<\/span><\/span>‘Das Seelenbrechen’ was a kind of transition, based on improvisation. Let us see what Vegard Sverre Tveitan offers us in 2016, still in good company with the drummer <\/span><\/span><\/span>Tobias \u00d8rnes Andersen.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>Irresistible<\/em> is the word which comes to my mind when the first notes of ‘Disassembled’ are thundering into my ears, a dynamic riff <\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00e0 la<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span> Ihsahn. Verse and chorus, but also thousands of\u00a0ideas, as this unexpected melo bridge where Leprous’ <\/span><\/span><\/span>Einar Solberg<\/span><\/span><\/span>‘s voice does wonders.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>The next songs keep the momentum: the bombastic ‘Mass Darkness’ where Matt Heafy from Trivium gives his ‘give in’; the groovy ‘My Heart Is of the North’, with Nicolay Svenn\u00e6s Tangen’s keys and organ, Robin Ognedal’s six or maybe more strings, and a guitar sound which reminds me of Flotsam & Jetsam’s ‘Drift’; the hypnotic ‘South Winds’ and its final words: ‘Cancel all flights to the promised land’. Headbanging guaranteed and a great musical journey: could not be better.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Based on a simple melody, ‘In the Vaults’ overflows also with a thousand glorious details. The riff of ‘Until I Too Dissolve’\u00a0c<\/span><\/span><\/span>ould have come from Eddie Van Halen’s 82 Kramer.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>‘Pressure’ is dark, majestic, and\u00a0yet again a\u00a0thousand details and ideas, which make\u00a0‘Arktis’ unique. What about ‘Frail’, then ‘Crooked Red Line’ (saxophone by J\u00f8rgen Munkeby, of course), full of opposite feelings and atmospheres, oppressive or light, as the polar world, hostile and magnificent.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>‘Celestial Violence’ with Einar Solberg, or ‘Why are we?’, ‘What are we: a simple dust in the Laniakea, where cosmic monsters produce gravitational waves’.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Ihsahn knows how to include his numerous influences in his own world, how to magnify them: metal, progressive, classic, jazz, pop, electro, whatever… A h<\/span><\/span><\/span>uge but clean production (Jens Bogren for the mixing and the mastering) serves this masterpiece well, written, composed and performed as a symphony.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span>Not a single note can be thrown away, not a single voice harmony can be lost.\u00a0It is indeed a great anniversary celebration, ten years after ‘The Adversary’.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>NB: this limited edition has an unusual bonus track: Hans Herbj\u00f8rnsrud recites ‘S\u00f8ppelsolen’, a poem by Tor Ulven; first the piano whispers, then the distorded arpeggios scream. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Lyst til \u00e5 l\u00e6re norsk?<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span>Tracklist:
\n<\/strong>1. Disassembled
\n<\/span><\/span>2. Mass Darkness
\n<\/span><\/span>3. My Heart Is of the North
\n<\/span><\/span>4. South Winds
\n<\/span><\/span>5. In the Vaults
\n<\/span><\/span>6. Until I Too Dissolve
\n<\/span><\/span>7. Pressure
\n<\/span><\/span>8. Frail
\n<\/span><\/span>9. Crooked Red Line
\n<\/span><\/span>10. Celestial Violence
\n<\/span><\/span>11. Til Tor Ulven (S\u00f8ppelsolen) – bonus track<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0www.facebook.com\/ihsahnmusic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"