Emperor frontman Ihsahn will release the sixth solo album, entitled Arktis, on April 8th. In a new interview with Metal Paths, Ihsahn discusses the new album. An excerpt follows:

Q: Do you feel, that releasing an album nowadays, is just another excuse to tour? Or every album needs to be released by an artist to “cleanse your ideas” till another set of songs is ready and for the next release?

A: “For many bands, especially bands that have been around so many years, like recently I read in an interview that Slayer’s Kerry King stated he was not into releasing more than three or four new songs, before they head out on a new world tour. So, obviously, the income is mostly coming nowadays from touring rather than record sales. Back in the eighties, I guess bands toured to promote the album, so that they can sell even more albums. Now it’s the opposite. Many bands release albums just to promote yet another tour! It’s a bit strange but, for me personally, the main focus is to be able to write new music! That’s the main excitement for me. To be able to write and produce music in my studio. It’s not that if there’s no more money, I won’t be doing any albums anymore, haha. I don’t think I can stop doing that. So as long as labels want to put them out there, and people still pick them up to listen to them, I think I will continue to do that! Maybe, also, it all is just being a phase. When we got the cassette, everyone started tape trading, and everyone thought that would be the end of the music industry. Of course, now we’ve seen a big change, but I think at the same time, streaming services and everything, it starts getting up. The outcome of streaming services will increase with more and more people paying for streaming services. Of course, you can get pissed off because “it’s not like the old days” blah blah blah, but still in music history the whole idea about selling physical copies of your music, is a rather new phenomenon, if you look it that way. It’s just a different phase. You either have to go with it, and being a musician kind of adapt to how you can perform and express your music or get a day job! You just have to adapt or not. That’s it and I’m willing to adapt. I think you can adapt and still keep your integrity, as a musician.

Read the full interview at MetalPaths.com.

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.

Few artists in modern heavy music have created such an extraordinary and unique body of work as Ihsahn. Having refined and redefined black metal with the now legendary Emperor, Ihsahn is Norway’s foremost musical extremist. He has spent the last decade establishing himself as a fearless and wildly idiosyncratic solo artist and even by his own remarkable standards, Arktis is a bold and mind-blowing step into the unknown.

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.”

For the 40-year old musician, the global accolades have yet to impact his creativity with each and every album pushing boundaries and preconceived sounds typically assigned to heavy music. With Arktis, he continues his blending of extreme metal and progressive rock that will easily sustain his already massive fanbase while opening even more doors for the humble multi-instrumentalist.

Ihsahn says, “With the contributions from several of my talented friends and the incredible mixing skills of Jens Bogren, I feel the end result is just as varied yet cohesive as I hoped for. Actually, I can’t recall having had such a great time making an album before and hopefully that comes across too.”

Arktis tracklisting:

“Disassembled”
“Mass Darkness”
“My Heart Is Of The North”
“South Winds”
“In The Vaul”
“Until I Too Dissolve”
“Pressure”
“Frail”
“Crooked Red Line”
“Celestial Violence”

“Pressure”:

“Mass Darkness” lyric video: