Ihsahn’s New Song “Crooked Red Line” Features Shining Saxophonist Jørgen Munkeby

Ihsahn is a multi-faceted beast; he can rock, as on “Mass Darkness,” he can roll, as on the funky, experimental “Pressure,” and he can whisper sweet lullabies in your ear, as on “Crooked Red Line,” the third track to make its way to the web from the upcoming album Arktis.

I won’t call “Crooked Red Line” a ballad — it’s not cheesy, or too soft — but it’s about as slow and contemplative of a song as you’ll hear from the former Emperor frontman. The song’s deliberate buildup combines delicate guitar work with Ihsahn’s smooth, mellow voice — which sounds fucking fantastic here — and introduces saxophone via Shining’s Jørgen Munkeby, That sax helps transition the song into an unexpectedly heavy explosion, after things wind back down, but I just love the way this song flows from start, to middle, to end — it’s one of the best, and most beautiful, songs Ihsahn has ever written.

Check out below. Arktis comes out on April 8th.

[via NPR]