Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk

Plebeians, beware, the Emperor has returned. Three years after the overwhelming debut, Ihsahn and Samoth were still bursting with energy. Their first portion of extra class black metal had already shown their superiority and their exceptional status. Burzum, Immortal, even Mayhem – doubtlessly great names, but not equipped with the talent to write completely unique and very sophisticated music. All of them had a tendency to some primitive outbursts. This was absolutely okay and totally exciting, but Emperor delivered another aroma and it was a very fresh and seductive one. Of course, the bar was set extremely high for “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” and the main protagonists felt too much creativity in themselves to present “only” part two of “In the Nightside Eclipse”. Thank God, they did not yet think in erratic ways. There is a pretty close connection between album one and two, although “Anthems…” went a huge step further. Despite all its majestic glory, the debut had still a down-to-earth approach. Emperor had been a firm part of the Norwegian black metal movement and “In the Nightside Eclipse” was a contribution to define its frame, but it did not hurt the guidelines. With their full-length from 1997, the borders began to blur.

The album begins atmospherically and the fanfares at the end of “Alsvartr (The Oath)” are the perfect link to kick off “Ye Entrancempirium”. By the way, great fanfares also herald the beginning of “Thus Spake the Nightspirit”. But let’s get back to “Alsvartr (The Oath)”. It starts softly, but dark and gloomy elements come creeping in and the feeling of discomfort arises. In simple terms, it is a perfect introduction for a black metal work, although its melodies (and not vehemence, brutality or something like that) play the main role. Emperor do not shy away from clean vocals, neither here nor during the later tracks and this is another indication for the variety of their approach. “Ye Entrancempirium” marks a contrast due to its explosive, wild beginning. Permanent double bass is combined with sharp, somewhat dissonant guitars and the vocals commute between raw and clean. But even this very harsh demonstration of power does not neglect melodic elements, just listen to the part with the clean, heroic vocals during the second half of the song. Emperor have piled up a lot of layers and the adventurous configuration of “Ye Entrancempirium” does not remain an isolated case. Quite the opposite, it is the most characteristic trait of “Anthems…”.

At the latest the aforementioned “Thus Spake the Nightspirit” leaves no doubt: this album is a bigger challenge for the listener than the debut was. Just like “Ye Entrancempirium”, the song spits fire, but it also holds a very progressive instrumental part as well which borders on a cacophonous orgy in view of some strange guitar tones. But brutality gains the upper hand and helps the band to stay on track. It’s almost paradox, but the brute base of the songs did not work as a restriction for the undisputable talent of the Norwegians. Instead, it gave them orientation and rolled out the carpet where Ihsahn and Samoth could wallow in twists and turns, experiments and decorations. They did it very cleverly. Maybe sometimes they added one layer too many or a symphonic keyboard section which would not have been necessary. But even a song like “The Loss and Curse of Reverence” that I would not call a highlight, has still a lot to say – regardless of its more or less aimlessly meandering instrumental part.

“Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” does not only deliver a million sonic, sometimes almost confusing impressions, a fantastic artwork and intelligent, genre-compatible, but not violence-glorifying lyrics. One of its main advantages is that it is still a pure black metal album although it offers much more than a good typical work of this style. The full-length does not lack aggression or nastiness, passion or spirituality. Moreover, all songs clearly show the signature of its authors. There is only a minor detail I do not appreciate wholeheartedly. From my point of view, the production has a very little noisy touch. It goes without saying that Emperor did not intend to release a low-fi album, but perhaps the material is a bit overproduced (fortunately without sounding sterile). Anyway, understand this just as my remark for those of you who have the hobby to find a fly in the ointment. I prefer to enjoy “With Strength I Burn” with its thousand different moods, melodies and segments. Hovering keyboards, drilling guitars and insane drums shape a monumental orgy of unbridled desire. Emperor were really close to perform the perfect and ultimate black metal track – too bad that “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” already existed. However, the quartet from Notodden released two extremely exciting albums that will probably never lose their fascination and this is the crucial thing. I have read an interview with a guy from Tsjuder in a mag called Metalegion and I absolutely agree to what he said. “The most interesting music is not necessarily the music that you like a lot when you listen to it for the first time. It’s the music you can listen to again and again.” True! But the cherry on the cake is that “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” was mind-blowing, spectacular and radical in its own way right from the beginning and it is still fantastic. Only the wonderful, melancholic-melodic outro comes much too soon.

