Emperor - Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise (2001)

It's no accident that Emperor's fourth (and final) full-length would be branded with the title of Prometheus. Like the mythic titan, who stole fire for mankind and thus ushered in a new era of prosperity and innovation, Ihsahn had moved peripherally into a creative space which would stoke several new blazes of inspiration. Perhaps the obvious alteration to the core concept is that Prometheus is no longer resting upon the laurels of its black metal forebears. In fact, without Ihsahn's vocals (clean and rasped) drawing a direct lineage from the prior album IX Equilibrium, this might even pass for an entirely different band, so it's no wonder it was met with such a divisive and varied reaction from both the band's long-standing audience and extreme metal buffs all across the spectrum.

There was a lot less involvement from Samoth here, who was presumably quite occupied with his other, touring band Zyklon at this time, and you can notice a distinct change in the riffs. Gone are the primarily tremolo-driven, traditional black metal sequences and in their place what might best be described as a hybrid of progressive death and thrash metal. Dense grooves are backed up by explosive, intricate flurries of clinical mayhem, and the symphonic elements are dialed up from any of the previous albums, playing a more crucial and central role. However, Prometheus is remarkable at balancing these two halves off against one another, and Ihsahn and Trym keep the songs compelling throughout nearly the entire track list, exquisite in their detail. My earliest experiences with the album were those of lukewarm appreciation, having felt that the band were fielding a more varied alternate to IX Equilibrium, but unlike that work I have become more attracted to and appreciative of this material, and these days would rate it second in their rather limited pantheon of studio efforts.

Doesn't make a whit of difference to me if it's not 'the true Emperor', if we must consider this 'extreme prog metal' or 'ZOMG a ghey Ihsahn solo album using the established brand name'. When the music is this passionate and well written, I take notice. Interestingly enough, that same level of production and polish which failed to recapture the malevolence of In the Nightside Eclipse on its previous successors functions far better in the context of this material. It's sleek, modern and admittedly quite plastic in execution: a perfect fit to this more futuristic treaty on humanism and ambition, and if it must be said, a noteworthy transition into Ihsahn's first official solo effort The Adversary. Aesthetically, this is not the Emperor you'd likely encounter on some remote glacial mountainside, but one you'd find in the local psycho ward, having broken free of its rubber room and now tormenting the nurses and orderlies. An 'Arkham Asylum' of Norwegian extremity, mirrored by the video for "Empty" which transitions from forest to gurney and back again.

There's not one song on here I'd snub my nose at, but I certainly have favorites. One of these is "In the Wordless Chamber", a cathartic and symphonic surge of madness which culminates in this brilliant and hilarious warlike march (first at 1:30) above which these beautiful strings simmer and a horn blares, Ihsahn growling like a hag. Even more surprising is how the songs dissolves into this lush, tonal ambient sequence at 3:00, before Trym returns to pummel the listener which some of the most gut-rupturing double bass in his repertoire. "Depraved" is also a firm standout due to the schizoid arching and toiling interchange of the guitars; "Empty" a razor straight charge into the depths of emotional dissolution, harried and punctual mutes serving as an anchor to the pop of the maddening melodies. "The Tongue of Fire" also deserves mention for how well it incorporates the symphonic side of the band directly into the chugging undertow, plus the fucked up King Diamond higher pitch that Ihsahn revisits.

But trust me, they're all pretty fucking sick. Even if the individual riffing doesn't earn a 100% ratio of hits over misses, the fact is that not a moment goes buy of these 52 without something interesting happening, some stylish climax, many of which you can't hear coming from a hundred yards distance. And I enjoy the hell out of it. Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise is frankly more intelligent, engaging and surreal than most black AND death metal albums in its class, even if that comes at the price of having to clean up their studio sound simply so the listener can absorb all of the minutiae in the composition. Riffs, riffs and more riffs, colliding and retracting through a more cerebral and less confined space than any of their previous albums. A proficient and paralytic waltz of mockery. A swan song with Bedlam in its beak, electrodes wired to every fucking feather.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (thus they clustered to the fruits of the earth)

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - IX Equilibrium (1999)

The one thing IX Equilibrium gets immediately right over Anthems to the Welkin to the Dusk is that it grabs the listener by the throat and then keeps squeezing. While I can't promise that this is some cohesive work of brilliance on the level of Emperor's debut, it's at least far more engaging over the course than its 1997 predecessor. While this album adheres to Anthems level of studio presentation and polish, many of the individual components stand out far more on their own. It's not some wall of force from which the audience should be expected to pluck out individual, memorable strains where there are none. The guitars are more potent, frenzied and pummeling, and the vocals more angered and distinct, or more convincing when they swerve into cleaner territory. The riffs are slightly more charismatic and varied, and the lyrics just as strong as either of the earlier full-lengths.

That said, where this one suffers a bit is in the consistency of the songs' quality. A few of them kick serious some backside, and the rest are competent but undistinguished. IX Equilibrium can seem almost confusing for the first few spins, due to its heightened sense of technical acrobatics, a hyperactive carousel of psychosis. Given some attention, though, it yields reasonable enough rewards and several of the tracks belong on any Emperor highlight reel. It's also worth noting that this is really the final 'black metal' album in the Norwegians' career. Esoteric and artsy to the extreme, Ihsahn and company never had any real intentions of repeating themselves, but stretching the possibilities of what this music could accomplish if flavored with various outside influences. The obvious would be neo-classical composition, but if you've listened to either of the head honchos' other projects (Peccatum, Zyklon, Ihsahn solo material ,etc) you can hear the larger pattern of evolution always at the fore of their creative mindset. And given Emperor's position as top shelf, intelligent entertainers, I think they set a pretty good example for the many black metal acts since who've incorporated classical, progressive, ambient and death metal into their throughput.

