Vegard Sverre Tveitan (born 10 October 1975), better known by his stage name Ihsahn (/ˈiʃɑːn/ ee-SHAHN),[1] is a Norwegian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer who is best known for his work with the black metal band 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.

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

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.

He released his second studio album, titled angL, the following year, featuring Lars K. Norberg on bass, Asgeir Mickelson on drums, and guest vocals from Mikael Åkerfeldt (of Opeth) on the track "Unhealer".

Lars K. Nordberg and Asgeir Mickelson once again contributed bass and drums, respectively, with Jørgen Munkeby (of Shining) playing saxophone on several tracks as well.

Later that year, in October, a Mnemosyne web update confirmed that Ihsahn had already begun writing for a fourth solo album, and was also focusing on upgrading his studio at home.

Collaborators once again included Jørgen Munkeby[11] and Devin Townsend, who in a November 2011 interview mentioned that he was "singing a song for Ihsahn's new thing", but added that he could not elaborate any more at that point in time.

Tveitan added that the word Àmr, could also mean "rust red" and that the concept of a "room without walls" was a prevalent metaphor when working on the album.

[16] In comparison to previous albums, Àmr also features a greater use of electronic sounds, including analog synthesizers, that add to the intimate feeling of the music.

[19] He won the prize because he is considered the best-known inhabitant of Notodden, a great musician, a music teacher, and he arranges a lot of concerts for unknown bands.

[21] Tveitan lent his voice in 2007 to an animated character from the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse, Eric von Wiechlinghammer, in the episode "Dethfashion".

In an interview in 2012, Tveitan cited Iron Maiden, King Diamond, Judas Priest, and Pink Floyd as influential artists when he was young.

[4] Tveitan has described planning the atmosphere and conceptual underpinnings of Arktis and Àmr before beginning the compositional process, and has rejected the idea that albums are mere collections of songs.

Ihsahn additionally has said he has seen no reason to be physically destructive and has had no personal connection to the church burning cases that rocked Norway.

[26] In a 1994 interview, Ihsahn described a social Darwinist influence on his Satanism, calling himself anti-Christian and saying it is "not for a weak person", while also expressing respect towards European paganism, meditation and stewardship of the environment.