Lighting The Dark
Eschewing his black metal heritage for a lighter and sonically richer sound, Norwegian prog metal maestro Ihsahn talks to Prog about turning to pop music for his explorative new EP, Pharos.
Words: Phil Weller Images: Bjørn Tore Moen
Ihsahn: his boat’s not leaving yet.
“For me, the Telemark and
Pharos EPs represent the two extremes of what I try to do as part of my wider sound in their purest forms.”
I
n a year where even the best-laid plans have been left in tatters, Ihsahn’s double helping of fivetrack EPs has felt like a godsend. The two complementary releases – starting with the nostalgic black metal affair of February’s
Telemark
and concluding with the contemporary, progressively propelled
Pharos
in September – have helped break up a year amass with reasons not to be cheerful. Yet, even as the Norwegian multi-instrumentalist’s own carefully crafted plans are dashed by the pandemic, the unforeseen climate provides a rather fitting setting for this diverse new material. With the doors to venues shut, music fans are now looking to our record collections for entertainment and escapism, and releasing 10 songs across eight months has given us both of those twofold.
“It’s all a matter of consequence,” a studious Ihsahn tells Prog. “Especially during the context of this pandemic, it’s worked quite well to keep the interest spread out. Originally, the whole idea behind them was very much linked to the live format. I was meant to be premiering the Telemark show over Easter; we had new backdrops and a set built around the concept of that EP. I was going to be playing the most extreme songs in my catalogue. Then, after the release of Pharos, I was going to tour a setlist containing my mellower and more progressive material. They were going to be two very separate live shows as part of a much bigger picture. Now they are just two EPs.”