IX Equilibrium takes no time gathering its storm together and unleashing it through "Curse You All Men!", one of the more exciting tracks on the album, with loads of intense riffing that never seems to become overshadowed by the backing orchestration. The verse rhythms are taut and punishing, with cautionary horns blaring off against the muted tremolo, yet at the same time playfully threaded with sweeping pianos. Not all the patterns are interesting, but so unified in thundering violence that you never really get to come up for air and complain about it. The same could be said for numerous other tracks here like "Decrystallizing Reason", "The Source of Icon E", or "Sworn", all of which practice the same overwhelming whirlwind aesthetics and prove that Emperor was still one of the most precise, hard hitting acts throughout all of the modernization of European black metal into the 21st century.

But in truth, this is an album which becomes more intriguing in lockstep to its eccentricity. One of the finer pieces is "Nonus Aequilibrium", which makes excellent use of the clean, brooding along with a surgical sequence of rapid fire mutes and gleaning, sparse melodies. "An Elegy of Icaros" measures off smoother contours of progressively infused guitars with some swerves into pure thrash, vibrant synthesizers and more of Ihsahn's howling. "The Warriors of Modern Death" has this great, mid-paced rocking undercurrent which reminded me quite a lot of the late 80s Viking initiative taken by Bathory, only with some bursts of chugging, orchestration and unusual, subtle leads to vary the formula. Yet, even in all these cases, one can trace the straight roots back to Anthems and In the Nightside Eclipse. Emperor had yet to foray too far from their original path, and thus IX Equilibrium earns a measure of respect even from those who loathe its successor.

Ultimately, while it's a more functional and formidable follow-up to Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, the album still lacks a lot of that punch which cast the debut instantly into legend. It may just be the more polished production standards, which leech away some of the malevolence and mystique of the genre, but thematically the songwriting here is more about dextrous wizardry than creating some pervasive, haunted atmosphere. I was personally the most impressed with this band when I could listen to their music on some cold or raining (or both) night and have the skin scared off me by their sonic despotism and desperate, narcissistic hostility. An album like IX Equilibrium is more something I put in the stereo to show friends just how dizzying this trio of Ihsahn, Samoth and Trym had become upon their individual instruments. Talented, technical and complex, I enjoyed the album more than Anthems, though it's still far from essential.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (however hard the strikes may be)

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (1997)

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk is an important album to a great many persons, and this is not now or ever going to be in question. In fact, for tens of thousands of extreme metal (and hardcore) fans, this was undoubtedly one of the first albums in the black metal genre that they had experience with, alongside Enthrone Darkness Triumphant and Dusk and Her Embrace. It arrived at a time when Emperor was the band with the most impressive momentum and potential out of the Norwegian crop, poised on the edge of a far broader success, and thus more or less NEEDED to inspire thousands of imitators and accumulate breadcrumbs on the tables of various record execs. To that extent, I don't think anyone can deny that these Anthems were working as intended. On the flip side, though, the band was so hyped by this point that they could have released a disc of ABBA covers with Ihsahn rasping the lyrics and it would have sated the starved bellies of their overflowing bandwagon of followers.

Personally, I found this to be a monumental disappointment after In the Nightside Eclipse had soaked my mind and terrified me for a number of years. I imported the European edition, and spent time absorbing the artwork and lyrics before even attempting to listen through the disc, discovering the well written prose of ritualistic self-empowerment which so accurately mirrors and defines the many lost souls who listen to this stuff (I'm not excluding myself). When that time arrived, though, to experience Anthems in full, blaring out my speakers, I was astonished to find that so little of the album would stick for me. Repeated spins would not yield different results, and I've now spent well over a decade scratching my head at its overwhelmingly positive reaction. Like Death's Human, or Morbid Angel's Blessed Are the Sick, it's one of those paragons of extreme metal which seems to have laid the seeds of supplication in just about everyone I know, excepting myself. Hell, I have known folks who consider this the apex of its genre...and I'm sure we all remember the various magazine polls that placed it as one of, if not THE greatest singular achievement in metal music to its day!

Bollocks, all of it. Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk might have won its spot in the hearts of many newcomers to its medium of expression, and it might indeed be a finely honed piece of work in terms of raw production value, but this in no way surpasses In the Nightside Eclipse and in truth I found it to fall short in many areas. Not the least of which is the almost complete dearth of haunted and vile atmosphere which made that debut so beloved and resonant. This is no stylistic departure, mind you. Anthems is basically a tidier, polished answer to its predecessor, with the addition of a metric ton of clean, soaring vocals which are assumed to expand the sound, but never really prove anything other than the fact that Ihsahn can actually pull them off. Lots of structured blast sequences, orchestration, and dynamic versatility are strewn throughout, and one can certainly praise Trym for his unbridled energy and importance to the band's celerity, but when there aren't that many scathing and memorable riffs to support, even he often comes off as some soulless, muscular metronome.

