Composer Reacts to Ihsahn - Undercurrent (REACTION & ANALYSIS)

[@tomopeth]

This album is among Ihsahn's greatest works, it's one hell of a ride. Also, this same sax theme plays on the last track "On the shores"

[@redshift912]

On the shores is a bit better but I love this song too

[@SanskarWagley]

my favorite Ihsahn song

[@flEsh1g]

this and "On The Shores" are two my favorites.

[@Agostoic]

Love undercurrent and the whole album, Ihsahn is a composer which really blends all his metal influences from prog to black in a tasteful way, imo. The sax flowing through the song is just like the cherry on top.

[@therealdavidfiesta957]

I actually had the honor of meeting him when he held a seminar at my school! really down to earth guy, and super knowledgeable about everything metal (and non metal)!

[@vladdracul8827]

Apparently he’s a big Prince fan which is super cool

[@ambient6668]

22:06 It sounded like fretless bass with effects 😎 I'm more than certain the mellow part had a fretless bass. Pretty sure it was the same bass guitar throughout the entire song. Fretless basses have an amazing warm tone that enhances the overall quality of songs when mixed in well. I was amazed that Ihsahn used a fretless bass here. He's such a brilliant composer.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

F'n whole album has the most haunting noir quality to it. Probably no musician captures my mood more than Ihsahn.

[@tropiq]

Im not into concerts but when Ihsahn was rolling through my town on Amr tour i had to go, awesome show, i was silently hoping for Celestial Violence but Einar wasn't there so the chances were slim but he did play it, and sang all of it himself, really impressed me Show was opened by this young band called Astrosaur followed by Ne Obliviscaris and they both mentioned how Ihsahn was an inspiration and then they went on to play all the other instruments for him, on the other hand Ihsahn himself seemed very humble and thankful, respect all around and very wholesome atmosphere

[@BorisTheWizard2112]

Damn, this album hits so hard for me. Listened to it for the first time in high school, and I remember listening to Undercurrent and On the Shores all the time while doing homework. Just so chill and enthralling. I still believe that this album as a whole is the best thing Ihsahn has ever produced/

[@hablibubli8648]

I 'found' Ihsahn through you! Of course I was aware of him etc but I saw your reaction on Grave Inversed and I was blown away. Went on a big binge of Ihsahn after that ^^ Really like that you are doing more from him. This whole album is fantastic. Really nice mix of dark, proggy metal with tinges of black metal and great sax playing. The bass especially is really tastefully added. Fretless can usually be really over the top addition (which I like) but here it is used in a more subtle way and I love it. Ihsahn is just a great songwriter. The songs flow in such a natural way, pressure is built and released and sections are rarely repeated in totally the same way. Makes the song easy to listen as the structure rarely is so crazy and out of left field but the added elements during the repetitions add so much. Really like your stuff man. Keep it up, take care and have a nice week.

[@progperljungman8218]

Let's see if we get some Jorgen Munkeby (the sax player) with his regular band Shining (the Norwegian and not the Swedish one that is special selection today) as a random selection as they had a song in the poll 😊. Awesome song and reaction/analysis!

[@weirdozoidtheta]

YEEEESSSSS!!! This is such a naughty song from a naughty, naughty album. Excellent choice! Cheers mate! 🍻 Btw, this album features the bass player and drummer of Spiral Architect on their respective instruments. Beasts!

[@yummydirt4851]

I think the bass that you're hearing with the smooth attack is just a fretless bass with the tone knob rolled off. That bass tone reminds me of some things I've heard from beyond creation. Great video, it's really awesome to hear someone legitimately listen deeply to this stuff

[@makjak111]

I think the sax is the only Instrument he doesn't play/record himself. If I remember right the sax is played by a member of the shining Edit it was this guy on sax Jørgen Munkeby is a Norwegian jazz and heavy metal musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, known as the frontman in the band Shining and former member of Jaga Jazzist.

[@Themonist]

Drums sound a lot like Asgeir Mickelsson. Might be wrong though.

[@makjak111]

@@Themonist I got corrected on the discord... for some reason I thought they just did the live shows with him but others are credited on the album on metal archives

[@Kraakesolv]

Important to add the Norwegian band Shining and NOT the Swedish one.

[@ElizaSkold]

Nice, was expecting some Ihsahn for this week. He's probably my favourite musician, so always nice to see a reaction. And yup, that is very much a real saxophone played by Jørgen Munkeby, the frontman of the Norwegian band Shining, who I think you did a reaction for last Halloween season (not to be confused with the Swedish band that's also called Shining which you did a special selection for today, but is completely unrelated). Ihsahn wouldn't settle for anything less =P Anyway, great reaction as always, and it's great to hear such a lengthy dive into an Ihsahn song. Lyrically, yeah... Ihsahn's stuff does tend to be more abstract and poetic when it's not being philosophical, and I think it's especially the case on this album, and there is a bit of an aquatic theme to this album with other songs as well (titles like Heaven's Black Sea and On the Shores). I don't think the lyrics you found were entirely right either, but close enough, and neither my vinyl nor CD actually have the lyrics printed, so I'm pretty sure everyone can only go by ear on that anyway.

[@jasonadams2]

My man, it's time to revisit Emperor. See where Ihsahn started. You really should just dive in head first, straight to Emperor - I am the Black Wizards. Be interested in hearing your take now that you have done a lot of black metal and Ihsahn. It is very raw, old school black metal though.

[@Themonist]

It's a fretless bass. Lars Norberg maybe same guy from Spiral Architect I think.

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

I've said it before I have a huge appreciation for Ihsahn and his willingness to experiment with form and style, and while I always really enjoy listening to songs of his in isolation like this, for whatever reason I rarely find myself enthralled with his solo work over the course of an entire album. I think part of it is that I will always be comparing his solo work to his last album with Emperor, Prometheus, and given that Prometheus is one of my all-time favorite metal albums it's hard not to unfavorably compare Ihsahn's solo work to it. Even if his solo work is more experimental and, in its own way, more sophisticated, Prometheus had a rare power and unity to it that was truly an experience. Back when I first heard it, even as someone pretty familiar with extreme metal by that point, it still blew me away, and nothing else by Ihsahn has come close to having the same aesthetic effect on me, even if I have been able to intellectually appreciate what he's doing. All that said, I still really enjoyed listening to this, even though I've heard the album it's from a few times. For whatever reason I do seem to enjoy Ihsahn more when I encounter individual tracks out of context like this.

[@LG_7984]

I friggin' love your channel, man. Feel like you'd be a chill dude to hang out with and listen to music. Also, Ihsahn is one of my favorite musicians of all time. So cool to see you take a listen to this one.

[@CriticalReactions]

I'm a chill dude to listen to music with *until* I hear something wild and talk your ear off for an hour 😅

[@LG_7984]

@@CriticalReactions Perfect!

[@brennang9]

I love this album to death

[@metal666shark]

haven't heard this song in ages. nice fit for the week. great album overall, it has more sax

[@harrymanbach]

My personal favorite song from Ihsahn. Check out The Ghastly Silence by Shining from Sweden. Awesome sax on that as well. Shining from Norway has tons of sax too. Like your channel,keep it up!

[@redshift912]

By far his best album.. better than most emperor albums as well

[@progrockplaylists]

metal ambient is godtier