What is the general consensus on this album? I personally can't decide whether I like it or not. It displays a host of really good ideas but seems to fall apart after the first three tracks or so. Still, I have somewhat of a nostalgic connection to the album (considering 'Thus Spake the Nightspirt' was one of the first songs I'd heard that even resembled black metal).

I don't like it, I only recently got into Emperor, but I prefer Nightside Eclipse.
The songs on Anthems just are not very memoriable to me.

Nightgaunt's review reflects my opinion on the album relatively well.

I've always enjoyed the album. Brings back some good memories too.

I enjoy it a great deal. "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" is probably my favorite song by Emperor. It's a pretty good glimpse what Emperor as a band was striving to achieve.

Then again, I love IX Equilibrium.

One of my favourite albums of all time. creates an awesome atmosphere

Agreed on the atmosphere.

My introduction into black metal and still one of my favorites of the genre.

A huge step back for the band IMO. They should have broken up after Nightside Eclipse.

Same here, I love the atmosphere the album created. Used to spend quite a few nights listening to the whole thing in one sitting. Played with these huge ass speakers I have in my room...just got absorbed into the atmosphere the album has </rambling>.

Not as good as Nightside, but still a damn fine piece.

Listening to it again for the first time in a while. Meh, I just can't get into this album as much as I'd like to. It's just lacking something that In the Nightside Eclipse and the self-titled EP had.

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk has to be my favorite and most played Emperor album, next to Wrath of the Tyrant. When I first listened to it, I was pleased to hear the abundant amount of keyboards used in it! This factor was what makes this album different than those before it, creating the symphonic sound they would continue to have before splitting. It was clear that Emperor was drifting away from the pure Norwegian black metal sound at the time, upon the release of Anthems, but it was great to hear them change their sound up just a hair, to include a stronger symphonic sound than heard in In the Nightside Eclipse and Wrath of the Tyrant.

Some of the best songs of Emperor are included on this album such as Thus Sake the Nightspirit, The Loss and Curse of Reverence, The Acclamation of Bonds, and the very atmospheric insturmental, The Wanderer. In my humble opinion, these songs define what Emperor once was, but I can assure you this album is different than those before 1996.

Substance...?

Yeah, that might be the word I was looking for. As I said before, the album displays a lot of cool ideas but they just don't seem to succeed in unifying into a coherent piece of music.

The only Emperor album I really enjoy - The music and production destroy that of the much more boring Nightside, and while Ihsahn's vocals aren't the greatest, I much prefer these ones opposed to the previous ones where he sounds like a young boy who hasn't hit puberty yet. Every song is great in my opinion, a very underrated album.

I personally love Anthems. The production was hard for me to get used to at first, but the songwriting ambition and lyrics overshadow anything that the mixing job. It has two of my favorite Emperor songs, "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" and, of course, "With Strength I Burn"; both classics in their own ways.

Ihsahn's vocals still aren't my cup of tea, but the riffs and the majestic atmosphere are hard to beat in my opinion.

I don't like it. It sounds like they're trying way too hard to create music that sounds majestic, epic, and classic, but, while it technically "sounds" like music with those qualities, it does not have them. it is completely unmemorable and overblown.

Incredible epic atmosphere

Just got it on green vinyl, fucking happy as fuck...

I love Anthems. Such an epic album!:headbang:

Not really anything I have to say about the album that hasn't already been said by one of our moderators:

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=92#7443

By PseudoGoatKill?

I will say this; 'Thus Spake the Nightspirit' is a brilliant song.

Haha. So I guess I'm not the only one who found their first album to be complete crap.

I love Anthems, but then again, I love all Emperor material, all for different reasons.

Terrific album. It sags a bit in the middle, but the last two tracks more than make up for it. The Wanderer always gives me chills.

Anthems is WEIRD.

The first two songs are indeed the "cream of the crop," flowing smoothly together and ending on a high note. It proceeds to go to hell from there. It ends nicely, but as others said-- the middle is like the vertex of a parabola.

Plus as Nightgaunt's review said, everything is tuned the SAME! The snare drum sounds like a bass drum, and visa-versa.

I love the album, it certainly for me took longer to appreciate than Wrath of the Tyrant or In the Nightside Eclipse but its an amazing album. Some of the most incredible pieces Emperor have ever done are on that record.

Most people say this album is a near masterwork. I've tried to love it, but it's not easy. Probably listened to it 35 times and it still doesn't strike me as anything more than ok. I think it's the low vocal mix and over symphonic sounds i can't get into. I'd even go so far as to say i prefer Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise over it. Mind you Prometheus was my first exposure to the band.

It'll grow on you.

I've liked Anthems since I first heard it, and it was one of my first black metal albums.

I guess I'm not smart enough to pick up on how pseudo-artsy it is or whatever.

No because it was one of my first "black metal" albums and I still feel like it's somewhat of a mess of an album (and it's been about five years). It isn't bad, like I said, but I find it very incosistent and lacking in substance.

Nah, Nightgaunt.

It was the Emperor album which took me a very long time to get into, compared to Nightside and Equilibrum. But once I knew the songs by heart, I loved it

The epic parts in "The Acclamation of Bonds" nearly brought me to tears when I first heard it. It was so amazing.

"I AM THE EMPEROR"

*cue Dungeons & Dragons music*

For me, this is the quintessential Emperor album. Far better than even Nightside. While maintaining the foundation of their Black Metal style they progress into grandiose territory. Trym's blasting is far superior to Faust's, the keyboards actually contribute to the music instead of just highlighting atmosphere, and all in all it seems more cohesively written.

The only complaint I have is that 'In Longing Spirit' from the Reverence EP wasn't given a position in the original release, and inclusion in the re-releases after 'The Wanderer' seems rather tacked on as it already has a chill inducing outro.

There isn't enough good things I could say about this album.

'unmemorable' and 'overblown'? What kind of degenerate retard are you? What do you consider 'memorable' then? Listening to Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir while getting a blowjob by a transsexual whore?

Oh, the irony...