The main problem, as I hear it, is that with the possible exception of "Ensorcelled by Khaos", the entire first half of this album is about as impressive as watching your lawn grow. "Alsvartr (The Oath)" cycles from acoustics and hooting owl samples to whispered, self-aggrandizing narration over the onslaught of bombastic synths and circular guitar melodies. The actual note progression is playful enough, if predictable, but even the various hisses and rasps off in the distance fail to manifest the level of intimidation this was meant to represent towards the listener, so when the King Diamond wails and storming, blast-thunder of "Ye Entrancemperium" arrive, one is just happy that "The Oath" is over. Unfortunately, this next tune itself is pretty much a poster child for how technical performance and speed do not equivocate memorable music. All of the guitars, with the exception of the unnerving sway at around 2:00, sound like zero effort was placed in their construction, just sheer speed, and the keys and clean vocals also zip through one ear and straight out the arse.

"Thus Spake the Nightspirit" is mildly more measured and grandiose, but it too cedes into this vapid blasting, and the spikes of melodies curried through the guitars are less than ideal; and while "Ensorcelled by Khaos" tries pretty damn hard to excel with the opening tremolo riff and the somewhat catchy symphonic progression deep in its verses, it still seems to lack that tangible darkness and tyrannical violation of In the Nightside Eclipse. No, it's not until "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" and "The Acclamation of Bonds" that I felt the grasp of diabolic witchery finally wear down my senses. Ironically, a song that I described as two minutes of excellence in a six minute shell (on the Reverence EP) positively sparkles next to most of this album, it's initial blasted momentum transitioning towards an admittedly superb tremolo riff and later an almost jazzy, textured symphonic sequence. "The Acclamation of Bonds" is also worthy for the flights of racing melodies and their interplay with the ghostly keypads later in the run time, but I still would not put it against anything on the debut album.

Just when I thought the album was getting decent, of course, I was struck with the eight minute slog that is "With Strength I Burn", which showcases a lot of the clean vocal harmonies astride what must be the least interesting set of riffs on the whole album (slow and faster paced). Quite disheartening, and not in the 'good way' that I expect from an effective black metal piece. I've covered dozens if not hundreds of albums with similar songs to this: inflated to the point that they escape the wielder's hands to the clouds, only to wound up impaled on an airplane propeller. Finally, it's sad that the sweltering, dense emotions of the central guitar line and synthesizer in the closing instrumental "The Wanderer" are more memorable than about half the full length lyrical songs on the album...but that is, indeed the case.

Clearly, Emperor were firing on many cylinders when they sat down to write this material, but the strength of the band's arsenal amounts to little more than saber rattling here. Where In the Nightside Eclipse captured its fell glories in a frozen sculpture of menace, this album seems to embrace the pageantry of speed and musicianship without the impeccable undercurrent of evil. Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk was in the right place, at the right time, and I think that explains much of the veneration it received (or receives). But the music itself should no way be entitled to such admiration, because it's just not that great, no matter how fast the drums and guitars are, no matter how entwined the textures of errant melody and faux orchestration. An important album chronologically for its ability to open the rabid floodgates of fandom, but not nearly the masterwork some would have us believe. Average, surging symphonic black metal with only small glints of brighter craftmanship on the surface of its dull blade.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (the emptiness of earthborn pride)

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - Scattered Ashes: A Decade of Empereal Wrath (2003)

Well, it had to happen sooner or later, a posthumous compilation album for one of Norway's most infamous bands, coming a few years after the (temporary?) closing of their creative gates. That Scattered Ashes: A Decade of Empereal Wrath is viewed as one of the finer collections of its type only speaks volumes of the respect held for Emperor. Sadly, it speaks far more of that than the actual content. Don't get me wrong, Candlelight and Emperor have gone all out to give the fans great cover art, packaging and a metric ton of material. Two discs spanning nearly 2 and a half hours of content, drawn from a large variety of sources. Problem is...most of this band's fans will already have these original works (at least the studio full-lengths) and, thus, much of this is mere redundancy for profit.

So this is another one of those deals where they offer a disc of the more common, album material up front. Disc One jumps around between the four studio albums with few exceptions, not all splayed out in any chronological order, but in an attempt to establish and maintain momentum, like some mix tape you might excitedly make for a friend or girlfriend. The exceptions here would be "Wrath of the Tyrant" and "Thus Spake the Nightspirit", the former being recalled from the band's demo days and the latter from Emperial Live Ceremony. Otherwise, though, you get a good chunk of In the Nightside Eclipse ("The Majesty of the Nightsky", "Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Time", "I Am the Black Wizards", "Inno a Satana") and Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk ("The Loss and Curse of Reverence", "With Strength I Burn" and "Ye Entracemperium"), and a smaller peppering of cuts from their more recent works IX Equilibrium ("Curse You All Men!", "An Elegy of Icaros") and Prometheus ("The Tongue of Fire" and "In the Wordless Chamber").

Nothing wrong with the quality or 'flow' of these selections, but regardless it's a pretty fucking useless start to what might have otherwise been a consistent gathering of rarities. Most of these, of course, make it onto the second disc, which is by far going to be more valuable to the majority of fans who own most of the studio albums, but might not have had access to their demos and EPs. The first segment contains a handful of covers, most of which have appeared elsewhere. For instance, "Aerie Descent" was on the Thorns vs. Emperor split; Bathory's "A Fine Day to Die" and Mercyful Fate's "Gypsy" were on the re-issues of In the Nightside Eclipse. But there are also some compilation tracks here which are scarcer, like their seething rendition of Mayhem's "Funeral Fog" with its splatter-blasting intensity (A Tribute to Mayhem: Originators of the Northern Darkness) or the very best of the bunch, an amazing version of Darkthrone's old school cut "Cromlech" done up in all Emperor's enormous, airy grandeur. I had not heard that before so I was quite thrilled.

