Any opinions on this masterpice from Norway? It seems to be that this album has been grossly misinterpreted and overlooked; for various unfortunate reasons I should add.
The main reason I believe this to be is that the band who created it came from a black metal background and therefore put extremity at the forefront of the album's characteristics; putting off a large number of people in metal as a whole, who might otherwise give it more of a chance.
Then secondarily - I also think that the album was not understood; the approach to song-writing "went over people's heads".
If more people gave this stunning piece of work (to this date unmatched by the songwriter, Ihsahn) they would see that it has incorporated influences from Shostakovich and Hindemith, for example, as well as numerous other 'expressionist' composers from the 20th century who were not afraid to use atonality in conjunction with traditional classical elements in order to create a dark atmosphere.
The main reason I believe this to be is that the band who created it came from a black metal background and therefore put extremity at the forefront of the album's characteristics; putting off a large number of people in metal as a whole, who might otherwise give it more of a chance.
Then secondarily - I also think that the album was not understood; the approach to song-writing "went over people's heads".
If more people gave this stunning piece of work (to this date unmatched by the songwriter, Ihsahn) they would see that it has incorporated influences from Shostakovich and Hindemith, for example, as well as numerous other 'expressionist' composers from the 20th century who were not afraid to use atonality in conjunction with traditional classical elements in order to create a dark atmosphere.