Review by Daniel for Ihsahn - After (2010)

This is a really ambitious project from Ihsahn & I quite enjoyed it. Highly progressive song structures, clean melodic choruses & crazy saxophone solos all get a showing. So does it all work? That depends on who you ask. I personally think he earns more hits than misses here. The most impressive things about the album are the brilliant production & the wonderful musicianship on display. These allow Ihsahn to get away with a few overambitious sections that weren't fully realised. The session musicians do a wonderful job & although the amount of pure black metal is minimal, it's nothing short of crushing when it finally shows its head. The saxophone solos initially caught me off guard & it took me a while to come to grips with them but now I find them really interesting. Closer "On the Shores" is a fantastic climax to the album & was thoroughly worth the wait. Give this album a few listens before passing judgement as it's a grower.