Then there's a small sequence of more electronically infused material that include their "I Am" deconstruction from Thorns vs. Emperor, and the hectic Ulver remix of "Sworn" which was on the digipack release of IX Equilibrium, and sounds frankly like crap in this spastic gabber form. The rest of the contents of Scattered Ashes are all EP and demo tracks. As the Shadows Rise (1994) and the non-album tracks off Reverence (1996) are included in their entirety, and the selection is rounded out by "My Empire's Doom" and "Moon Over Kara-Khehr", which are largely the worst produced on the album, the latter being a rehearsal. In all, this is a far more justified use of compilation space, since the target audience might not actually own a bunch of these pieces, though I would maintain that, for the ardent collector, there's nothing new under the sun. But for those people, they'd likely just buy this for the logo on the cover and keep it in the shrink wrap.

Ultimately, Scattered Ashes had nothing to offer me beyond the Darkthrone cover, and that's only because I never bothered to pick up that Moonfog tribute compilation Darkthrone Holy Darkthrone, which I'd much rather do than buy this. This is packaged well, and it includes a boat load of content, but so much of it has been redundant. Pretty, but empty plastic. I'm not sure if Emperor had some other pieces floating around from their later years. Maybe demos for new songs, or stuff that never made it onto Prometheus, or even some experiments, but that would have made for a far more valuable first disc than what we ended up with. Scattered Ashes might be fine for some random n00b just getting into the band, but even then I'd turn he or she to their full-length debut where the band has always been and will always be best experienced. Not shy on content, but in essence, this feels like one of those releases translating to: a safe, guaranteed payday for all involved.

Verdict: Fail [3.75/10]

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Thorns vs. Emperor (1999)

The most exciting and interesting aspect of Thorns vs. Emperor is just how well-integrated its components are. Most split recordings or team-up releases feel segregated due to their traditional formatting. For whatever reasons, geographical or stylistic gulfs, each of the two or more acts will be assigned a 'position' on the track list (CD) or a 'side' if it's being released in vinyl or cassette format. Not the case for this cyber-black extravaganza, which feels more like a collaboration being held directly between Snorre Ruch (billed here as S.W. Krupp) and the members of Emperor. Over the course of 48+ minutes, the two parties deconstruct one another's past glories, their own work, and in some cases, offer up new material.

Granted, not all of the tracks here feel equally revelatory, and I'm quite partial to the Thorns contributions over the Emperor cuts, but this is largely due to the newer material. By this time, Ruch's project had only been heard through demos, so Thorns vs. Emperor was likely its first introduction to the larger underground, and he really delivers. "Melas Khole" is an electronic trudge with poignant, excellent lyrics and shifting industrial percussive currents and swerving bass lines that carry the spikes of dissonant, fragmented black metal licks. "The Discipline of Earth" is a mix of straight black metal bursts and almost drunken narrative over a matrix of whacky, frivolous electro sounds. But "Ærie Descent" is likely the best of his pieces here, a tune that was brought forward and expanded from the Trøndertun demo (1992) and slapped with horns and other atmospherics that truly work themselves upon the listener's conscience. I quite loved the trance-like break at around 1:30, and Satyr from Satyricon does a decent job of slavering this tunes with his hoarse rasp and unnerving, clean vocals.

As for Emperor, they include an martial/industrial intro piece ("Exördium") with deep coils of distorted bass and a gradually building cadence. A crazed deconstruction of their own "I Am the Black Wizards" track known simply as "I Am", which spiritually feels like it inhabits the margin between a Third Reich pep rally and some touring carnival carousel. There is also an entirely instrumental, martial/synthesizer orchestration of "Thus Spake the Nightspirit" called "Thus March the Nightspirit" which feels like the boss battle for some obscure Castlevania or Final Fantasy title. Perhaps more interesting, though, is the metalization of Thorns' "Aerie Descent" which is more compact than the reskinned version Snorre has included. Ihsahn and Samoth have festooned this with lurching, slicing and dissonant riffs that give me the aesthetic impression of attempting to weave through one of those swinging pendulum blade trapped corridors you always see in games or action films.

In return, Snorre has broken down Emperor's "Cosmic Keys to My Creation & Times" into the reductive "Cosmic Keys", taking a few of the guitars and dowsing them in Satyr's spoken word alternative, while a throng of industrial percussion beneath. This was actually my least favorite track on the album, but I'd have to say that the rest of the pieces were quite fascinating to sit through, and though such earlier black metal/industrial experiments do not always hold up for long periods of time, I feel that Thorns vs. Emperor retains some freshness, not unlike those Satyricon electros on their EPs, or Mayhem's "A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun (Part II of II)" from Grand Declaration of War. It's not nearly perfect music, but Thorns and Emperor do prove a near perfect match, and even though the split skews towards the former for its more quality content, this is a collaboration that might have yielded amazing results had they decided to release more.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (do you ask the purpose of your pain?)

http://www.thorns.no/
http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - Live Inferno/Live at Wacken Open Air 2006 (2009)

So, you say Emperial Live Ceremony was not enough to sate your urge for preservation of Emperor on the stage, and/or you were not able to attend their 2006 gigs at European festivals. This double-live album has you in its sites, and consider yourself shot. Live Inferno and Live at Wacken Open Air 2006 are both solid performances, but I might not be alone in questioning why the need for them to be packaged together. I mean, I LIKE that you're getting a lot more for your dollar...Disc 1 is 80 minutes and Disc 2 is 70 more minutes, but unfortunately the track listings are pretty much identical...

