Style: Progressive/Black Metal

Amor Fati
    That Ishahn has the time for a side project is impressive enough. The fact that this is creatively bold and musically accomplished is just amazing. Any review of Amor Fati is made a lot easier with the assumption that the reader is familiar with Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise (Emperor), but for the less Emperor-devoted, I shall proceed from the beginning.
    Peccatum is very much the avant-garde wing of Ishahn's musical assaults, with many eclectic and diverse musical choices. Time signatures are inconsistent, song structures convoluted, riffs oblique and impressionistic. The heavy use of keyboards, samples, guitar layering and multiple vocal styles (from Ihsahn, Ihriel and Lord PZ) create what is a very overwhelming, at times confused, album, that is quite obviously dominated by conceptual ambitions rather than a specific new direction. Peccatum is a statement: metal cannot be contained, restricted, labelled or categorised. Let music wander where it will, perhaps with the aid of some blistering black metal riffs.
    Given the experimental nature of this endeavour, its actually quite listenable and comprehendable. There are many solid and enjoyable melodies, and the songs are never so long so as to lose the listener. 'Murder', in particular, displays quite majestic melodies while ever keeping me off my guard, through odd time and key changes. Although many would argue that this is quite different from Emperor, Prometheus... could quite easily be the alter ego to this record. Amor Fati, while not exactly black metal, uses many of the techniques developed by Arcturus, Borknagar and, of course, Emperor. The facade of progressive avant-garde can easily be penetrated to reveal Ihsahn's desire to develop on black metal by approaching it from another perspective.
    As side projects go, Amor Fati is incredibly strong, and had anyone but Ihsahn been responsible, it might have become very well respected in its own right. Unfortunately, Peccatum will always be eclipsed by Emperor because of the utter genius of the latter's releases. That said, there really is nothing on Amor Fati that I would criticise, and I am looking forward for many hours yet exploring the subtleties and intricacies of these 9 songs.