Ihsahn is open to writing a new Emperor album if the "circumstances" were right

Vegard Sverre Tveitan aka Ihsahn, the frontman of Emperor, has expressed his openness to the possibility of creating a comeback album with his bandmates, provided that the right circumstances are present. Emperor's previous studio album, Prometheus - The Discipline Of Fire & Demise, was composed entirely by Ihsahn and was released in 2001, after which the band disbanded.

Ihsahn pursued a solo career, while guitarist Samoth (Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen) participated in several groups, including Scum and Zyklon. Emperor has periodically reunited for live performances but has consistently rejected requests for new material, a stance that Ihsahn claims he is no longer entirely opposed to.

In a recent interview with Heavy, Australia's Heavy Music Magazine, Tveitan was asked about the possibility of a new Emperor album. The following was his response:

If I had a dime for every time someone asked that… That's, of course, a question that has come up a lot. And I think it's easy to answer and it's kind of hard at the same point. Because to start with, for 20 years, I've been, like, 'No way.' I've seen no point in doing that. But it's always come up. And it's something that me and Samoth have to relate to. And sometimes we touch on it more like just by coincidence.

From my perspective, and I can only speak for myself, so far it's been very hard to see where we would pick up," he continued. "The legacy of EMPEROR is that we never compromised. I think that is what appealed to the people who got into this music, that it was not made in a certain way for people to like it. It was just made totally without compromise, and people picked up on it probably because of that honesty.

If we were to make another EMPEROR record, should we make something that sounded like the old stuff? Which would be easy, but it wouldn't really be true. Or should we pick up where we left off with 'Prometheus', with me doing more and more experimental stuff. I'm not sure that would be what the fans would want. In the end, what would be the motivation outside any commercial things? And I think for it to happen, we would have to come to a place where our ideas aligned and that it felt right to do, in the same way that the shows have come together and we are now in a place where it feels right to do, where everybody's kind of in the same place.

So, before [his response would have been] immediately no, but if circumstances would have it that we would connect creatively and that we could create something on the same pure kind of values that we did in the first place, then I would be open to do that.

Watch the full interview below.