Einar Solberg tagged posts

Regardless of where Ihsahn goes with his music, it’s doubtful subsequent albums will escape comparisons with his flagship work in the legendary Emperor.Although most musicians who choose to go to ‘solo’ route end up dwarfed by their younger selves, Ihsahn has continued evolving his sound, inching towards prog rock with each album. Many don’t share my enthusiasm with Ihsahn’s solo material, but his album trilogy of “The Adversary”, “Angl”, and “After” make up some of the fiercest progressive metal to come out in the past decade. In other words, I had big expectations for “Eremita”; an album I hoped would follow up on the streak of excellence...

Today Guitarworld.com hosts the exclusive premiere of IHSAHN’s “Introspection,” the third track off the legendary vocalist/guitarist’s forthcoming new full-length, Eremita. Set for release on June 19 via Candlelight  Records, the nine-track opus was recorded and produced at Telemark’s Ivory Shoulder Studios, with additional tracking completed at Notodden’s Juke Joint Studio and Seattle’s Envisage Audio and mixed by Jens Bogren (Opeth) at Fascination Street Studios in Orebro, Sweden. Alongside IHSAHN, the album features performances from drummer Tobias Ornes Andersen (Leprous), saxophonist Jorgen Munkeby (Shining – Norway), guitarist Jeff Loomis (ex-Nevermore), and vocalists Devin Townsend, Einar Solberg (Leprous), and Heidi S. Tveitan (Star of Ash). Exhibiting IHSAHN’...

Good news we received today afternoon from the PR wire:

Candlelight Records today confirms June 19 as the North American release date for Eremita, the anticipated fourth album from Norwegian-born vocalist/guitarist IHSAHN. Recorded and produced at Telemark’s Ivory Shoulder Studios, with additional tracking completed at Notodden’s Juke Joint Studio and Seattle’s Envisage Audio, Eremita was mixed by Jens Bogren (Opeth) at Fascination Street Studios in Orebo, Sweden. Alongside IHSAHN, the album features performances from drummer Tobias Ornes Andersen (Leprous), saxophonist Jorgen Munkeby (Shining – Norway), guitarist Jeff Loomis (ex-Nevermore), and vocalists Devin Townsend, Einar Solberg (Leprous), and Heidi S. Tveitan (Star of Ash)...

So here it is, the end of 2011. It’s probably been the biggest music year of my life, at least in terms of listening to the work of others is concered. I’ve probably listened to about two or three hundred albums this year, and it was pretty difficult to pick out the best of the best. There was plenty of mediocre stuff I heard, but there are more than enough records that came out of 2011 that I’ll be taking with me well into 2012. For most of these albums, I have included a link to the review I originally wrote for it. I understand that what’s written in the reviews may not align with what I say here, but my opinions are fluid and have evolved over the course of the year...

With much assurance I can say that Leprous is one of the most interesting bands in recent years. The avalanche that started after their not-quite-distinguishable-but-still-excellent debut Aeolia (released in 2006), pushed the band significantly forward after 2009’s Tall Poppy Syndrome, assigning this record as one of the top albums of the year. The band intrigued the progressive metal community after being a live support band for Ihsahn and a tour with Therion in 2010 just confirmed that something (wicked) big this way comes.

On the road to popularity, the band signed for InsideOut Music and everything was set for another gem in the running discography. With a title like Bilateral the band announced that this SOMETHING is going to be the most controversial, avant-garde, eclectic and abov...