Yes, it's the Emperor mastermind himself, Ihsahn, with a new release, Eremita. I look forward to every Ihsahn release, it's the anxiety of listening to a very capable player who transcended genres as a statement of capacity. We'd think that majority of those black metal dweebs couldn't really play guitar (or write decent music for that matter) to save their lives; not for Ihsahn. He had proven his abilities in excess, I'd dare say that.
Eremita is Ihsahn's departure from his previous release but to the careless listeners, you'd ask how could this one be too different from his prior albums- it just sounds too... similar. In fact, I wouldn't ignore its parallels to Emperor's final album, Prometheus... But the departure here is in terms of composition. Eccentric twists & turns aplenty, it's as if this was staple all along. The intensity in terms of it being a metal release is also more pronounced here than the preceding collection. It's some consolation for us Emperor fans because we know the elements of Prometheus are embedded in Ihsahn's current music manifestations, it's all too obvious. But all in all, Eremita is a thinking album, quite the signature of universal prog releases; you know what you are listening to can't be procured through casual composition, lots of thinking is involved. Jeff Loomis lent his guitar mastery in The Eagle & The Snake, quite possibly it's him returning Ihsahn the guest appearance favour (you can hear Ihsahn in Mr. Loomis' latest release, FYI). The saxophone bits were also qualified inclusions, none sounded wrong, all done in good taste.
I really took my time to listen to Eremita, returning to my favourite tracks on bus rides, also re-listening to the slower numbers, in an attempt to understand why down-tempo was chosen to deliver ideas. They say music mastery is the incorporation of restraint when the world expects its absence.
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