Emperor – Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk

27 November 2023

If you have just discovered Black Metal and want to dive deeper into the genre, the first thing you will do is research on the internet. If you type something like ‘The Best Black Metal Albums Of All Time’ into the search engines and click on it, you will see many links. The groups/albums in the top 3 are generally the same. Dedicated followers would know that there are albums and bands that determine the patterns and quality standards of the genre. But when personal tastes are taken into consideration, it is clear that there are situations that contradict the general opinion. If I were to give an example from the mainstream, for example, I think Metallica’s best album is Ride The Lightning, not Master Of Puppets. Most of Iron Maiden’s songs on X Factor are better than many popular Maiden songs, but they cannot stand out because the production is no good, Kreator ‘s Renewal is a great album etc.

In The Nightside Eclipse album by one of the elites of Norwegian black metal, Emperor, is considered by the many to be the best black metal album. However, although I love both albums, I think Anthems… is a slightly better album.

The cover of the album belongs to the famous French illustration artist Gustave Dore – who lived in the 1800s and designed magnificent visuals for many classic books and even the British editions of the Bible of the period. It is truly a great work that suits the dark atmosphere of the album. A visual that can trap even new listeners who are unaware of it with its cover alone. With its dark green tone, it brings Dimmu Borgir’s Enthrone Darkness Triumphant cover to mind.

In the album, there are some member changes compared to Nightside. Instead of Faust, who played the drums in the previous album, Trym took over the set in this album. I don’t know exactly, but this may coincide with the period when Faust was imprisoned. The bass guitars were entrusted to Alver instead of Tchort, whom we know from bands such as Carpathian Forest and Blood Red Throne. Alver also played in Dodheimsgard for a while.

The album has a better production than Nightside. Personally, I think polished productions do not suit black metal. In that respect, there is no such problem in either album, but Anthems has a better sound, thanks to the experience of the members, where instruments can be selected more easily and you can master Emperor’s deep-layered music much better. Ihsahn who shines like a diamond even among the many good musicians who have come to the Norwegian scene and his friend Samoth have done a great job in the album.

Anthems opens with the intro-like Alsvartr (The Oath) and continues with Ye Entrancemperium, which has an incredibly hard and fast intro and is one of my favorite Emperor songs. The follow-up, Thus Spake the Nightspirit, is one of Emperor’s classics and one of the cornerstones of symphonic black metal. After the song, which ends with the lines Nightspirit, Spirit, Embrace my soul, which are repeated over and over and engraved in your mind, the album continues with Ensorcelled by Khaos, The Loss and Curse of Reverence and The Acclamation of Bonds, respectively. The Loss and Curse of Reverence is also one of the well-known and important songs of Emperor. Next up is With Strength I Burn, another Emperor classic. There isn’t much that can be said to describe this piece. In short, we can say that it is the embodiment of perfection. The album closes with the amazing symphonic outro called The Wanderer, after hitting your brain like a hammer drill. It is a piece that takes the listener far away, down the left path, in a dark place, making them feel lost, alone, but strong.

Coming to the musicianship part of the album, there is not much to say about Ihsahn and Samoth, because the spirit they add to the compositions musically/verbally is obvious. You know, actor Ralph Fiennes has an aristocratic, distinguished stance. Some musicians like Ihsahn, Samoth, Fenriz (Darkthrone) also have this. There is a different feeling that not everyone has, a different mood, a situation that I cannot describe. Trym is also a great drummer, and he does a job worthy of great compositions. If you watch the Wacken recording or something, you will understand what I mean. He is a musician who plays almost flawlessly live.

One of the important features of Anthems is that it is a lesson in using the keyboard in a way that adds depth to the music without making it sound irrelevant. While many bands fail because they do not know how to adapt the keyboard to music, Emperor teaches how to do this with both intense and not-boring keyboard use.

If you haven’t listened to this wonderful album yet, be sure to listen to it.

I am one with thee

I am the eternal power

I am the Emperor

10/10

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