The Inferno festival is in Emperor's home terrain, so it makes a lot of sense that this would be the longer of the two sets, and truly this is loaded. In fact, this disc alone is better than either Emperial Live Ceremony (2000) or the Wacken disc included, and it features a more copious production that seems to better capture the atmosphere and surge of the audience. The keys are good and loud, without drowning out the guitars, and there's more of a low end. Surprisingly, despite their absence on the scene for years, the band does not seem to have let their limbs atrophy, and the guitar tones are rich and acrobatic. I don't think Ihsahn's voice here is quite up to its former state, honestly, but neither is it bad. Most importantly, this set has more tracks off In the Nightside Eclipse, and that fact thrills me. You get "Cosmic Keys to My Creations & Times", "Inno A Satana", "I Am the Black Wizards", "Towards the Pantheon" AND "The Majesty of the Nightsky", all of which sound phenomenal here, even managing to capture that rush of arrogant, nocturnal atmosphere found on the studio effort.

For newer fare, the albums are still well-represented. "The Loss and Curse of Reverence", "With Strength I Burn", "Ye Entracemperium" and "Thus Spake the Nightspirit" are all included from Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk; "Curse You All Men!", and "An Elegy of Icaros" from the IX: Equilibrium album. More of a thrill is that they included "In the Wordless Chamber" from their last studio effort Prometheus, which happens to be my favorite track on that album, and the horn strikes sound great, if a little soft. They've also got "Opus a Satana" from the Reverence EP used as an outro, which serves almost like a 'curtain' falling on their career, plus a medley of other material ("Infinity Burning") and a truly old school nod in "Wrath of the Tyrant". No real complaints at all here, they included most of the songs they should have on some live career retrospective and I'm sure the fans were blowing juices all over one another in excitement.

As for the Wacken (Germany) performance, it's somewhat shorter by 10 minutes, and the production and sound are comparable, with even more of an ambiance from the crowd rush. Unfortunately, the track selection here is identical to the Norse fest, sans the "Opus a Satana" outro, "Wrath of the Tyrant" and "Ye Entrancemperium", so this is simply not the favored of the two discs. It's this redundancy that somewhat hinders the value of this release, or at least in its audio-only format. It would have been truly epic had they varied up the track selection and given us even more impetus to purchase it, but that second disc drags its feet since it's not a better show than the first. Live Inferno alone is probably justification enough to own this if you're a diehard follower of the band, but as a product it could have been better. Then again, who knows if it was planned like this originally. The band probably just wanted to put their best feet forward at the gigs, and not worry about how the album would turn out.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - Emperial Live Ceremony (2000)

Having had the opportunity to experience their live devastation on their first proper US tour, I can honestly attest that Emperor was one of the best black metal gigs I've personally witnessed. Even the material from Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk and IX Equilibrium, albums that I don't revere nearly as much as many of their other fans, seemed to take on a new life in the stage setting, dispensing with the sterility I've often related to their studio incarnations. The Emperial Live Ceremony package, which was recorded at a London gig in 1999, is a pretty honest and tight sounding representation of such an experience, and will probably best suit those many followers likely never had the chance to check them out due to age or location restrictions during the Norwegians' prime in popularity.

This was released in VHS, DVD and CD format, the last of which is what I'm covering here. The set list is pretty much what I remember from their tour, opening with some ambiance and then "Curse You All Men!". The whole set is about 49 minutes long, and the sound, while not perfect, very well captures the drumming, guitars and vocals. Trym is his usual, living storm-self while the guitars feel punchy, punctual and every wild thread of lead resonates over the denser and vicious substrate of the recording. I admit I can't really make out so much of the base, not that it has ever been the most important ingredient in their mixture, and the synths do seem a little lost in the shuffle, but nonetheless Emperial Live Ceremony captures the band's proficiency like few live albums of its sort are able to for their respective artists. All of that clinical, studio efficiency that so many worshiped (or feared out of envy) is presented in the flesh, and the shifts from soaring, clean vocals to Ihsahn's trademark rasp are seamless.

As for the set-list selected, this heavily favors the more recent pair of albums. "Curse You All Men!", "An Elegy of Icaros" and "Sworn" are present from IX Equilibrium, and Anthems is represented with "Thus Spake the Nightspirit", "With Strength I Burn", "Ye Entrancemperium". I can imagine at the time I was rather upset by this, but all of these are given excellent showings here, in particular "Sworn" and "Thus Spake..." which sound superb. For earlier fare, they've of course included "I Am the Black Wizards" and "Inno A Satana" off In the Nightside Eclipse and Night of the Graveless Souls from their s/t EP, and honestly this stuff is just as good if not better than the newer material. I can't recall the exact set list from the Palladium, but I believe they might have also played a few other IX Equilibrium tracks, or varied them.

Regardless, Emperial Live Ceremony accomplishes what it seeks to and justifies its existence, a clean and snappy performance. Candlelight and the band were wise in waiting a few years to issue a live performance as product, one of those rare cases where it isn't rushed out the door or shat forth with a bunch of others like Iron Maiden has been guilty of in the past. In fact, this is one of the more solid black metal live recordings I own, even if part of me would have wished for more of the old school material.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - Emperor/Wrath of the Tyrant (1998)

Emperor had gained an enormous momentum through the mid and latter half of the 90s, and thus demand for their unreleased demo material was soaring in between their studio albums. Candlelight caved in and re-issued the band's Wrath of the Tyrant demo (1992) and s/t EP (1993) as one package, with the sole amenity of some remastering to potentially curb the shock that Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk fans might feel towards their favorite Norwegians' cruder origins. I've already reviewed the Emperor EP at length, so here I shall focus more on the demo material incorporated here, since I think the first four tracks are better experienced along with their Enslaved counterparts (Hordane's Land) on that split.

