Angl [Slipcase] (CD - 2008)

Elegant and brutal, the latest offering from former Emperor vocalist Ihsahn is brilliantly executed, experimental dark metal. Extremely well-structured, ANGL is an album made especially for fans of true musicianship, as Ihsahn incorporates a cool and refreshing ambiance within an overall black soundscape, more evidence that his primary goal here is to create something brand-new. While some passages hark back to Emperor's blistering majesty, others sound as if Ihsahn is now leaning towards Opeth's brand of progressive death rock. In fact, Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt makes a guest appearance, performing lead vocals on "Unhealer." Ultimately, ANGL is Ihsahn's HEARTWORK.

Singers who record as solo artists are a rarity in black metal. As a rule, black metal vocalists who leave a band either join another band or form a new band but don't start recording under their own names or marketing themselves as solo artists. Ihsahn, however, is an exception to that rule, and marketing himself as a solo artist makes a lot of sense because the name Ihsahn carries considerable weight in black metal circles thanks to his contributions to Emperor. Ihsahn's second solo album, Angl, maintains the symphonic black metal orientation that the Norwegian vocalist favored on his previous solo outing, The Adversary, and while black metal is Angl's main ingredient, there are certainly many other influences as well. Among them: power metal, progressive metal, death metal, and gothic metal. Angl is very focused, but at the same time, Ihsahn is even more unpredictable and far-reaching on this 47-minute CD than he was on The Adversary. He is also decidedly melodic, achieving a healthy balance of heaviness and musicality. Angl is about forcefulness, intensity, and aggression, but it is also about musicality, songcraft, nuance, and intricacy; in other words, all of the things one expects from symphonic black metal. Some black metal purists will no doubt insist that Angl isn't a legitimate black metal release because it doesn't sound like Gorgoroth or Marduk (just to give two examples of Nordic black metal bands that love going for the jugular). But then, Ihsahn never claimed to be a purist, and this album is strictly for those who like their black metal with a great deal of melody. Angl is an excellent follow-up to The Adversary and is even a bit stronger than its predecessor. ~ Alex Henderson minimize