Lighting The Dark

“For me, the Telemark and Pharos EPs represent the two extremes of what I try to do as part of my wider sound in their purest forms.”

n a year where even the best-laid plans have been left in tatters, Ihsahn’s double helping of fivetrack EPs has felt like a godsend. The two complementary releases – starting with the nostalgic black metal affair of February’s and concluding with the contemporary, progressively propelled in September – have helped break up a year amass with reasons not to be cheerful. Yet, even as the Norwegian multi-instrumentalist’s own carefully crafted plans are dashed by the pandemic, the unforeseen climate provides a rather fitting setting for this diverse new material. With the doors to venues shut, music fans are now looking to our