Interestingly, Emperor traced a career path similar to their countrymen Darkthrone. They evolved out the death metal act Thou Shalt Suffer, producing some demo and EP material in those confines before adopting a new style in the vein of predecessors like Bathory, Mayhem, Venom, Hellhammer and Darkthrone themselves, and thus Emperor proper was born (Ihsahn would later continue his alma mater as a separate, neo-classical/ambient entity). It is clear right from this demo, though, that this band would be traveling down a more grandiose, 'epic' path than some of their contemporaries, only it was not fully realized by this demo. Wrath begins with a solemn, ominous ambient/choir piece and then transitions into the churning and atmospheric "Ancient Queen", in its rawest form here with enormous, splattered black rasps that permeate all of its steadily mid-paced, pummeling rhythms. Ihsahn sounds rather like a corpse painted clown here, because the vocals are often too boisterous and silly for their own good, but the voice itself is quite impressive and hostile.

The best thing in listening through this is obviously hearing the tracks that didn't really make it further on in their career. Pieces like "Ancient Queen", "Witches Sabbath" and "Lord of the Storms" would all shift forward to the 1994 EP As the Shadows Rise where they were given a more polished studio treatment. "Wrath of the Tyrant" and "Night of the Graveless Souls" are also part of the Emperor EP. But the bombastic, murderous rush of "My Empire's Doom' would not be heard again until the Scattered Ashes comp, and it's probably one of the best songs on this demo, despite the rather primal riffs. I enjoy the sluggish breakdown and how it explodes back into Ihsahn's despotic vocal heresies. "Forgotten Centuries" is laden with a similar, kinetic consistency and some swaggering groove-riffs, though despite the remastering the drums can still become sinewy and lost to the meat of the guitar tone. "Moon over Kara-Shehr" is not my favorite of the lot, focusing on slower, groove rhythms, almost like a Hellhammer black/doom, but here at least the vocals are as venomous as a crown of writing serpents.

The fact that the entire demo is present and accounted for, without being fucked about, is reason enough that the band's fan base, most of whom got into Emperor years into their career, might just wanna check this out. It's not great, I'll admit, and the redundancy of some of its content does erode some of its potential value (for instance, the In the Nightside Eclipse songs from the EP simply do not sound as great here as on the full-length). But it's certainly the sort of thing that genre purists will likely hold up as a favorite due to its roughness, hostility and sincerity, similar to how recordings like Deathcrush and Ablaze in the Northern Sky have shown long legs. This material represents the emergent black metal realm (or second wave, if you count the prototypes as the true pioneers for the yet-unnamed genre) at its primacy, and yet there were hints even here at the isolated grandeur Ihsahn and friends would strive towards.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (He will raise His voice of doom)

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - Reverence EP (1996)

As the mid 90s arrived, Norway's Emperor were riding upon the peak of their career momentum, even while resting on the laurels of a single full length album. Granted, that's one fucking hell of a full length album, and in my opinion one of the best in its genre to date, but by 1996 Ihsahn and Samoth could have recorded a double CD set of live, syncopated armpit farts and it would have sold gangbusters. Rather than such bodily emissions, they instead decided to whet the audience's appetite for new material with their third EP, Reverence, including one preview track for their sophomore Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk and a pair of non-album tracks.

"The Loss and Curse of Reverence" itself is a track I find quite representative of Anthems as a whole: a few riffs of potential hurled into a sodden mire of near mediocrity. I realize this is not the popular opinion of the full-length, and I'll get more into that in a proper review, but of the six minutes present, I found about two of them worth the time. The opening blast explosion does well to get the blood stirring, but outside of the ambient, angelic choir first introduced at around 1:00, and the curvy, thrusting tremolo riff leading up to the first verse, I don't find all that much to remember here. Clearly Emperor were keeping with the symphonic, menacing night sky aesthetics of their debut, but the result is something more refined to a more surgical, technical definition than the crushing nightmares of that impressive work.

As to its companions here, I have no real complaint. "In Longing Spirit" features a good interplay of organs and elevating, ominous riffs as it collides into its more measured, pacing, but often the silly snarling and the keyboard driven breaches might remind some of Cradle of Filth, and this may or may not be welcome. "Opus a Satana" is a symphonic keyboard outro lasting over 4 minutes which makes the perfect backdrop for some lost Castlevania level or perhaps a boss battle in Final Fantasy. It's not meant to be taken frivolously, but the amount of pomp here is comparable to Bal-Sagoth on a fine day. I rather enjoyed it, in fact it's my favorite song on this EP, but I'm a massive geek so take that as you will.

