Arve Isdal, or Ice Dale as per the credits of most of the albums he plays on, has long been one of the most tasteful lead guitarists in the extreme metal scene. His highly melodic, occasionally atmospheric leads betray a deep appreciation for seventies hard rock and progressive rock. And while his playing is a great fit for progressive viking metal pioneers Enslaved, it works every bit as well within the context of his hard rock band Audrey Horne, which just released its excellent eighth album ‘Achilles’.

“When we wrote our previous album ‘Devil’s Bell’ (2022), it was during the covid period”, Isdal explains. “It was written and also mostly recorded at that time. That was kind of difficult, with all the restrictions that were in place. We could not work together as much as we wanted. We couldn’t even rehearse as much as we wanted. So I think that had a big impact on how the album turned out.

Also, I remember that we wanted to try and make ‘Devil’s Bell’ a somewhat heavier album, and we also wanted to incorporate more challenging song structures. More progressive song structures, maybe, than the albums we made before that. For this new album, we wanted to keep some of that, but also take a step back, if you will, to have a more direct sound. I wanted to have a lot more focus on melodies and choruses.

The sound was also something I wanted to approach in a different way. ‘Devil’s Bell’, to me, feels more like a studio album. Not that I wanted ‘Achilles’ to sound like a live album, but I wanted it to have some of that live aspect to it. Like having a rawer, more organic sound. We recorded it with that in mind. Not that much editing and AutoTune and stuff like that. Hopefully, you can hear that subconsciously. I don’t know if people will notice.”

A Way of Thinking

“To me, that has always been the way I liked making music the most. Not everything is perfect. There’s no thinking: you’re a little out of tune, let’s just copy the same part from the first verse, or whatever. To me, it makes perfect sense to just play the songs all the way through. And I think that will shine through there somehow.

Don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing wrong with editing stuff and recording your music in different ways. A lot of people do that, and it sounds great. But this was at least my idea of how the album should sound. For example: sometimes Kjetil (Greve, drummer), would play something different that we had not practiced, but it sounded cool, so we decided to keep it. We have had some of that happen. That way of thinking helped the album become what it is.

Especially when it comes to the solos, we do always leave room for spontaneity as well. At least for my solos, but I think it works like that for Thomas (Tofthagen, guitarist) as well, actually. We have had maybe an idea for some of the lines here and there, but a couple of my solos I just kept from doing one take on the pre-production or during the demo phase. It would be: we want a solo, can you play something quickly, just to give the others an idea of what’s coming there, that there will be a solo there?

There were some that were so cool that we decided to keep them. There may have been some mistakes in them, but I like them. They’re my solos, so I can choose, haha! And if people ask, I’m always going to say: no, it’s supposed to be that way, haha!”

An Exchange of Ideas

“The songwriting process in Audrey Horne is always an exchange of ideas. All of us have contributed with our playing, and even by composing music. In the past, it has mostly been Thomas and me who wrote the music, but Espen (Lien, bassist) also wrote music for this album. Toschie (singer) writes most of the lyrics, but we contribute there as well.

In the beginning, we just started rehearsing, but there weren’t many times when everybody was present, so it didn’t really go anywhere at the time, or at least I felt it didn’t. So that’s when I started working on pre-productions and demos on my computer, and working with a lot of the guys separately. Since I was in control of a lot of it, also with how we arranged the music back then, I guess it was pretty easy to find my space in the music. Also, I demanded a lot of space, haha!

So even though the songs are credited to the full band, we did not really write together that much, and it has been like that since the beginning. What usually happens in my case when I write a song, or have an idea for one, is that I think about the arrangements, about what I want to do, and what the second guitar should do. Once we start playing the songs for real, sometimes I will say: okay, I’m doing the main riff down here, can you put something on top of it?

Sometimes I just ask Thomas to fill it in, or even to play something totally different to make it more interesting. And he is also like that, so it comes pretty naturally to us. It almost never happens that we argue about the guitar arrangements. I think the one who came up with the idea always has the final say.”

A Really Easy Set-Up

“In terms of gear, Audrey Horne and Enslaved are getting more and more similar. I have always used Peavey amps, mostly, in both bands. Part of the reason why is that it fits the sound of Enslaved better than a Marshall kind of amp, because it has a somewhat heavier sound. It’s just a little scooped, but that works well in extreme metal.

In Audrey Horne, Thomas has always used Marshalls. And I think it’s always good to have two guitarists playing different amps, to have the guitars as a whole sound bigger. So that is the normal set-up we use in the studio. ‘Achilles’ has actually been recorded with the exact same set-up that we used on the last album, I think, but tweaked a little differently. Thomas plays a Marshall, and I used a Peavey 6505 through a cab simulator, I think it was the OX.

