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Emperor |
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Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk |
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Line up:
Ihsahn - Vocals, Guitars, Synthesizer
Samoth - Guitars
Alver - Bass Guitar
Trym - Drums |
Track Listing:
Alsvartr (The Oath)
Ye Entrancemperium
Thus Spake the Nightspirit
Ensorcelled by Khaos
Loss and Curse of Reverence
Acclamation of Bonds
With Strength I Burn
The Wanderer
In Longing Spirit
Opus A Satana
Loss and Curse of Reverence (Live) |
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This release by Emperor is my personal favorite. It has a superb medieval vibe throughout the entire album. Alsvartr (The Oath) is the intro track where Ihsahn shouts out "I am the eternal power, I am... THE EMPEROR!" and there is an eruption of medieval trumpets sounding and it leads right into the track Ye Entrancemperium. My personal favorite track, and probably one of my favorite black metal opuses, if not my favorite is Thus Spake the Nightspirit. The whole song is just a perfectly orchestrated piece. The track, Loss and Curse of Reverence, is featured 3 total times on the disc. Studio version, live version, and a video for CD-ROM. A very well composed piece with beautiful cellos. Ihsahn does both black and clean vocals, done well except that production made the guitars overshadow them. In With Strength I Burn, he does the longest duration of clean vocals, and on In Longing Spirit he does more of a mystic speaking part most of the song. This album also features two beautiful instrumentals. The first is a guitar instrumental entitled The Wanderer, this is another one of my favorite songs and for me I can really feel this one. Opus A Satana is an orchestral instrumental that makes one want to prepare for medieval combat. When I hear it I think of the last parts of Mystic Quest when you are getting ready to fight Pazuzu in his tower. I highly recommend this album, as a matter of fact, Ihsahn the Emperor, issued it a law to get this album, so you better hurry up and please him. Grade: A |
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Emperor |
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IX Equilibrium |
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Line up:
Ihsahn - Vocals, Guitars, Bass Guitar, Synthesizer
Samoth - Guitars
Trym - Drums |
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Track Listing:
Curse You All Men!
Decrystallizing Reason
An Elegy of Icaros
The Source of Icon E
Sworn
Nonus Aequilibrium
The Warriors of Modern Death
Of Blindness and Subsequent Seers |
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With the release of IX Equilibrium by Emperor, Ihsahn started to take a slightly different approach musicially, yet still keeping the sound that is Emperor. Curse You All Men! opens up the album with a scream and blazes through with the classic Emperor style. Strings open up An Elegy of Icaros, a beautiful opus based on the legend of the man who made wax wings, flew too close to the sun causing the wings to melt and he fell to his death. Ihsahn's voice flows gorgeously through the singing parts of the song. In The Source of Icon E, Ihsahn sounds a little like King Diamond at one point, with a very high screech. The Warriors of Modern Death opens up with a tolling bell and then some screaming guitar which plays throughout the entire song. This is a very good album done by one of the greatest bands in metal. Emperor continues to not disappoint. Grade: A- |
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Emperor |
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Prometheus: Discipline of Fire and Demise |
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Line up:
Ihsahn - Vocals, Guitars, Bass Guitar, Synthesizer
Samoth - Guitars
Trym - Drums |
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Track Listing:
The Eruption
Depraved
Empty
The Prophet
The Tongue of Fire
In the Wordless Chamber
Grey
He Who Sought the Fire
Thorns on My Grave |
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The great reign of Emperor came to an end after this album. Prometheus: Discipline of Fire and Demise is Ihsahn's most technical and complex composition for Emperor. The entire album is outstanding especially the intro track, The Eruption. It opens up with great Baroque style harpsichord and it sounds real, unlike most others which you can tell are synthed. He does a mixture of both dirty and clean vocals and his clean vocals are absolutely amazing throughout the entire album. He also composed a lot of guitar squeels. Depraved and Empty are both great, brutal opuses and in the latter a quick electronic part is thrown into the middle. Ihsahn knew what he was doing, so it did not come out cheesy like some band's work. The Prophet is a great, slower paced, crunchy song of epic proportions. A very good and tasteful album, a work of art by Ihsahn. I highly recommend this, along with all of the other Emperor albums, for any true fan of music, metalhead or otherwise, just because of the artistic talent that is the blood in their veins. Grade: A |
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