Alas, the biggest problem with Reverence is that the Century Media CD release of Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk renders it Irrelevance. So aside from those eight or so months of empty, masturbatory anticipation you got out of this, it just doesn't matter when the original US edition features all of it and more (you also get a video and live rendition of "The Loss and Curse of Reverence"). I thought to combat this slight by simply importing the CD, so that I wouldn't have the redundant tracks, and then I got robbed out of that other bonus content. And even at it's best, it's little more than a pair of non-album tracks which, while enjoyable, are not among the band's better works. Life's a bitch, so pucker up.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10] (yet put to scorn was I)

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - As the Shadows Rise EP (1994)

Similar to the self-titled Emperor EP from the year prior, As the Shadows Rise loses a bit of its luster when you consider that there is no new or truly exclusive content present. Instead, these are three tracks re-recorded from the Wrath of the Tyrant demo in 1992, and provide a run-time of only 10-11 minutes. The vocals are a little less primordial and frightening, but clearer, and the songs are cast in a more epic and symphonic light than their original incarnations (in particular "The Ancient Queen" and "Witches Sabbath"), but all are of course present on the Emperor/Wrath of the Tyrant compilation put out in 1998, and the True Kings of Norway split (2000) which also featured early EP recordings from mostly esteemed countrymen Immortal, Ancient, Arcturus and Dimmu Borgir.

However, once again you've got something that in its original format is sure to be a collector's item. I'd also like to say that this doesn't carry the same burden as the Emperor EP of having two songs that sound so much better on a later recording (In the Nightside Eclipse). Really, these are the most polished versions we'll likely ever hear of this trio. "The Ancient Queen" is quite good, a steady march of mid-paced atmospheric black dowsed in Ihsahn snarls and blazing, elegant keyboards. That riff at about 1:00 into the song is one of the most evil and memorable sequences of notes that these Norwegians have ever written, and I think this is the best of the three songs here with ease. "Lord of the Storms" is much shorter, savage punk-fueled chords which sound solid over the drums, but the vicious vocals steal some of the show away from the music, and this also goes for "Witches Sabbath", though this has stronger, slower riffs and a few swerves into the heavily atmospheric, eerie keening vocals that balance it off very well.

Even if it does seem more skimpy than the Emperor EP, I'd definitely say that this was the more impressive of the two. No, the songs are not as good as "I Am the Black Wizards" or the content of In the Nightside Eclipse, but it's not a bad thing that the band would try to escalate a few of their old standbys to that same level of sweltering atmosphere and aggression. I favor "The Ancient Queen" and "Witches Sabbath" far over "Lord of the Storms", so the consistency is a little uneven, but I think that in general it's worth hearing for Emperor fans if they can check it out via the True Kings of Norway or whatever means available to them. Hell, I think I enjoy "The Ancient Queen" more than some of the songs on Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (darkness follows everywhere)

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - Emperor EP (1993)

Emperor's eponymous mLP release might have seemed menacing and sophisticated for its time, but as a standalone 'product', it does suffer from the inconsistency of its contents and the fact that it's also available in far more viable formats. For example, it appeared on a split with countrymen Enslaved's Hordanes Land EP in the same year, which is where most people were likely first exposed to both of the bands. In 1998, it was re-released with the original Wrath of the Tyrant demo, for a more complete package of the band's formative material. Obviously, both are better bargains than attempting to track down the original, isolated Candlelight 12" and pay exorbitant prices for a copy (there were so few made), and there's also the fact that two of the songs will be re-recorded for In the Nightside Eclipse, in a more potent, obsessive and symphonic format that I have always preferred.

That said, I'm certainly not trying to play down the significance of what is on this EP. Two of the tunes are culled from the Wrath of the Tyrant demo and have this utterly disgusting aggression to them which merges simplistic riffing in the vein of Hellhammer or Bathory with some of the most filth-caked, lunatic rasping the genre had produced by this time. It might have come six years later than Deathcrush, but clearly Ihsahn was giving Maniac a run for his money, and it's so abrasively loud and resonant throughout the mix that it actually smudges up the grimy guitar tone a bit. Not that either of these tracks features the most superb riffs of the Emperor catalog, but "Wrath of the Tyrant" and "Night of the Graveless Souls" represent an important, early stage of their composition that would dramatically evolve. Hell, it evolves right on this disc, as we are also treated to the legendary cuts "Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Times" and "I Am the Black Wizards", both with a more buzzing tone to the guitars than one would recognize from the ensuing, flawless full-length, and some slight variation in the keyboards.

Both are longer and considerably superior in structure to their elder siblings here, and for this reason I feel that the EP creates a bit of a dichotomy that stands out like a sore thumb on such a brief release. I can recognize the cult appeal of their earlier material, but I'm sorry, there is just no contest with the ambition and attitude the band had begun to shift towards, and even the lyrics seem like they're escaping from the ghoulish grave-soil of the demo and exploding out into the universe, a poignant projection of the Norwegians' ego. To be fair though, I do feel like these earlier interpretations of the new songs are wretched enough to sate fans of that dirtier tone, so something might be said for the crude approach in its entirety.

Ultimately, Emperor is rendered retroactively inert due to its presence elsewhere, and the fact that none of its content is exclusive. Record collectors would and should go bat shit over this if they can track a copy down, but for everyone else, there are better alternatives, especially a chance to check out Hordanes Land (which came out only about a month later). As a forceful introduction to Emperor and what they do, it's adequate, but as a 'product', I'm indifferent to its long term appeal, especially since the band's evolution was so swift in such a short time, and the best songs here sound far better to me amidst their peers on the full-length debut.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (prepare to crawl and run)

http://www.emperorhorde.com/

Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse (1994)

A lot has been said about Emperor through the years, and not all of it flattering (Norwegian black metal + popularity = walking target), but indisputably they were and will always remain one of the most important of the 'second wave' bands within the genre. They also bear a distinction as one of the most 'dignified' in the field, having conquered several shores with their mighty live performances and then choosing to avoid the pitfalls of stagnation when they felt they no longer had much to offer. This decision came after four full length efforts, each of which marked a notable stage of evolution, Ihsahn and Samoth never content to rest on their laurels by rehashing or sidetracking their writing process.

