Vegard Sverre Tveitan (born 10 October 1975), better known by his stage name Ihsahn ( ee-SHAHN), is a Norwegian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer known for his work with black metal band Emperor. Tveitan is a founding member of Thou Shalt Suffer, where he played guitar and keyboard and sang, and Peccatum, a collaboration with wife and musician Heidi Solberg Tveitan, known as Starofash. Since 2006, Tveitan has focused on solo albums and occasional guest appearances.
Beyond metal music, Tveitan's style includes classical, industrial, and progressive elements. He is a progenitor of symphonic black metal.
Tveitan was born in Notodden, Norway. He grew up on a farm. He began playing piano at age six and guitar at age 10.
Early years: Xerasia, Embryonic, and Thou Shalt Suffer
At age 13, Tveitan met Tomas Haugen (also known as Samoth), who became his collaborator and co-founder of Emperor. While at a music seminar, Tveitan gained Haugen's attention with his Iron Maiden patches.
In 1990, Tveitan joined Haugen's band Xerasia, a death metal band in which he played guitar and keyboards. They changed their name to Embryonic sometime that year. In November, the band released the self-financed four-track demo The Land of the Lost Souls. In 1991, they changed their name again to Thou Shalt Suffer. The project was partially funded by a government grant, and the group made several releases in 1990 and 1991. Shortly after, Haugen left to focus on other projects. Tveitan later released the album of electronic music Somnium under the name Thou Shalt Suffer.
Formation of Emperor and Peccatum
Later in 1991, Haugen and Tveitan formed Emperor, which had a more refined black metal sound that showcased Tveitan's keyboard skills, a feature that would appear in many later releases. Black metal musician Euronymous supported and encouraged the band. After several demos, the Emperor EP was released in 1993 to acclaim.
During this time, bandmates Bård Eithun (known as Faust) and Haugen were imprisoned for murder and arson, respectively. Tveitan retreated to a family property to compose Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, recorded after Haugen's parole.
In 1995, Zyklon-B released Blood Must be Shed, featuring members of Emperor and Satyricon. Tveitan played synth on the album. In 1998, Tveitan and wife Heidi Solberg Tveitan—who used the stage name Ihriel—formed the experimental band Peccatum. Tveitan played synth and sang clean and black vocals. Peccatum became his main project until it disbanded on 4 March 2006.
In 1999, Emperor released IX Equilibrium, Tveitan's third studio album with the group. Two years later, in 2001, Peccatum released their second studio album, Amor Fati. That year, Emperor released their fourth and final studio album, Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise, entirely composed by Tveitan and featuring complex orchestration and fewer synthesizers than before. At this time, Emperor dissolved, leaving Tveitan and his bandmates with more time to focus on side projects.
Peccatum released their third and final studio album, Lost in Reverie, in 2004. The EP The Moribund People followed the year after. On 30 September 2005, Emperor surprise-returned at Scream magazine's 15-year anniversary party at Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo. The three-song show was kept secret. They announced a few reunion shows around Europe and America in 2006, at Wacken and Inferno Festival.
2006–2010: The Adversary, angL, and After
In April 2006, Tveitan released his first solo album, The Adversary. He self-recorded and self-produced the album except for drums, contributed by Asgeir Mickelson, and guest vocals on the track "Homecoming" by Kristoffer Rygg of Ulver. The album showcases progressive influences and heavy metal, black metal and classical music. The Adversary was recorded at Symphonique Studios in Norway and released on his label, Mnemosyne Productions, which he founded in 2003 with Starofash. A video was made for opening track "Invocation".
He released his second studio album, angL, the following year, featuring bassist Lars K. Norberg, drummer Asgeir Mickelson, and guest vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth on "Unhealer".
In March 2009, Tveitan performed solo material live for the first time, in a one-off performance opening for Opeth in Norway. He has since made festival appearances playing solo material and Emperor covers. Leprous served as his backing band. Grimen, the only album by side project 'Hardingrock', was released that year.
Tveitan released his third solo album, After, in January 2010. Nordberg and Mickelson played bass and drums, respectively, with Jørgen Munkeby of Shining playing saxophone on several tracks. Later that year, in October, a Mnemosyne web update confirmed that Ihsahn had begun writing a fourth solo album, and was focusing on upgrading his home studio.
2011–2013: Eremita and Das Seelenbrechen