Reviews
2003-04-08
My way to this album wasn’t difficult to cross, everyone has is musical guiding line that helps him to know more bands and albums. Mine is Emperor.
With Emperor as a guiding line I’ve cross through Thou Shalt Suffer (both early days and as Ihsahn’s project), Zyklon B, Zyklon, Hagalaz Rundance and Peccatum. The last station is Star Of Ash.
Star Of Ash is the solo album of Heidi S. Tveitan, a.k.a Ihriel from the avangarde Black Metal act Peccatum, Do Not Except to find here the continuation of her other act, as the music that she deprives her is far more hypnotic and outstanding then Peccatum music. Heidi is the main responsible for music which takes your brain to far and district places, that giving you a certain ease from the soul drying everyday routine.
The best description for the music is Dark Ambient with Trip-Hop elements, as you can find here roots from the names like Dead Can Dance, Bjork, Tricky and Massive Attack, although there is also a touch of obscure and gothic elements. It’s not an easy album after all that you can take your finger and point on other album to say that it’s sounds like it, because it doesn’t sounds like anything else. In the making of the music certain names have assisted her like her husband Vegard Tveitan a.k.a Ihsahn (Emperor, Thou Shalt Suffer, Zyklon B), Kris Rygg a.k.a Garm (Ulver, Borknagar, Arcturus) and Tore Ylwizaker (Ulver).
The only elements from her dark roots are those of the obscure symphony her husband created in Thou Shalt Suffer’s Somnium, and the later work of her friends in Ulver’s Predition City era.
Sounds interesting? It is.
Sounds good? With no doubt.
Tomer .L.
