It feels like a great while since I’ve posted a new review but either way, I’ll still be doing them. Lately I’ve been in the mood for some black metal and I thought what better band than Emperor to go up on the chopping block. Black metal is one of those genres that I have to be in the mood for and a lot of times it’s a self parody. Anyway, here we go…….
Emperor/Wrath Of The Tyrant- this is an EP and you can tell that it’s their first recording because the production on this isn’t very good. There is a lot of fuzz/static in the background. Looking into it more, a lot of these songs on both are demo songs which would explain the poor production. These are good songs but these EPs could definitely be remastered. If you are really interested I say give this a listen but if you skip it, it’s not a big deal. I give this 8/10.
Standouts: Night Of The Graveless Souls, Witches Sabbath, Forgotten Centuries
In The Nightshade Eclipse- so for me, this is an album that should be considered the benchmark for which all black metal albums should follow. If you listen to bands like Mayhem and Abbath, the production is not very good and I think the reason why people don’t get this kind of music is because they listen to the vocals first. Yes the vocals (in my opinion) are not very good and in fact they are hard to understand but this album has a sort of symphonic and even progressive feel to it. Everything in here comes together quite nicely and it’s not just blast beats and crazy vocals. Nothing really takes over the other and it’s a fantastic first album. I give it 9.5/10. If you are going to start listening to Norwegian Black Metal, give this album a listen.
Standouts: Into The Infinity Of Thoughts, Towards The Pantheon, I Am The Black Wizards
Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk- this one is pretty much more of the same except some of the songs have a sort of death metal feel to them. I will say that the production on this album is much better. It’s much crisper and clearer than the last album which makes it a little easier to listen to. I personally prefer this one to the last album but both are great albums. I give it 10/10
Standouts: Ye Entrancemperium, The Wanderer, In Longing Spirit
IX Equilibrium- this one seems to lack the orchestral elements that were on the last two albums. I thought that this would be an album where they’d slow things down or even not make a very good album (there’s a trend of albums released in 1999 that are not as good) but it’s the total opposite. I feel like with each album they get better. My biggest complaint is that I feel like some songs could be shortened but overall this is another great album. I give it 9/10
Standouts: Decrystallizing Reason, Sworn, Of Blindness and Subsequent Seers
Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise- out of all the albums so far, this one has clean vocals on some songs. It has a progressive feel to it however, I feel like they’ve put elements of the first couple albums on here too in some places. There are even times when Ihsahn goes high on the vocals. It’s a very interesting album but it kind of feels like it’s all over the place a little. Not my favorite but still a pretty solid album. I give it 8/10
Standouts: The Eruption, The Prophet, Depraved
As I said earlier, black metal is one of those genres where I need to be in the mood for. Emperor is definitely one of those bands where you can tell they had a huge influence on the genre and they are different from your typical black metal band. Hopefully I can see these guys live because I’m sure they put on a killer live show.
Final Grade: A
Album Rankings:
- Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk
- In The Nightshade Eclipse
- IX Equilibrium
- Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise
- Emperor/Wrath Of The Tyrant
Sinister Reviews 