This is a tribute to the world's most elite black metal band:
Brief Biography:
Emperor were formed in the early 90's by two members of a band named 'Thou Shalt Suffer': Ihsahn, who was the vocalist, played guitar and played synth, and Samoth, who was a guitarist in TSS but went on to play drums in Emperor. They recruited a bass player, Mortiis, and in 1992 went on to record their (now legendary) demo, 'Wrath of the Tyrant'. Although the production was nothing special, it proved to be a great success. This new band from Norway started to take Black Metal into new territories. They used synth parts in their music, and by doing this they created atmosphere.
Not long after the demo had swept through the underground, Emperor went on to record a mini album as a taster of things to come. The mini album was simply entitled, 'Emperor', but now Emperor made use of two guitars. Samoth had quit the drums to take the role of second guitarist, and Bard G. Eithun - 'Faust' had taken over as the new drummer. The mini album contained 4 tracks, two of which were re-recordings of demo material, but of a much higher quality. The mini album is also the place where one of Black Metal's most popular songs comes from. I am talking about 'I Am The Black Wizards' which has become almost an anthem in the Black Metal scene.
In the same year, Emperor released a 7" EP called 'As The Shadows Rise'. It was a limited release and is now considered to be EXTREMELY rare indeed amongst Emperor fans. This 7" contained three tracks, all of which were taken from the demo, but re-recorded and sounded much better.
1994 was the start of something big for Emperor, for just after Mortiis quit the band, who was replaced by Tchort, Emperor released their stunning debut LP called 'In The Nightside Eclipse'. It sent shivers down the spines of other bands in the Black Metal genre, as Emperor had
proven themselves to be a force to be reckoned with. Reviewers went crazy with excitement, and people within the scene said that this was the greatest black metal album ever. The production was better, the vocals had changed, and the guitars were less fuzzy, yet more aggressive. Also, Ihsahn's tremendous keyboard pieces made this an atmospheric wonder.
The lyrics were meaningful and realistic, and the cover artwork is now legendary, drawn by the famous Necrolord, who has painted many album covers. This album became 'the one to beat' in
the genre, and has also been the album most copied by the Black Metal newcomers. Emperor were quickly propelled into the elite of Norway's black metal scene thanks to this masterpiece.
However, not long after, disaster struck as a torrent of chaos swept across Norway, with churches being destroyed in arson attacks, and the notorious 'Inner Circle' virtually controlling the underground. Faust was arrested by the police, and later tried and charged with the murder of a gay man in the town of Lillehammer. He was given a 14 year sentence. Also, Samoth was arrested for arson and given at least 16 months, while Tchort was picked up for assault, and ordered to serve 6 months. He later quit the band due to a lack of interest. Ihsahn was questioned several times, but no evidence could be found to connect him to anything, and so he remained a free man. But Emperor's future looked bleak. Samoth was heavily involved with the writing of music and lyrics, but in his absence, this spelled problems for
Emperor. Also, Faust was an amazing drummer, and finding a replacement was not going to be easy.
Ihsahn worked hard. He single-handedly tried to re-organize the band, as well as writing music and lyrics to give to Samoth in jail, and to find replacements for Tchort and Faust, whom he visited and spoke to over the phone. Hellhammer took over on drums for a short while, but it did not work out as planned, and he was too involved with Arcturus, who were on the verge of recording a new album, to spend all his time with Emperor, and so he quit.
Emperor were absent from the scene for almost 2 years, although in 1995, a bootleg release, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was released as a live album, and also Ihsahn was involved with several projects with other musicians, like Satyr's instrumental project, Wongraven. Gradually, after replacement band members came and went, two were found. The almost unknown Alver replaced Tchort on bass, and Mefisto took on drum duties. In 1996, Samoth was released, and things started to get moving again.
New material was finished, and the band had a stable lineup once again. However, at the last minute, Mefisto departed the band, and Emperor were left without a drummer once again. Not long after, though, he arrived in the form of Enslaved drummer, Trym Torson.
The new material was finished at last! However, they encountered setback after setback, and had to postpone the release of the follow up to 'In The Nightside Eclipse' until mid 1997. However, all was not lost, for on february 14th, 1997, Emperor released a mini LP under the name of 'Reverence'. It was a big step forward for them. First of all, they had stopped
using corpse paint. The reason for this is that it used to be important imagery when it meant something, but as more and more bands were entering the scene, many of which were not very good, it lost its value and became a stale trend. Ihsahn tells in an interview in Terrorizer magazine, that the band were one of the first black metal bands to start wearing corpse paint, and they thought the time was right to stop, as it was becomming ridiculous the number of bands that were using it simply because it looked good.
The next big step for Emperor was the fact that they had made a video for the first time. It was for 'The Loss And Curse Of Reverence', and was on the CD version as a PC movie. Also, Reverence was to be the guinea pig to decide whether or not to revive Thou Shalt Suffer as a one man musical project of Ihsahn's. The track 'Opus A Satana' was a completely instrumental piece arranged and performed by Ihsahn in only 3 hours. The result was amazing. The idea behind
Thou Shalt Suffer will be a classical solo project, allowing Ihsahn to express himself in ways he is not able to do in Emperor.
Not long after the release of 'Reverence' came Emperor's second, and long-awaited album called 'Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk'. It was totally different to the material that was portrayed on 'Nightside' and each song was a masterpiece. Trym's drumming certainly added something to the band's musical prowess, and the album as a whole had a 'special' character to it. Quite rightly, Terrorizer magazine readers voted 'Anthems' best album of 1997 and Emperor as best band.
By dropping the trends and the usual bullshit assossiated with Black Metal, Emperor moved onto new ground. Once again, they stood out from the rest of the pack as leaders. If anyone can lead the genre away from all that is tedious, it will be Emperor.
Emperor are THE best, THE most talented and THE most elite of all the other Black Metal bands.
Emperor Performs Sophisticated Black Metal Exclusively
Discography:
1992 - Wrath Of The Tyrant
1993 - Emperor
1993 - As The Shadows Rise
1994 - In The Nightside Eclipse
1995 - A Midsummer Night's Dream
1997 - Reverence
1997 - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk
MY 5 FAVORITE EMPEROR SONGS (In no particular order):
1)Ancient Queen (As The Shadows Rise) - Absolutely amazing and haunting song. A masterpiece!
2)Into The Infinity Of Thoughts (In The Nightside Eclipse) - A long and stunning description of a dream that turns
into a nightmare. Fantastic!
3)With Strength I Burn (Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk) - Completely stunning song, with Ihsahn using 'normal style'
vocals to create a beautiful effect.
4)The Majesty Of The Night Sky (In The Nightside Eclipse) - A beautiful ode to the forces of nature.
5)Witches Sabbath (As The Shadows Rise) - Another beautiful, haunting song from the early days. Amazing.
THIS PAGE IS HERE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE AMAZING FEATS OF BRILLIANCE ACHIEVED BY EMPEROR - THE WORLD'S FINEST!
ALL HAIL IHSAHN AND SAMOTH, ALL HAIL EMPEROR!
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