For the lead parts, I also had a Tube Screamer and a Boss OD-1 pedal that I used for all the lead and melody parts. I also had the Tube Screamer on, but without any gain on it, for some of the rhythm stuff, because that cleans it up a bit. A really easy set-up. I think Thomas had a Boss EQ pedal and an Xotic booster that he would run it through, and we just played around with the gain for all different parts. But we kept it really simple.”

Looking Better with a Les Paul

Anyone who has ever seen Isdal live over the last few decades has very likely seen him with his trusty Gibson Les Paul. “We used quite a lot of different guitars on the album, for parts and overdubs, and even some of the lead parts”, he emphasizes. “But I think all my main rhythm parts are on a Les Paul. I have also bought a lot of Fender guitars in recent years, but especially the older stuff is all Les Paul, even if it has more of a David Gilmour vibe to it.

Back in the late nineties, I had an Ibanez guitar, and then I changed to a Fender with a humbucker and a Floyd Rose. After that, I wanted to buy a new guitar. At that point, I either wanted to buy another Ibanez guitar or a Les Paul. There was something about the Les Paul Custom that I eventually bought that made me think: okay, I want that! That’s what Ace Frehley used, Jimmy Page used it a lot, Slash… It was so iconic!

Also, I thought: I’m going to look better with the Les Paul than with the Ibanez, haha! And I’m glad I got it when I did. I have not regretted it since. I love the neck of a Les Paul. I always did. The only potential issue with it is that they’re pretty heavy, at least the Customs. So that’s not great for my back.

But I don’t know… I kind of like it as well. Because now, when I switch to a pretty light guitar, it feels like there is something missing. It really feels like I’m playing guitar with the Les Paul, I guess.”

A Significant Change

“Enslaved started using digital amps a couple of years ago, so that has been a significant change. Maybe I will start doing that with Audrey Horne as well eventually, because I have to say that modeling amps are getting pretty good nowadays, especially with the Quad Cortex stuff. I have been totally against that and very analog for most of my life. But I’m getting older, and when I first tried it with Enslaved, I thought: okay, it works.

As long as I can run it through a cab, so I have the sound movement I need on stage, it’s not that bad. And it’s a lot easier and cheaper. I don’t use in-ears, though, and I don’t think I will anytime soon. I need to have that sound, and hear the others on stage. Also, I never enjoyed playing with a headset on. It’s good for listening to music at night, to not disturb others, but no, I don’t like doing it live.

We also don’t use tracks live or anything, so I do need to hear the whole band playing. I did one show filling in for Abbath’s band, where we didn’t have time to rehearse, so I had to use this in-ear setting in order to make the gig actually work. It was at a festival, and we didn’t have a long changeover. It worked, but I don’t want to do it on a regular basis.

If 25-year-old me would meet me now, we would not agree on a lot of stuff. I wouldn’t even consider using modeling five years ago. But I mean… I had the Line6 Pod, the red one, back in the day, and I used it for pre-productions with Audrey Horne, the I album (‘Between Two Worlds’, 2006), and I think the ‘Ground’ solo for Enslaved is actually played through a Pod. It’s always been easy. But back then, I didn’t use a DI signal. We mostly use that now when recording, so we have the possibility to re-amp.”

As They Are

“A lot of the guitarists I admire are very spontaneous and good at improvisation. But I can definitely also like more written solos. It’s always my goal for my lead parts to have a strong melody in there somehow. What I always like most about solos are the ones that you can just lean back and sing along. That’s always what I love about a good solo.

To me, when you release an album or a song, the way you played the solo there is kind of how it is, and people will expect it to be. So at least if you play solos like I do, which have a lot of melodies… If I just play whatever comes to mind at a live show, people are going to miss that. I wouldn’t like it either if I would go and see David Gilmour and instead of the ‘Comfortably Numb’ solo, he would say: I’m just going to improvise today. I would think: no!

Obviously, I’m not saying that my solos are on that level, but I kind of think of music like that. So I also want the other musicians in the band to play the songs as they are, more or less. Of course, we can have some space for different drum fills or to play a little bit more sometimes.

But for solos, I think I need to play the memorable parts the same. And that means you have to learn one sometimes. This can be hard. Especially if it might be a little off rhythm, or it sounds weird, better try to learn it. For me, it’s not about showing off some technique stuff. I can’t really play fast anyway.”

‘Queen of Night’, from Isdal’s 2003 debut with Enslaved ‘Below the Lights’, contains a number of very fast runs, though. “That’s pretty fast, yeah”, Isdal smiles. “But I was young then. I remember when we were rehearsing that album a few years ago, and I thought: why did I do that? Haha!”