Ihsahn Reveals "Arktis" Album Details

Apparently the "A" series of albums isn't as done as one would have been led to believe... Candlelight Records today proudly announces March 4th as the global release date for the sixth solo album from Ihsahn, titled "Arktis."

The album will be available in standard CD, deluxe (featuring additional exclusive content), and vinyl formats. The album’s first single, “Mass Darkness,” is released today via Itunes and Amazon. Check out a lyric video below.

"Arktis" was recorded at Ihsahn’s studio in Notodden, Norway and was mixed in Sweden by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia). The album features ten songs and is the longest and most spirited of Ihsahn’s solo recordings. It features guest appearances from Einar Solberg (Leprous), Matt Heafy (Trivium), Jorgen Munkeby (Shining), Tobias Ornes Andersen (Shining, ex-Leprous), and renowned Norwegian author Hans Herbjornsrud. Graphic elements for "Arktis" once again have been provided by award-winning Spanish designer Ritxi Ostariz.

Ihsahn comments: “My focus for this album was to write within more traditional song structures and still give each song a strong individual identity, be that through a re-occurring melody, a chorus, sound design or the good, old guitar riff. I also wanted to explore this on the production side, blending organic rock sounds with more modern expressions.”

The stark visuals utilized in the video for “Mass Darkness” are inspired by late 1800’s Norwegian explorer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen. It depicts his famed three-year expedition to the North Pole first by ship and then by foot over land. Ihsahn notes, “The whole atmosphere of facing the cold, immense unknown fits rather good with the general lyrical concept of the entire album. It paints a sense of doubt, hopelessness and frustration yet celebrates curiosity, free will and the choice to avoid conformity. It is, at best, an observance of one’s insignificance in relation to time, nature and space yet each individual’s ability to make things matter even if only to themselves.”

The album's track listing is as follows:

1. Disassembled
2. Mass Darkness
3. My Heart is of the North
4. South Winds
5. In the Vaul
6. Until I too Dissolve
7. Pressure
8. Frail
9. Crooked Red Line
10. Celestial Violence