Composer Reacts to Ihsahn - A Grave Inversed (REACTION & ANALYSIS)

Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on A Grave Inversed
ORIGINAL VIDEO // • A Grave Inversed
ALL LINKS // linktr.ee/criticalreactions

[@progperljungman8218]

To tie the two first picks, Ihsahn is brother in law to Einar Solberg - singer and keyboardist of Leprous 😊 Leprous also has been backing Ihsahn as his live band (saw them together 😍). Einar has also been joining Emperor on reunion tour on keyboards and backing vocals - saw that too 😍 (Emperor is the black metal band that brought Ihsahn to fame before he went solo) So Ihsahn is really the joining point for old black metal and modern prog 😊 (Emperor did go quite a bit proggy on their later albums). Really nice to see you enjoying this wild ride. For some more wild jazz-metal the Norwegian band Shining (who are lending their sax player to Ihsahn here) are a really disturbing, awkward, challenging, exciting and enthralling band. Totally mindblowing and really enjoyable when I'm in the right mindset (usually 😊)

[@perhvarnes]

The saxophonist was also in Jaga Jazzist, before he "discovered" metal.

[@progperljungman8218]

@@perhvarnes or was it "metal that discovered him"? 😉

[@raen19]

Honestly this is not the song that I would have thought to recommend from this album tbh, as I thought it would be the one you'd be least likely to enjoy. But I'm actually very happy that you checked this one out anyway, because I loved your analysis of it. This is by far the most frenetic song from the album. On The Shores from this album is a much slower paced song with lots of emphasis on the sax. Angl is also an excellent album, and you could basically check out any song from that album and be confronted with genius. Ihsahn is just amazing.

[@JacobNates]

You have to listen to this whole album! It’s generally more relaxed than this song, but there’s lots of great musical ideas going on

[@Weeping_Somnambulist]

Been waiting for someone to react to some of Ihsahn's music with the sax included. It's real divisive, some ppl hate it and others (like me) love the inclusion of the sax. For me, the ultimate Ihsahn track with sax in it is "On The Shores" from this same album, highly HIGHLY recommend that track, it's absolutely fantastic and the sax really carries the track rather than just being thrown in. There's also a track on the album "Eremita" simply called "The Grave", and unlike this, it is NOT fun at all lol. Very slow and brutal, again a very sax heavy track. Great video as always!

[@tomopeth]

This whole album is top notch from Ihsahn. Other highlights from him are his albums AngL and Arktis.

[@jogbo1]

This song defines the "Extreme Metal with Saxophone" sub-genre :-D

[@yvancluet8146]

this song is so insanely heavy i love it

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

Not sure if you remember, but you also heard Ihsahn with his band Emperor (The Eruption), which were one of the key bands of the 2nd wave of Norwegian black metal, and also the band that invented the symphonic black metal sub-genre. By their last album (Prometheus) Emperor had basically transformed into a prog black metal band, and that's largely the direction Ihsahn continued in with his solo material, though his solo material tends to be less aggressive and more diverse/experimental (not that you'd know it by this track). Personally, I think Ihsahn's solo work has been solid, without ever rising to the heights of his best work with Emperor. This album is probably the fan-favorite of his, though I prefer Eremita and Arktis, but most of his work hovers in that 7-8/10 area for me. This is a typically solid track, and you can hear some of that experimentation is the rising/falling elements and the inclusion of the sax, but I will say that most of the album (and most of his other solo material) isn't this aggressive. This is closer to the music he made with Emperor near the end.

[@tarkus1056]

Yeah, this one and some of his more aggressive solo stuff reminds me of tracks like Empty

[@CriticalReactions]

I'll have to go back and listen to Emperor. I'm not remembering anything from them.

[@ambassadortourettes753]

Yup 👌🤘 everything He has ever done has been awesome 👌Great to see this Artist featured 🤘

[@Themonist]

Never really paid attention to the lyrics of this song even though I listened to it around 100 times probably but the "floating six feet above the ground" part always gives me chills.

[@CriticalReactions]

I gotta see how that's used in context but yeah, it's a really interesting line since it's the inverse of the usual phrase -- implying something unnatural is happening.

[@TheErazar]

What a wild song

[@jaredsearle4278]

This was a genuine hard bop player.

[@triumphtinltcomicdg]

I'm missing section with clean vocals, in most of the Ihsahn songs there are moments for breathe where he is using clean vocals, and he has great voice also

[@xyced]

According to Wikipedia Jørgen Munkeby played the sax.

