn’s vastly improved clean vocal style and honestly, this  album shows the phenomenal growth of Ihsahn as an artist. 

In terms of a reference point, there are bits here that sound like Prometheus and IX Equilibrium but essentially this is a direct progression from The Adversary except that Ihsahn’s skill has gotten even better. Alchemist is a case in point combining traditional heavy metal with a frantic uber-technical rhythm and some soaring lead guitar work. Also, Ihsahn’s got himself a terrific rhythm section. Mickelson and Norberg are not even close to the stuff they did on Spiral Architect but then again they don’t need to. The duo sound rock solid and the songs benefit greatly from their tight playing.

Each song comes across as a unique entity that still fits into the whole. angL is turning into one of those albums that can just be played anytime, anywhere and enjoyed to the fullest. The real excitement though, comes from the fact that if Ihsahn’s growth as a musician continues apace, the third album is going to be an absolute classic. That said, angL comes pretty close.

Label - Candlelight

Year of Release - 2008