ARKTIS.

Great riffs, dark and beautiful melodies, eerie atmosphere, what more is there to ask? I've had Ihsahn on my radar for quite some time, even back in 2006 when I was just getting into metal (via DT), but knowing he came from that infamous Norwegian early 90's black metal scene, his music didn't call to me, so I never got around to listen to any of his solo work.

Recently, having acquired some more "extreme metal" tastes (such as Opeth, Meshuggah, Death, Mastodon, Cynic, Leprous), I decided to give his music a little go. First I listened to his early solo work, but those few songs I heard where just enough for me; so I moved to Das Seelenbrechen and was pleasantly surprised by the complexity and the emotion of his songs. Didn't listen to the whole thing though, in fear that black metal style tunes would come up and "ruin it" for me. Einar Solberg's presence on this record and Ihsahn's collaborations with Leprous is what ultimately brought me to "Arktis".

I never really liked black metal per se, but some of it's elements present in other genres of metal (little blast beats here and there in prog metal for instance; growls) seem to be appealing. That's what makes Arktis such a good album, it doesn't rely on some formula to work on so many levels; each song is unique. There's brilliant musicianship throughout the eleven tracks, but the thing that got me was, the context. This "unsettling" feeling I got when I finished listening to it, brought me the sensation of actually being in the north, aimlessly walking on the ice and snow. The bitter cold, the whiteness... Progressive doesn't mean technical, and though "Arktis" is no stranger to technical prowess, it certainly does not need it to be as compelling as it is.

2016 is getting a lot better now! This is a solid five star album, any prog fan should give it a go.