Norwegian Metal Legend Ihsahn sets the 8th of April as the release date for his sixth solo album, Arktis, via Candlelight Records.

Recorded in Ihsahn’s Studio (Notodden, Norway) and produced by Jens Bogren, Arktis features a number of guests on the album such as Tobias Ornes Andersen (SHINING, ex-LEPROUS), Jorgen Munkeby (SHINING), Matt Heafy (TRIVIUM), and Einar Solberg (LEPROUS).

The artwork for album was designed by award-winning Spanish designer Ritxi Ostariz. Ihsan, Arktis

The artwork for the album was designed by award-winning Spanish designer Ritxi Ostariz.

Ihsahn comments on the album as follows:

My focus for this album was to write within more traditional song structures and still give each song a strong individual identity, be that through a re-occurring melody, a chorus, sound design or the good, old guitar riff. I also wanted to explore this on the production side, blending organic rock sounds with more modern expressions…. For this new album, I wanted to focus on strong rhythmic and melodic motives within the framework of relatively basic song structures.

Arktis contains ten tracks as listed below and is the longest solo recording done by Ihsahn so far.

  1. Disassembled
  2. Mass Darkness
  3. My Heart Is Of The North
  4. South Winds
  5. In The Vaults
  6. Until I Too Dissolve
  7. Pressure
  8. Frail
  9. Crooked Red Line
  10. Celestial Violence

So far, two singles have been released from Arktis: Mass Darkness and Pressure.

Ihsahn describes Mass Darkness as representing much of the album’s attitude, including a big sing-along chorus strengthened by Matt Heafy. The music video for Mass Darkness is inspired by the expeditions of Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian explorer and Nobel prize winner. The music video depicts Fridtjof Nansen’s expeditions to the North Pole, first by ship and then by foot over land.

Ihsahn comments on the video as follows: “The whole atmosphere of facing the cold, immense unknown fits rather good with the general lyrical concept of the entire album. It paints a sense of doubt, hopelessness and frustration yet celebrates curiosity, free will and the choice to avoid conformity. It is, at best, an observance of one’s insignificance in relation to time, nature and space yet each individual’s ability to make things matter even if only to themselves.”

As for the newer single, Pressure, well, just like the above track, it is as insane as it gets with all its heaviness and technicality, not to forget the catchiness. Oh, and if you are are a fan of Emperor, then you will dig this, just wait for the symphonic parts to kick in.

 

 

Arktis is available for pre-order on Amazon, Candlelight (USA), iTunes, Record Shop X (Finland), and SpineFarm Records (UK/Europe).

Let us know about your favorite Ihsahn project/track in the comments section down below 🙂

 

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