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I will forever lay thorns on thy grave, mighty Emperor.

Satanspeed, Emperor. Satanspeed.

Huzzah!

Great review. One thing I'd like to say about the intro to the album, it's one of the few intro tracks that I can listen to more than the first few times. And it's just the tip of the iceberg to show the greatness of this album.

Without a doubt, it's the best intro ever.

At last, my prayers have been heard, and this one has been made a classic. Thanks a lot, Daniel. You nailed this one good.

Nice review, and it's nice to see this one finally make it to the "classics" section - where it not only deserves, but demands to be.

I think my preference of the two goes back to "In the Nightside Eclipse" even though this one is technically and compositionally superior. This one is darker than 'Nightside', whereas that one was colder and more evil. In all honesty, I love both of them, but for somewhat different reasons. They're quite different.

And two songs of note that haven't been mentioned are "Ensorcelled by Chaos" and "With Strength I Burn". The former really displays the duality of Emperor's music as much as any song. The latter is simply awing, and the lead guitar playing that closes the song is some of the most passionate playing I've ever heard.

For me Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk was a step in the wrong direction for Emperor. I like In the Nightside Eclipse because of the cold evil sound mentioned before. The essence of blackmetal acording to me. I sensed that something was wrong When I first heard the intro Alsvartr and synthtrumpets started honking at the end. The whole record is extremely competent but it lacks feeling and the synth gives it an immature sound according to me. My loss.
Great review.

Well, I think 'Anthems' was certainly a step away from black metal somewhat (not entirely though). I think it was necessary to shed the cold and evil sound in order to achieve what they wanted with this record. It's darker and more introspective, but in a very authoritive way. I think there is a lot of feeling in it (read and listen to the last lines of "Loss and Curse of Reverence" and "With Strength I Burn", for example), but again its purpose and the way it's conveyed is very different from 'Nightside'.

And remember too, that 'Anthems' came out in 1997, and the time of true black metal had already passed. What they (Emperor) did instead makes a lot of sense.

-Tyrion

I just got it, it's awsome. Has much better production than ITNE.

i haven't heard this one yet.

anyways i have a question for you - i have 2 Emperor albums, Eclipse and Prometheus, both excellent. it's pretty unanimous it seems that Eclipse is a great album. but it's not the same with Prometheus. what do you guys think about it? i love, to be honest i like it more than Eclipse. it's cold, intense, melodic, in all the right places.

Well the one I have, the production isn't good at all. :\

I think "Promethius" is basically progressive metal. It's not black metal at all, though it carries some black and death influences. I like it, but in terms of what it evokes, it's nothing compared to earlier Emperor. The production is too clean, and doesn't really suit their music style. I also don't think it's cold at all; I think it's uninspired. And in all honesty, I wish it would have been an Ihsahn solo album instead of an Emperor one. It basically was anyway aside from "Thorns on My Grave".

As I said, I do like it, and it is a very good album. But it is what it is. The one that really frustrates me is "IX Equilibrium", but I still listen to it more than "Promethius".

-Tyrion

I think that Prometheus is a brilliant album, but it sure is in a different vein than the other releases; ItNE is Pure Majestic Black Metal, AttWaD is also Majestic BM but way more technical; in IXE Emperor begin to create a more modern sounding BM, also very technical but leaving that majestic/epic sound behind; as for Prometheus, Emperor add an excellent progressive touch to their sound, creating their less BM release; although it's still an excellent album.

Weird, the one I have the production is bad.

Great review for a great album. I was just listening to this this morning for the 657354 millionth time and it still blows me away.

Being my first experience with Black Metal, I was finding this one rather impenetrable until the synth dirge started partway through 'Ensorcelled by Rhaos'. Now THAT impressed me so much I had to get by brother to listen to it, who is not into extreme music in the slightest. It served as my entry point into Emperor.

Prometheus is second to only ITNE for me. Sure it only has elements of black metal but one could hear Emperor moving in a progressive direction years before. INTE is the standard for keyboard black metal, and it's last 3 songs are as good a conclusion as any albums. I think the middle albums were great too, just not as great as the first and last full-lengths.

I only have two Emperor CDs sadly. Anthem To The Welkin At Dusk & IX Equilibrium. I bought IX Equilibrium first & I liked it very much! I bought it the same day I bought Nordic Metal-A Tribute to Euronymous... They have Moon Over Kara-Shehr & The Ancient Queen on Nordic Metal. The difference is astounding!... I later heard great things about ATTWAT & bought that shortly after. At first I didn't like it. Mainly because of the production (I was a production snob then.) But now! Wow! Once I payed more attention, Anthems just blows IX Equilibrium away! Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk is definitely a classic to mine eyes! So is St. Anger!


just kidding

Thus Spake the Nightspirit...that is all i have to say

This album makes me wanna go to Norway. Now. Forever. And never return. There are no words for this genius.