About.com Rating

Ihsahn’s fifth solo album Das Seelenbrechen is a bit of a departure from his previous efforts, and a conscious departure. The Emperor frontman calls it a “deliberate sidestep” and “a necessity to reset the creative parameters so not to fall into formula.” There are certainly a lot of the elements of his other solo albums, he’s just pushing the limits even more.

The opening song “Hilber” alternates dense and aggressive parts with orchestral sections.

It’s progressive, yet built on a solid riff-based structure. “Regen” has a mellow and subdued beginning with crooning vocals before a regal horn section and Ihsahn’s harsh vocals kick in. The backing choir gives it a cinematic feel.

For someone who has created some really extreme and challenging music over the years, “NaCl” is downright accessible. It’s a proggy jam with catchy riffs and melodic vocals. It has atmosphere, dynamics and some funky bass. “Pulse” brings in electronic elements, with a vocal delivery similar to a Katatonia song.

The album title is taken from a book by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche. It comes from one of his aphorisms on how art, in its purest form, is neither good nor bad. That may be the case, but when it comes to this album, there are both good and bad parts, with the good far outweighing the bad (although the spoken word parts in “M” get fairly tedious).

The avant-garde factor really kicks in with “Tacit 2,” a noisy and dissonant five minute song.

It’s dense and chaotic without the traditional song structure, just a lot of emotion and unclean vocals from Ihsahn. As it winds down to its instrumental end, the instruments get sparser and sparser, until it’s just a repetitive drum.

There’s not a lot of continuity within the album, which is probably planned as well. Some of the parts are improvised, which creates a sense of the unknown and not knowing exactly what is around the next corner. There’s always tension, even in the most mellow parts of the songs.

Das Seelenbrechen is not a comfortable album. It’s challenging, sometimes puzzling, but ultimately rewarding.

(released October 22, 2013 on Candlelight Records)