angL

Still getting to grips with this, it's a less immediate album than Ihsahn's previous, The Adversary (2006).What has struck me is that there is more guitar work here and the album has a harder edge than it's predecessor (although it's still not the ferocity of classic Emperor!). Ihsahn's vocal work is a little deeper/lower pitched/more growling with less of the King Diamond style high pitch vocals that we heard last time.The Classical influences are still abundant but the synths/keyboards are more integrated with the guitars, rather than dominant as before.The album at 47 minutes is maybe a little shorter than might have been hoped for??The songs ain't grabbing me totally as yet BUT sometimes slow burners are the best...4 Stars as I believe these songs WILL reveal all!Must mention the teaming with Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt on track 3, The Unhealer - Really good with cool vocals from the Death Metal man (Both Clean and REALLY, REALLY brutal growls!) A very atmospheric & deeply dark song.Special word for the lyrics; still occult based but intelligent, mature and devoid of cliches!

thank you all is great

excellent. one of the best yet.

the start of the prog movement in death metal from the man him self, way better than the first album

I reviewed this a while back, but my review hasn't appeared, so I wanted to review it again because this album is so good! After recently getting Ihsahn's newest album, after, I think I can safely say that I prefer this one, though I do like both. I took a shot in the dark on this one, managing to get then album quite cheaply having In The Nightside Eclipse by Emperor, but not really being a black metal fan myself particularly. This album is a combination of black metal, with harsh vocals, and a more progressive metal, somewhat like Opeth, who are in my opinion probably the best metal band of the decade. The fact that Mikael Akerfeldt features on this album will certainly do nothing to deter Opeth fans. However, to go on like this would be to do Ihsahn an injustice. The music and lyrics are crafted by him alone, on 9 outstanding tracks, and although I prefer the start and end of the album to the middle, there are no tracks that I skip over when I listen to it.My favourite tracks would be Misanthrope, Scarab, Unhealer, Threnody, Monolith and Malediction. They're all great! The quieter passages complement the harsh, heavier parts of the songs making it a compelling listen. I thoroughly recommend this to anyone interested in metal, particularly fans of bands like Opeth who aren't afraid to incorporate mellow passages into what is often a relentlessly heavy genre. Angl is a great CD, possibly more accessible than his latest, After, but both are worth getting.

Simply superb album from start to finish. I picked this up after I heard 'After', and I have to say I prefer this album, despite 'After' also being a brilliant album. 'Unhealer' has already had a few mentions from the reviews, but I also love 'Emancipation', 'Alchemist' and 'Scarab' in particular - though I don't honestly think there is a bad track on the album.Really technical & progressive with some intricate solos and atmospherics. I have to admit I was skeptical about Ihsahn as I'm nor really a fan of Emperor or black metal, but this blew me away and I would not hesitate in recommending this to any fans of European metal, especially any fans of the more progressive stuff like Opeth.

ihsahn's second solo outing "Angl" (Angel) revisits many of the same facets from his magnificent debut "the adversary" although this is a much more heavier beast with alot more guitar solos (yes) soaring majestic melodies and progressive chord structures,there are melodic traits and a mix of vicous growls and mature clean vocals,his guitar playing excels and the opeth comparison is enhanced even more with a guest appearance from mikael akerfeldt (opeth) on the exhilarating duet track "the unhealer".Angl is so far one of the best albums of 2008. GET IT !

This had been one of my most highly anticipated releases for 2008 and it definitely hasn't disappointed. OK, it's not as immediate as The Adversary, but now on about my fifth listen to the album I am equally impressed. There are many layers to the sound which can be uncovered with each listen and there is much more guitar work and fewer clean vocal passages then it's predecessor. This will definietly be fighting against Opeth's Watershed for attention on my ipod this summer. Now I can only hope they will play Bloodstock Open Air together, particualrly because Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt performs lead vocals on Unhealer, the third track on AngL.