Born in the town of Notodden, Norway, Tveitan began playing piano at seven and guitar at ten and began recording songs shortly thereafter. His influences range from heavy metal, classical, ambient and techno. He grew up on a large farm in rural Norway.
Tveitan first met his partner in numerous musical projects, Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen (a.k.a. Samoth) at the age of thirteen at a music seminar. Tveitan gained Haugen's attention with his Iron Maiden patches. In 1991 they formed Thou Shalt Suffer together, a death/black metal band where Tveitan was guitarist and keyboardist. They produced several releases before Haugen left the band. Tveitan was left as the only member of the band and continues it to this day as a side-project. Unlike his solo work under his own name, Ihsahn's latest compositions for Thou Shalt Suffer are predominately keyboard-based and more classical in nature and influence.
After Haugen's departure from Thou Shalt suffer, the two formed Emperor where Tveitan again played guitar and provided vocals and keyboards. Emperor had a much more refined black metal sound which showcased Tveitan's developing keyboard sound, a distinct feature that would appear in his later releases. The band at this time received much support and encouragement from black metal pioneer Euronymous (member of the black metal band Mayhem) and after several demos, In the Nightside Eclipse was released to much acclaim.
Shortly thereafter, bandmates Haugen and Bård Eithun (a.k.a. Faust) were arrested and imprisoned leaving Tveitan to his own devices. He retreated to a property owned by his family to compose much of what would later become Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, which was recorded after the parole of Haugen.
In 1995 the cult album Blood Must Be Shed from Zyklon-B was released featuring members of Emperor and Satyricon, with Tveitan on synth. In 1998 Tveitan formed, along with his wife Heidi Tveitan (a.k.a. Ihriel), the highly experimental project Peccatum. In 1999 Emperor released IX Equilibrium.
Peccatum would feature his trademark synth sound as well as clean and black vocals. Over the years Peccatum has released five albums and EPs and was Tveitan's main project until the project was ended in early March 2006.
In 2001, the final Emperor album was realesed. A studio album, Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise was entirely composed by Tveitan and featured much more complex melodies than previous works. It had significantly less synth than before. It was at this time Emperor mutually decided to dissolve, leaving the band with more time to focus on side projects.
On September 30th 2005, Emperor made a surprise return at Scream's 15-year anniversary party in Oslo at the Rockefeller. The move was kept top secret, was only known by a handful of people, and they played three songs only. This was to announce the reuniting of the band for a few shows around Europe and America in 2006, namely at the Wacken Open Air festival and Inferno Festival.
His first solo album The Adversary was released in April 2006. All work was done by him with the exception of percussion, which was done by Asgeir Mickelson (Borknagar, Vintersorg and others). It showcases his progressive influences as well as heavy metal, black metal and classical music. The album was recorded at Symphonique Studios in Norway and is to be released on his label Mnemosyne Productions, which was formed in 2003 with Ihriel. A video accompanies the track Invocation.
As well as being a talented musician, Tveitan is also a capable artist and once considered doing the artwork for a Thou Shalt Suffer album. He presently lives in Notodden, Norway with his wife and one dog, an Akita Inu. He also teaches music at the local school.
From Official Myspace:
Just thirty years of age, Ihsahn has traveled far beyond his rural beginnings. In little more than a decade, the largely self-taught musician has amassed a resume that when combined exceeds more than three quarters of a million worldwide album sales. His cumulative professional accolades include a 2001 Spelleman (Norwegian Grammy) Award nomination, 2003 Notodden City Cultural Award, and countless "Best of" class honors in internationally respected metal and rock magazines including Terrorizer, Metal Maniacs, Revolver, Kerrang!, Guitar World and many more. Now with The Adversary, the former Emperor vocalist/guitarist steps outside the comforts of an ensemble or collaboration and commands for the first time his most challenging project - a solo album.
He also contributed vocals on Devin Townsend Project's album, Deconstruction.