"Al Svartr (The Oath)" opens this album as if it were the epic prologue to a gargantuan work like Lord of the Rings. It is one of the longest intros to a metal album and indeed one of the most meaningful. Whispers and echos seemingly stemming from lugubrious nooks and bottomless pits accompanies the aural wanderer through a dismal Moria slowly coming to life to evoke that which should have been better left forgotten and forever dormant. As the call for the Nightspirit resounds amidst the vaults and shakes the foundation they are built upon, the listener rushes over the bridge to make it out in time. "I am the Emperor" is promulgated as the stone structure collapses under our feet, and barely making it to the other side, tumbling headlong into one of metal's greatest achievements, the album which is called "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk", we still have a long, breathtaking journey ahead of us.

I wasn't a big fan of black metal before I heard this album. I found it predictable and rather silly and one dimensional. Death metal was in a crisis of sorts, nu-metal was dominating the record industry exploiting and reaping benefits from what was once proud subculture.

Emperor offered astonishingly competent orchestration for a young four-piece band from a small Norwegian town, and, although working with synthesizers, never fell into the synthetic bombast of their contemporaries surfing on the Dimmu Borgir/Cradle of Filth-hype. It stands clear already from how tastefully the classical instrumentation is blended with the intricate guitar work and frantic drumming that a mastermind has been at work.

Raw black metal is unmistakable and present in all the songs, there is no denying in what soil Emperor's roots are firmly planted. But this basis is expanded upon and developed into harmonies and structures that are unique for Emperor to this day. This isn't merely symphonic by label, but the entire record could be regarded as one mighty black metal symphony in six movements (if you count "Al Svartr" and "Ye Entrancemperium" as one consecutive movement and exclude "The Wanderer", which in my opinion adds nothing to the album, but feels like a separate outro, albeit a pretty one). The songs blend of classic music and black metal creates a mixture of horror soundtrack, epic film music, and symphonic hints at romantic composers in the vein of Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Grieg or what you will.

If I were to describe every track, this text would turn into an essay, so I will just briefly say that the entire album has an almost conceptual feel to it, from the artwork, to the sonic structure it builds from beginning to end, to the lyrics that are really really good! I usually don't care about lyrics, but in this case, they suit the whole so tastefully well that they add to the sense of genius at work. The only thing that kind of made me a bit skeptical were the band photos of the four guys trying to look impressive in a throne that just seemed way too big for them to fill...

That metaphor is luckily not true when it comes to the performances on this album, which are all stellar! Much have been written and said about the criminal whereabouts of several members of the early second wave black metal scene in Norway, but damn, these guys were no ordinary posers with twisted minds. Ihsahn, Samoth, Alver and Trym all fill their duties impeccably. They must have belonged to the most excellent musicians the scene could offer back then. Silly band pics aside, what is also clear from the presentation of the band is the lack of corpse paint, which indicates a band ready to move forwards and do something new and radically different.

25 years later, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk stands firm as one of metal's absolute iconic masterpieces. It's almost incomprehensible that this was written, performed and produced by a bunch of 22-23 year old Satanist juvenile delinquents and not the master graduates from some music college. Most of the glory befalls Ihsahn of course. As stated above, this album made all the difference for me. I had superficially disregarded black metal as pubertal garbage, but this album made me change my mind and actually got me to explore the style more thoroughly and appreciate black metal in its many forms and shapes. I still do to this day!

On the surface, it seems like Emperor’s Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk would greatly expand on the most grandiose approach to black metal found on In the Nightshade Eclipse. A big, massive album full of spooky symphonics and frostbitten riffing, befitting of the Emperor moniker. But where that album aimed for a more majestic affectation, Anthems is considerably more over the top in its approach. Basically, there’s shit flying everywhere. “Al Svartr (The Oath)” may have a more tasteful build-up, but once “Ye Entrancemperium” comes barrelling into frame with its blazing hot tremolos, it’s all riffs, all keyboards, all the time, and there’s no escape. It’s like old mate Ihsahn looked at the state of black metal at the time – many a band trying their hand at recording their own versions of Burzum and Darkthrone – and decided to go way in the other direction with a more maximalist approach…

...and I mean yeah, this album’s got an astronomical amount of praise over the past 25 years, so it’s clear that it all worked out in the end. Going through the aforementioned “Ye Entrancemperium”, Ihsahn and Samoth’s manic riffing and Trym’s apocalyptic drumming push past what would’ve been the subgenre’s perceived limitations. Oh, you thought only death metal could be hard and heavy? Nah mate, black metal bands can pull it off too! Whether it’s dominated by tremolos, drenched in synthesized keyboards or maintained by some rather charged percussion, Emperor’s sole mission throughout Anthems is to dominate anybody who would dare oppose them! Even when it seems like they’re reigning it in with a more atmospheric, keyboard-laden break like towards the ends of “Ye Entrancemperium” and “Thus Spake the Nightspirit”, there’s this overall majestic, massive aura with a faint ominous light that recalls Nightshade rather well. Those moments of clarity let the more chaotic melodies settle into the aether before they come right back out to play, although the only bit of reprieve is with this album is with “The Wanderer” with its more soothing warm concluding composition… which may explain its slightly overlong runtime, but shh we’ll get there shortly.