My personal interest in their work waxed and waned through these changing tides, being of the tiny minority that found Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk and Equilibrium IX to be flawed outings beyond a few particular tracks, and later developing a fondness for their divisive grand finale, Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire & Demise. However, I have long treasured their debut In the Nightside Eclipse, not only as the masterpiece of Emperor, but one of the absolute pinnacles of the genre, the sort of rare accomplishment that is reached only a few times in each generation. In fact, I'd go so far to claim that In the Nightside Eclipse is greatest 'symphonic' black metal album ever written, even if that symphony consists of only Ihsahn with a keyboard and vivid imagination.

So much about this record is enormous. The cover is by far one of 'Necrolord' Kristian Wåhlin's most beloved images, a beautiful but menacing moonscape of towers and bridges, vortex clouds, woodland expanses, haunting spirits and battle starved humanoids, almost like the final battle of The Lord of the Rings being played out across a 2D nightmare diorama set against the band's impeccable logo and a wisely chosen, archaic title font: every depraved D&D maniac's dream come true. The production itself is airy and horrific, falling somewhere below a polished state without the intentional marring of fidelity committed by so many of the band's countrymen and peers. Complaints about the mix might be seen as partially valid, for example the rhythm guitars feel mildly faint against the swelling synthesizers and rasp, impish drawl of Ihsahn, but I can honestly say that I would have it no other way, and the very 'flaws' themselves of the production only add to its memorable nature.

It also invoked a stark balance of terror and majesty that thousands of others have attempted but so often failed to emulate. Sure, In the Nightside Eclipse is rather dated in the grand scheme of its genre, but there is this timeless, authentic quality found somewhere in the margins of highly effective composition and thematic intent that has never ceased to thrill, and when I think back on many late autumn or winter night drives I took to and from my university, along the sparsely populated back roads of central and western Massachusetts, listening to this as my drug of choice, I still get the occasional shiver down my spine. Perhaps I'm just a spineless pantywaist for admitting it, but this album used to scare the fuck out of me, as I attempted to conjecture about the Norse madmen responsible for its existence and what a pale wraith of uncultured American flab I must have been by comparison...

There are also songs. Eight beautiful, flawless songs that foster the cold moonlight and stir the despotic winds of egocentric fantasy. Twilight wanderings from the bleak core of the human psyche, the devious spirit, to the expanse of endless, distant fires that leer at us from beyond the known sphere upon which our flesh depends, the cosmic eaves of horror and uncertainty that bear down upon the soul. The cleverly (?) titled "I Am the Black Wizards" is probably the best known of these, a clarion call to battle against a thousand years and suns, a tribute to all black and blazing phantoms of antiquity. Samoth's guitars are scathing delights that resonate like frozen fire across the punishing prowess of Faust, the tongue of Ihsahn spewing wretched poetry, the backbone of Tchort rumbling beneath like a ghastly march towards oblivion. The gorgeous sequence at 1:50 is strung out across the starlight like a chorus of waning angels, twisting into a powerful momentum worthy of even Bathory's epic Blood, Fire, Death, and at 4:00 you can prepare yourself for one of the most captivating, eerie melodies in all human history.

My wizards are many, but their essence is mine
Forever there are in the hills in their stone homes of grief
Because I am the spirit of their existence
I am them.

"Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Times" travels from an icy momentum to a schizoid funnel of discordant, driving chaos, then back again as the snarling erupts, while Faust gets so much exercise that it's a wonder he didn't suffer one or many heart attacks during the recording. "Inno a Satana" fills out like a contaminated muse, licking the wind with soaring, clean vocals and more of the brazen, synthesized choirs that work as well here as on nearly any other recording on Earth, while "The Burning Shadows of Silence" thrives on stun, whipping breezes of dementia that adorn the scintillating ghostlike savagery of the keys. "The Majesty of the Nightsky" rolls over you, transforming you into some fallen, final chess piece before the sailing Nordic melodies around :40 sweep your ashes and sorrows into the dust of ages, and the 9+ minute epic "Into the Infinity of Thoughts" cycles through its grim, ambient intro to some of the most threatening but beautiful black metal to ever lock up the joints of men. Really, every fucking song on this album is unmitigated awesome, and I am nearly as awestruck today as I was when I first heard it.

You could say that Emperor were the first of their kind to take the 'high road' in black metal, to transform this vile and infectious new brand of extremity into something so much more grandiose than it might have deserved, while Darkthrone was well underway mastering the 'low road' of delicious primacy that was born of Hellhammer, Venom and Bathory. In the Nightside Eclipse is so desperate and inspired that even Emperor could not and never will surpass it, and clearly a standard was being set well out of the reach of most impersonators, even with over a decade of interim in which to refine it. Ambitious as they are, and try as they did, the later efforts do not possess this same level of consistency, exchanging atmosphere for the technicality inherent in progression, and the precision of bigger budget, studio accessibility. I wouldn't trade this album for a 100 Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, and to my ears, it remains one of the greatest of its kind, alongside A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, Transilvanian Hunger, Black Shining Leather and Blood Fire Death.

Verdict: Empiric Win [10/10] (they can not be laid to rest forever)

http://www.emperorhorde.com/