Review by Daniel for Emperor - Emperor (1993)
As with Enslaved's "Hordanes Land" E.P. that I reviewed only yesterday, the first proper release from Norwegian symphonic black metal gods Emperor would represent my earliest encounter with them & would come off the back of my having purchased the split CD that included both releases some time towards the end of 1993. You may recall me mentioning that I owned an original copy of Emperor's "Wrath of the Tyrant" demo tape from 1992 but that purchase wouldn't come about until 1994 & was off the back of my having gained a great deal of enjoyment out of the "Emperor" E.P. first. I can still recall my first impressions of Emperor whose sound differed from the rest of the Norwegian scene in several ways, at least it did by the time this E.P. was recorded as you can already hear elements of the symphonic black metal sound they'd pioneer creeping into their sonic arsenal here as well as hints at their later progressive tendencies. I remember being struck by just how classically-inspired their compositional work seemed & how they managed to use melody so well i.e. without losing the inherent darkness that was required for good black metal to work. There was no doubt a romantic element to it that borrowed from the great gothic art of the ages too. It's time to reassess the E.P. with fresh ears now though. Let's see if it's stood up to the test of time.
The "Emperor" E.P. contains just the four tracks & spans just over twenty minutes in duration. I've always loved the cover artwork which went a long way to seeing me purchase the Emperor/Enslaved split CD to begin with to be honest. It's so simple yet so effective as the blood red logo stands out boldly against the black & white imagery which is nothing short of spooky & represents the majesty of the music contains very well. The band entered Studio S to record the E.P. in December 1992 & I believe this may have been their first time in a studio as the "Wrath of the Tyrant" demo was a home 4-track recording as far as I'm aware. It's interesting that Emperor elected to produce the record themselves then actually but perhaps they couldn't afford to engage a proper producer at the time. The result of those sessions sounds stereotypically Norwegian though which may or may not have been intentional. They achieved that classic higher register guitar tone with all of the bass & mid-range frequencies having been removed, although I do have to admit that I would have liked the guitars to have been higher in the mix. The vocals are also quite low in the mix which would become something of a trademark for Emperor & for a lot of black metal in general as it allows them to appear more otherworldly, almost like they're the cries some sort of demonic entity from the very bowels of Hell itself. The bass & drums are more up-front while the keyboards play a prominent role which would become the key to Emperor's identity over the next few years. In fact, while it may be easy to criticize the fact that the guitars sit a little behind the keyboards & allow them to play the role of the protagonist, it's also worth noting the influence that this had on black metal in general with a huge array of bands appearing who used the guitars in more of a textural way while the symphonics played the starring role.
Emperor's lineup had changed a little from the "Wrath of the Tyrant" demo tape. Samoth (Scum/The Wretched End/Arcturus/Gorgoroth/Satyricon/Thou Shalt Suffer/Zyklon/Zyklon-B) had swapped instruments from drums to guitar which was a positive move as he was hardly a superstar behind the kit & it allowed the band to recruit a more talented performer in the infamous Faust (Blood Tsunami/Djevel/Aborym/Thorns) who would stay with Emperor until his arrest for murder a few months after the release of the EP. By that stage he'd already had the chance to record the stunning "In The Nightside Eclipse" album which would ensure his place in extreme metal folklore. While indulging in the sophistication & creativity of this release it's fairly easy to forget that Emperor were just a bunch of 17 & 18 year olds at the time it was recorded. Just let that sink in for a minute because it's pretty amazing when you take into account the groundbreaking sound they'd created. Love it or hate it, Emperor's sound, even at this early stage, sounds like no one else that came before them & set the tone for an entire strand of the black metal movement that would never manage to equal them in all the years since. Less surprising perhaps is the wide-reaching impact that the various members have had on the international metal scene, particularly front man Ihsahn (Thou Shalt Suffer/Hardingrock/Peccatum/Zyklon-B) who was the clear band leader & mastermind behind Emperor from an extraordinarily young age (note: he was just 17 years old here). Even bassist Mortiis (Cîntecele Diavolui/Fata Morgana/Vond) has gone on to become somewhat of a genre leader for his electronic work under several different guises.
The tracklisting on "Emperor" is generally very solid. "Night of the Graveless Souls" & "Wrath of the Tyrant", that originally appeared on the demo tape, have been revisited here, the former offering a similar level of appeal to the original but the latter sounding significantly improved & possibly representing my favourite cut on the release. The two new songs would both be re-recorded for the classic "In The Nightside Eclipse" debut album only months after this recording & are noticeably more symphonic & expansive with the creativity having been taken to another level. "I Am The Black Wizards" has gone on to become arguably the band's calling card & is probably my favourite track from the album. Here it's a little more restrained & suffers from the wishy washy production job in comparison to the album version with its huge wall of sound. Ihsahn's vocals drift in & out of focus a bit here & I think his delivery would be improved for the album too but this is still a fantastic black metal tune. "Cosmic Keys to My Creations & Times" is an incredibly ambitious piece of work for 1993 too with a number of more progressive passages presented throughout its run time, a concept that Emperor would expand on much more thoroughly in the years to come. The use of keyboards is clearly becoming more prominent with each new song. Personally, I prefer the more straight-forward "Wrath of the Tyrant" (the song, not the release) in this format but things would change once Emperor had received the immense, overblown production job they deserved on "In The Nightside Eclipse". "Night of the Graveless Souls" is the weaker of the four songs quite clearly as it suffers from a bit of cheese in the violin flourishes it attempts but I still quite like it.
Looking back now, I can't say that I regard "Emperor" as an elite black metal release & I didn't do at the time either but there can be no denying its importance to what was to come, not just to the black metal scene but also to me personally as a young fella. Despite it being entirely appropriate for the record itself, I do feel like the production job lets Emperor down a bit here as the material isn't as in-your-face as it should probably have been but it's easy to say that in retrospect now that we're so accustomed to the greater potential some of the songs were afforded on "In The Nightside Eclipse". Unlike Enslaved's "Hordanes Land" with its utterly spectacular opening track, I don't think that any of the four pieces included here have managed to reach classic status for me though which has surprised me a little. For that reason, I do tend to place "Emperor" slightly behind "Hordanes Land" which is in direct contrast to most people I've spoken to about it over the years. Emperor would very quickly surpass their fellow Norwegians with their next release though & it would subsequently see me holding them aloft as the absolute pinnacle of the subgenre they'd created, even a full three decades later. Hell, I was only forced to throw away my "In The Nightside Eclipse" long-sleeve recently after it had developed so many holes that I was embarrassed to wear it any more & I experienced physical pain while separating with it. It's needless to say that "Emperor" should be in every black metal fan's collection because it's simply assumed knowledge at this point.
For fans of Enslaved, Abigor & Satyricon.