Comments on: Ihsahn – After Review

By: Barry Neilson

Barry Neilson — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 10:17:03 +0000

I fucking love this album, definately one of my favourites of 2010. I personally think that each Ihsahn album is better than the last! I can understand where you’re coming from with the second half being a little slower, but that doesn’t bother me when the songs are of the quality that these are. Although, a quick question…would you think differently if the songs were placed in a different order?

I was also lucky enough to see Ihsahn at Hellfest this year, where he completely blew me away! (with backing band Leprous, who are also fantastic!).
Can’t wait to hear what Ihsahn does next.

By: Devilthorn

Devilthorn — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:17:37 +0000

Although I somewhat enjoy this album, I have to question what in the world Ihsahn was thinking with that saxophone. It is one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard, and completely grinds the album to a halt as soon as it starts screeching. “The Adversary” was great, “AngL” was a little less great, and “After is the worst of the three so far. (Technically, Emperor’s last release, “Prometheus” could be considered an Ihsahn solo project that Emperor members just happened to play on, since they didn’t have any input in the music. It obviously shows where Ihsahn was going with his future works, as it is very similar to these 3 solo albums. It is also a better album than “AngL” and “After”) Ihsahn is still head and shoulders above 99% of all other metal artists. He just needs to quit with the saxophones, seriously. Yes, the sax sounds unconstrained and highly improvised, but to me, it also sounds like some random person who has never played sax before just picked on up and started blaring random notes. It’s a complete chaotic mess that detracts from otherwise perfect songs. The saxless songs get a 4 out of 5 from me. The songs with sax get a 1 out of 5.

By: Robert Bronson

Robert Bronson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:21:52 +0000

Ihsahn is great. I like his solo compositions more than classic Emperor songs… After has all predispositions to became “album of the year in metal”. Dark, hard and romantic.

If you know polish ;-) you can read my review:
http://arktyka.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/ihsahn-after/

By: ballener0

ballener0 — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:41:34 +0000

Well, I’ve been doing reviews on my own for almost three years now. You can check my website (it’s in Spanish), it’s a personal blog where I review albums, gigs and everything I like, with the limitation of not receiving any promotional media. I do it for personal pleasure only, and if I don’t like something it’s very unlikely I’ll talk about it. That’s the liberty of not being attached in any way with a band or label, and that’s something I value more than anything.

I could give you a hand if you need it, but I don’t know how prepared I would be to review something in English and, most important, I don’t know if I want to review something that doesn’t move to talk about it. I’ve done it a couple times and I simply didn’t enjoy it. Anyway, whenever you want you’re welcome to talk to me and it will be my pleasure to help :D.

By: Angry Metal Guy

Angry Metal Guy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:18:43 +0000

The loot is, of course, free music. ;) And actually right now I’m doing fine on my own, but if I get flooded I could probably set something up. I’m just greedy—I don’t want to give away any of the good records. :P I just think it’s cool that you are opinionated but not dickish and you know WHY you like something.

By: ballener0

ballener0 — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:54:44 +0000

Arrr, is there a good loot? :P

Haha, I’m a big fan of progressive and avant-garde metal, so After may be Ihsahn’s perfect album for me to date, that’s all.

By: Angry Metal Guy

Angry Metal Guy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:25:09 +0000

Seriously dude, you wanna write reviews for me? :P

I totally respect your opinion and see where you’re coming from, and I knew that I would have some disagreement from fans given that the reaction on some of the boards I frequent has been very positive. It seems like people who liked The Adversary better than angL are more likely to like this record better.

By: ballener0

ballener0 — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:10:50 +0000

In my opinion, this is Ihsahn’s strongest composition in his solo career, since Prometheus is an Emperor release though it was practically on Ihsahn’s hands regarding its creation. I love his previous two albums, but I prefer The Adversary in terms of the overall aspect of the album, even though if I had to choose one song from those two I would always pick Unhealer (bless Mikael).

The thing with After is that the sound is no longer weak and there are actual risks regarding composition and singing. The guitars sound fat, perfectly defined as Ihsahn’s style has always been, and the structure of the songs is more prog-oriented than ever. My only problem here is with the drums: not to criticize Mr. Mickelson (his playing is outstanding as ever), but the sound; usually Ihsahn’s drum tracks are way too sequenced and they lack naturality, and this album presents that problem again, less prominent, but it’s still present. Anyway, this is easily compensated by his improving with the clean voices and the crescent brutality of his growls.

The sax adds such life to the mix that I couldn’t have imagined a better collaboration, and musically I’m overwhelmed by the elegance of the arrangements and the wise use of the trademark riffing plus the epic parts. Oh, and there’s a hammond too, and we all know that a hammond makes EVERYTHING better.

I usually agree with you, but this time I’d give this album 5/5 :P. You can’t always agree with everyone, but I’m glad you dig this album anyway.

Greetings!