Discography:
Thou Shalt Suffer:
1991 - Into the Woods of Belial (Demo)
1991 - Open the Mysteries of Your Creation (Demo)
1997 - Into the Woods of Belial (Compilation), (Re-issued 2004)
2000 - Somnium
Emperor:
Full Length:
1994 - In the Nightside Eclipse
1997 - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
1999 - IX Equilibrium
2001 - Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise
Live Albums:
2000 - Emperial Live Ceremony
Compilation Albums:
1998 - Wrath of the Tyrant
2001 - Emperial Vinyl Presentation
2003 - Scattered Ashes: A Decade of Emperial Wrath
Split Albums:
1993 - Emperor / Hordanes Land - Split with Enslaved
1999 - Thorns vs. Emperor - Split with Thorns
2000 - True Kings of Norway - Split with Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, Ancient and Arcturus
Singles/EPs:
1993 - Emperor
1994 - As the Shadows Rise
1996 - Reverence
Demos/Promos:
1992 - Wrath of the Tyrant
Bootlegs:
1995 - A Midsummer Night's Dream
1997 - Conquering Europe
1999 - Live in Frostland
Videography:
1997 - The Loss and Curse of Reverence (Promo Video)
2000 - Emperial Live Ceremony (VHS/DVD)
2001 - Empty (Promo Video)
Peccatum:
1999 - Strangling from Within
2000 - Oh, My Regrets (EP)
2001 - Amor Fati
2004 - Lost in Reverie
2005 - The Moribund People (EP)
Ihsahn: (Solo-albums)
2006 - The Adversary
2008 - Angl
2010 - After
2012 - Eremita
2013 - Das Seelnbrechen
2016 - Arktis
2018 - ÀMR
Hardingrock:
2007 - Grimen
Guest appearances and session:
1995 - Ildjarn - Det Frysende Nordariket (Session vocals on various tracks)
1995 - Wongraven - Fjelltronen (Session synth)
1995 - Zyklon-B - Blood Must Be Shed (Session synth and guitar)
1998 - Ulver - Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven & Hell (Guest vocals on A Song of Liberty)
2002 - Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors (Guest vocals on Radical Cut)
2002 - Star of Ash - Iter.Viator. (Various roles including guitar and bass duties)
2011 - Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction (Guest vocals on Juular)
2012 - Jeff Loomis - Plains Of Oblivion (Guest vocals on Surrender)
Monolith
Ihsahn Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The icy winds of the heights
But the coldness of the world
That hardened my foundation
Whether your approach
Is that of praise or blasphemy
The construction of my being
If my soaring presence
Threatens to break your neck
Then so be it
You shall dread my name
There is a fundamental cleft
Between your world and mine
One of divine origin
Were you to witness
The nakedness of your own soul
It would still appear a tower of Babel
Is it such a crime to go apart and be alone?
Your holy simplicity turns gold into stone
In Ihsahn's Monolith, the lyrics highlight the fact that the world itself, with its bitter coldness, has hardened the foundation of his being rather than the icy winds of the heights. The notion of praise or blasphemy doesn't matter as his construction of being remains unaltered by the approach. Ihsahn's presence - a monumental one - may pose as a threat to others, but that doesn't change anything. People will fear him eventually. There is a fundamental cleft between the two worlds - one of divine origin. It's said that if someone were to witness the nakedness of their own soul, that they'd see it as the tower of Babel. The lyrics suggest that it's not a crime to be alone and set apart. Simplicity can be both holy and devoured. Gold may turn into stone when we try to simplify it.
Line by Line Meaning
It was never
From the beginning, my strength did not come from the natural elements, but from the harshness of the world.
The icy winds of the heights
I did not derive my power from the cold, harsh mountain winds.
But the coldness of the world
Rather, I gained strength from the unfeeling, uncaring nature of the world around me.
That hardened my foundation
It was this hardness that helped shape my core and gave me the strength that I possess.
Whether your approach
Regardless of whether you come to me in admiration or condemnation,
Is that of praise or blasphemy
Whether you celebrate me or curse me,
The construction of my being
My being and nature, constructed by my experiences,
Will remain the same
Will not be altered by your opinions or reactions to me.
If my soaring presence
If my overwhelming, dominant force,
Threatens to break your neck
Poses a threat to your well-being or psyche,
Then so be it
So be it, for I will not weaken myself to accommodate you or anyone else.
You shall dread my name
My name will come to represent power and strength, and those who oppose me will do so with fear in their hearts.
There is a fundamental cleft
A deep divide exists,
Between your world and mine
Between your beliefs and values and my own.
One of divine origin
This divide is not of human origin, but rather created by fate or a higher power.
Were you to witness
If you were to look within yourself,
The nakedness of your own soul
The true, unfiltered nature of your soul,
It would still appear a tower of Babel
You would still face communication difficulties and misunderstandings, with no clear solution in sight.
Is it such a crime to go apart and be alone?
Is it really so wrong to desire solitude and distance from others?
Your holy simplicity turns gold into stone
However, the simplistic nature of your beliefs and way of life can cause you to devalue and destroy precious things that are valuable to others.
Contributed by Adeline L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.