Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s)

★★☆☆ The entire album features Ihsahn at his most cinematic. This is both a testament to one of the most inventive and prolific musicians in metal today… and a big problem for the listener. Every track sounds like it’s excerpted from somewhere in the middle of a soundtrack. There are no real starts or finishes here, so the whole thing is more comparable to Fantomas than any concept album, or anything else that Ihsahn has done post-Emperor. Of course, this is in line with his stated intentions for the album; I’m just not sure the end result is a success. It’s interesting and listenable, but is it worth repeat listens?

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