[@progperljungman8218]

Yeah! He's from Shining - another great suggestion (not mine though) that was in the poll for this theme. Just hope we'll see them too this week 😍

[@CriticalReactions]

Thank you!

[@Kraakesolv]

@@CriticalReactions His previous band Jaga Jazzist won a ton of awards!

[@tarkus1056]

I have no idea what this song is about, the closest I get is that it's talking about time as an agent of chaos or something like that, here are the lyrics [Verse 1] Sandstorm Breach of burning skies Unyielding tempest of eternity and timeline Chaos, all consuming sanctuary of reigning fire [Verse 2] Sacred heart of frozen soil Unholy Apocalyptic death cloud [Verse 3] Unbarred Disputed not held Authority [Verse 4] Floating six feet above the ground The presence of a smiling elder face [Ad lib] Sandstorm Breach of burning skies This sanctuary with recourse

[@CriticalReactions]

You're not kidding. That is some of the most sparse and cryptic lyrics I've seen. I think I would need some sort of thesis concept or theme to help tie this all together and see the message through the symbolism.

[@tarkus1056]

@@CriticalReactions If I'm not mistaken when Ihsahn writes an album he has a theme in mind that he follows to compose the full album, like Arktis was about open cold spaces and Amr was about closed introspection. I'm sure if you dig into some interviews you'll get a better understanding since he is very open about his creative process. But yeah, it's not like some bands that just put together whatever lyrics that sound cool, Ihsahn means every single word and everything has a meaning, even if it's a very open theme or a very specific thought, mindset or feeling.

[@wolverine669]

Try songs like "Wake" or "Arcana Imperii". This one was pretty much straigth forward in ur face kinda tune Ihsahn is the vocalist/guitarist of Emperor

[@brnjyb]

Really enjoyed your analysis! For a different use of saxophone in Ihsahn's music, check out The Grave, or On The Shores.

[@CriticalReactions]

The the sax is *inversely* used in The Grave than it is on A Grave Inversed? :)

[@brnjyb]

@@CriticalReactions At least in terms of tempo and the general feel of the song, then yes, The Grave is essentially A Grave Inversed, inversed ;). To be clear, I don't think there's a connection, as the songs are on separate albums.

[@alfonsoagren414]

The wildness reminds me of SYL,Strapping Young Lad) and the song ”Shitstorm”. Please try it! Comes from the fantastic album ”Alien” which is a bit of a concept album about how it is to be suffering from bipolar desease. Devin Townsends old Metal project was and still is one of my top favourites of all time. 🤘😎🤘

[@shryggur]

A little note: it's not about the bipolar. In the podcast Devin said that it was more of an intentional attempt to get as extreme and ambitious as he could. The bipolar could be misdiagnosed, partly due to his mental fatigue and all the drugs he did around this time. A bold choice, by the way. Shitstorm is one of very few songs that hit the "most extreme" mark for me, and it still sounds crisp and is experimental and, weirdly, fun. I'd be great to see the reaction \m/

[@alfonsoagren414]

@@shryggur thanks for info! Dev is one of the greatest in so many ways. ”Alien” is one of my favourite albums of all time. The production is crazy good eventhough its a bit of time passed between now and then. Been a fan since I heard ”decimator” on a hard rock channel. Bought all I could find from him and am still collecting. Its an intresting journey to be on the Dev-train. 🤘😎🤘

[@shryggur]

@@alfonsoagren414 yeah, I can't wait for The Puzzle, looks like an absolute monstrosity :D

[@alfonsoagren414]

@@shryggur totally agree. I am like a kid waiting for christmas! 🤘

[@prnmlywn6112]

Leprous - nighttime disguise please

[@DarkWolf5250]

Definitely not the song I'd pick from this album... It's my favourite of his albums, but this is my least favourite song on it. My favourites are either Undercurrent or On the Shores, especially Undercurrent. Great sax, fretless bass, and just a killer track that no one ever talks about.

[@TheSepulphagist]

For Norwegian rock PLEASE do something by Major Parkinson. They're a HUGELY underrated band. Maybe "Baseball", "Isabel", "Euthanasia Roller Coaster", or "munchausen by proxy

[@CriticalReactions]

It's a secret.....but check back on Friday :)

[@TheSepulphagist]

@@CriticalReactions 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮

[@jaredsearle4278]

Who was the tenor player?

[@Themonist]

Jorgen Munkey from Jaga jazzist and the norwegian Shining.