Ihsahn

Vegard Sverre Tveitan (born 10 October 1975), better known by his stage name Ihsahn, is a Norwegian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer who is best known for his work with the black metal band Emperor.

Tveitan is also a founding member of Thou Shalt Suffer, where he played guitar and keyboard in addition to vocal duties, and Peccatum, a project in collaboration with his wife and fellow musician Heidi Solberg Tveitan, also known as Starofash.

In 1990 Tveitan joined Haugen's band Xerasia, a death metal band in which he played guitar and keyboards.

They eventually changed their name to Embryonic sometime that year.

In November, the band released a self-financed four-track demo titled The Land of the Lost Souls.

The project was partially funded by a government grant and the group made several releases in 1990 and 1991.

Shortly after, Haugen left the band to focus on other projects.

Tveitan later used the name Thou Shalt Suffer to release an album of electronic music that he composed entitled Somnium.

In 1991 they changed their name again to Thou Shalt Suffer.

Later in 1991 Haugen and Tveitan formed Emperor.

Emperor had a much more refined black metal sound which showcased Tveitan's developing keyboard skills, a distinct feature that would appear in many of his later releases.

The band at this time received a lot of support and encouragement from black metal pioneer Euronymous, and after several demos, the Emperor EP was released in 1993 to much acclaim.

During this time, bandmates Bård Eithun (also known as Faust) and Haugen were imprisoned; Eithun for murder and Haugen for arson.

Tveitan 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 Haugen's parole.

In 1995 the cult album Blood Must be Shed, by Zyklon-B was released featuring members of Emperor and Satyricon.

Tveitan played synth on the album.

In 1998 Tveitan and his wife Heidi Solberg Tveitan—who at the time used the stage name Ihriel—formed the experimental band Peccatum.

Tveitan offered his iconic synth sound as well as clean and black vocals to the project.

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.

In the same year, Emperor released their fourth and final studio album, Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise.

'Prometheus' was entirely composed by Tveitan and featured more complex orchestration than previous works; though significantly less synthesizers than before.

It was at this time that Emperor mutually decided to dissolve, leaving Tveitan and his bandmates with more time to focus on their various side projects.

The Adversary was recorded at Symphonique Studios in Norway and was released on his label Mnemosyne Productions, which he founded in 2003 with Starofash.

2004 saw the release of Peccatum's third and final studio album, Lost in Reverie, with an EP titled The Moribund People following the year after.

On 30 September 2005, Emperor made a surprise return at Scream magazine's 15-year anniversary party at Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo.

The show was kept top secret, only known by a handful of people.

The band played three songs.

Since 2006, Tveitan has primarily devoted himself to solo albums and occasional guest appearances.

Beyond the characteristics typically associated with metal music, Tveitan's musical style also includes classical, industrial, and progressive elements.

He is a progenitor of the symphonic black metal genre.

Emperor's final album, Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise, composed by Ihsahn, epitomizes the genre.

Tveitan was born in Notodden, Norway, where he grew up on a large farm.

He began playing piano at age six and guitar at age 10.

At the age of 13, Tveitan met Tomas Haugen (also known as Samoth), who would become his long time collaborator and the co-founder of Emperor. While at a music seminar, Tveitan gained Haugen's attention with his Iron Maiden patches.

Peccatum would eventually becoming his main project until its termination on 4 March 2006.

This was to announce the reuniting of the band for a few shows around Europe and America in 2006, namely at Wacken and Inferno Festival.

In April 2006, Tveitan released his first solo album, The Adversary.

He recorded and produced the album by himself, with the exception of drums which were contributed by Asgeir Mickelson, and guest vocals on the track "Homecoming" by Kristoffer Rygg of Ulver.

The album showcases his progressive influences as well as heavy metal, black metal and classical music.