AFTER

When I saw After, Ihsahn's third solo release, in the stores, I was both pleasantly surprised (It was the first time I'd heard of the album) and slightly worried at the same time. I had enjoyed both The Adversary and angL upon their release, but didn't know whether or not Ihsahn could maintain such good quality in songwriting. The first listen quickly brushed off any doubts I once had. After is, without question, among the best music I've yet to hear created by Ihsahn.

After contains several strong guitar riffs, including the riff in the verse of "The Barren Lands", the intro to "Frozen Lakes on Mars", and the main melody in "Heaven's Black Sea".

It's tough for me to list standout tracks on this release. There is a fine balance of tracks with Ihsahn's brand of metal ("The Barren Lands", "Heaven's Black Sea"), and tracks driven by melodic and clean instrumentation and vocals ("After", "Austere"). No matter what form the track takes, they often have rather majestic, progressive qualities. Some are even epic beyond their running time.

There is a good blend of Ihsahn's growling and melodic vocals like on his previous solo work. I'm a fan of his clean voice and am glad he uses his solo albums to showcase it.

Spectacular use is made of the saxophone on this recording, not sounding out of place at all within these metal songs. Whether used in the up-tempo "A Grave Inversed" or the marvelous theme shared by both "Undercurrent" and "On The Shores", Jorgen Munkeby's sax work gives this album an additional splash of colour. The rhythm section of fretless bassist Lars K. Norberg (Nice solo in "Austere"!) and drummer Asgeir Mickelson play quite tastefully.

After is easily worth the investment. The album has qualities that should please Emperor's black metal fans, progressive rock/metal aficionados, and most in between. After is essential listening!