Emperor were a Norwegian Black Metal Band originally formed in 1991. The band dissolved in 2001, reunited for live shows in both 2006 and 2007. The band was formed by drummer Samoth and Ihsahn on guitar and vocals. The band later recruited Mortis on bass and Faust who took over drums while Samoth moved to rhythm guitar. 1992 marked a year of trouble for members of the band and the Black Metal community as a whole. Samoth with other black Metal revellers set out to burn ancient Norwegian Churches. They were later caught, tried and convicted and Samoth served a 16 month prison sentence. Faust stabbed to death a man in a park after he made sexual advance towards him and also joined in the church burnings. Faust is serving a life sentence for the murder. In The Nightside Eclipse is considered to be a definitive and formative record in the Black Metal scene. Released in 1992, it was the bands first release and arguably the most important.
Into The Infinity Of Thoughts—-Beginning with a rather ominous and dark tone, the song begins with enough atmosphere to power a funeral home….the silence will not last. The song erupts in a brilliant yet somewhat muted tone to me…this has been remastered but still sounds way far away to me. These vocals are intense…even if you cannot catch a single word, the mood they create provides its own lyric. the sound is layered and huge…this was a predictor of what was to come. I’m telling you, this is one of the most evil, scary and brutal vocals I have heard….and I listen to a lot of Black Metal. Top notch!!
The Burning Shadows Of Silence—-From the onset, the brutality begins. The sound is scary…that is how dark it is. This is primeval metal that will literally kick the shit out of you and scare the vomit from you at the other end. The music is layered and seems to have a lot going on. I wish the drums were more forward cause Faust is killing it. No pun intended…..my bad! The voice is damn right eerie and frightening….the tones that are emitted with the music is almost like an absurd evil fairy tale…this is intense…some of the heaviest stuff out there.
Cosmic Keys To My Creation & Times—-With a much higher toned guitar, the song begins from the first note and quickly descends into the darker tones, coming back alive later with a nice crisp sound. The high hats from the drums are really pronounced and the playing is incredibly fast…this makes me think of Dimmu in the early days. This is literally fantastic…a pure and pleasant noise fest….some nice keyboards appear…..an indication of the things to come…but they sound great.
Beyond The Great Vast Forest—-My favorite track on this release, the song has a lot of symphonic overtones which has always appealed to me. I much prefer this heavy, layered feel…there is so much going on in the music, your head will spin. This is dark, heavy and brutal…the song is full of musical mood swings and a vocal that just begs for attention. I wonder again….how can he sing like that. This is exceptional.
Towards The Pantheon—-Wow…beginning with some rather timid almost acoustic sounds, you know in the back of your mind that this is some kind of teaser and of course you are right. The music bursts onto the quiet with huge sweeping sounds and is allowed to go for almost a minute before vocals enter the fray. The vocal that does enter is a lot of putrid screaming…I mean that in the best way…….and incredible undecipherable utterances….AWESOME!!!!! The song is incredibly fast…with an almost dark thrash feel to it…I really like this….maybe this is my favorite…WTF!!!
The Majesty Of The Nightsky—-This is just a huge barrage of the most extreme man-made noise that you can imagine….and it is pulled off with finesse and practise. this is literally astounding…the bass guitar is so deep and so loud…that when the lead rises above it you are still aware of the bass sound of the song. The voice is at an all time brutal delivery. The anger and the darkness you perceive to be quite real and it is easy to feel…again, this song is full of mood changes and tempo shifts…this only adds to the epic feel of the song. this is pretty incredible!
I Am The Black Wizards—-Jumping out at the first sound of silence, the song will pummel you in the face with brutal kick drums and some awesome lead guitars that are in your face….this is so fast, I can’t type as fast as this song is playing….just though I would share that. Anyways…back to the song….this is as most of the songs on this release full of the kind of music that makes you want to kick someone’s ass….just because. The anger, the darkness, the brutality is everywhere on this record…you can not go wrong with a copy of this!!!
Inno A Santana—-This begins with an almost ‘progressive’ Metal sound, as the leads are more pronounced, the bass is lighter and the drums are much more pleasant. The vocal is joined by a ‘chorus’ that leads a lot of atmosphere to the track. It comes across as not angry, but more mysterious and evil. This is really nice….I love this…the mood shifts are present, but the song rarely develops into some of the heavier material that is displayed on this release. I like this a lot.
Bonus Tracks:
A Fine Day To Die—-Wow….this is full of mood and atmosphere…the guitars are acoustic and you hear a horse in the background. the vocal is quiet and serene and shows a bit of talent for the ballad….this is so odd to hear after what you have just enjoyed for the past 45 minutes. But dont’s you worry….the horror is gonna jump up and smack you right upside the head….and when it does it is incredible!!! This is literally fantastic…the leads are so much more present and the heavy sound of the drum is way forward in the mix. This is really brilliant…the buildup was so worth the brutal wait. This is literally fantastic!!!
Gypsy—-A Freakin’ Brilliant Cover….this is almost better than King diamond himself…..plus…this is my very favorite Diamond song EVER!!!! This is brilliant….wow….fantastic….I’m speechless…or ummm…..typeless.
***** out of 5
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