Anyway, it seems like Anthems is nothing short of a cacophony of noise, right? Well, yes, but also no, because a lot of that cacophony does produce some oftentimes damn stellar melodies. I know I reference them a lot here, but honestly, “Ye Entrancemperium” and “Thus Spake the Nightspirit” have those real sort of subtle bits that allow it all to eke out a memorable melody. The latter has its haunting keyboards that carve out this ridiculously smooth melody betwixt the razorblade-on-fire riffing, whereas the former ends each measure with a few particularly searing notes. It doesn’t seem like much, yet it hooks right into the subconscious like a subliminal message on one of those audiotapes or whatever you listen to when you sleep. The overall combination of the keyboards and subtle melodies certainly create a beauty within the chaos, as can be found in the darker, more keyboard-laden but nevertheless fiery riff assault “Ensorcelled by Khaos” and the medley of insanity that is “The Loss and Curse of Reverence”. It’s no small wonder this caught on!

Buuuuuuuut amidst the beauty in its chaos, therein lies an ugly secret. The main thing about this album is how overly indulgent it is with its winding passages, its blazing speed, its grandiose and atmospheric keyboards and all that shit. At its most fun, you end up with many of the parts I’ve already mentioned. But when the “dynamic” structures are less winding and more messy. Thankfully, this isn’t IX Equilibrium where that’s basically the whole fuckin’ album, but it’s sad to say that it drew bits and pieces from here. That part halfway through “The Loss and Curse of Reverence” where it starts sort of noodling about with less inspired riffs and some sort-of viking vocals does contrast with the white-hot first and final thirds of the song… not in an entirely good way. “The Acclamation of Bonds” has some great ideas and I’d imagine it being a riot to listen to live – given its hectic tremolo and keyboard combo – but on the whole, it also tends to fly right on by since it doesn’t exactly stick the landing on anything it does. Certainly when compared to the rest of the album at any rate. Same sort of thing with “With Strength I Burn” – I like what they’re going for here, but it doesn’t really stick. It’s like a lot of parts – well-played parts, for sure – stuck together to create an epic that doesn’t soar very high, nor does it create all that epic or spooky of an atmosphere. Riffs here, keyboards there… it really shows that when the song is tightly constructed, it’s an utterly enthralling experience rivaled by so very few; and when it isn’t, for all the noise it generates, it’s really just kind of there, and it’s absolutely frustrating that it’s come to that, but here we are.

That’s about the short and narrow of Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk. It is an overly indulgent cacophony of metalliferous mayhem; however, be it a mess of segments or the songs as a whole – depending on the song itself – it is a true thing of beauty. However, there are a few too many times where it loses itself so much that it eventually loses the listener in its over-indulgence. But when it doesn’t nearly fall over itself or fumble the ball writing itself out of the corner it’s backed into (hi “The Loss and Curse of Reverence”!), it’s just so gripping, so captivating in its sheer scale and grandiosity in its compositions that it’s like they performed some real voodoo black magic putting this all together. As wished upon a lamp as it is wished upon a monkey’s paw, Anthems is an interesting spectacle.

Good intro to the album with a clean, but dark track. It segues into the brilliant and blisteringly hyper-fast next 7 tracks. It is diverse, however, but all over the place in tempos. The one thing they could've taken off are some of the synthesizer contributions. Though this is their genre so of course of the music needs some variations. They're quite prevalent in diversity, insane riffing galore. And the vocals alongside the riffs make it even more brutal. This was their concept though back then just immersion in the black metal community. I like a lot of what they've come up with here so no complaints in that respect!

I would have to say that the earlier recordings gave more raw essence to the sounds of the music. It's like Dimmu Borgrir's 'Stormblast' which is wholly raw or early Darkthrone. Some people dig that kind of sound, I think it worked with Kriegsmaschine's 'Altered State of Divinity'. But rarely (to me) where there actual album that sound doggone awesome raw. I think once Emperor got more established, their recording quality got better and more polished. As this holds true with any black metal bands (with exceptions, of course). I did enjoy the guitar riffs on this LP, it was quite original and brutal riffing just mind-blowing.

Production quality as I stated was raw and the atmosphere was evil as hell. I don't think that they wanted anything other than that. Except for the intro of course. They really have had it in store to the listener. Just raw symphonic black metal all the way through. It was quite entertaining hearing this one. That is, to then follow-up to 'IX Equilibrium'. But this is a great predecessor just the riffs and sound quality are a step-up on that one than this one. But as I say, they're just establishing their sound and experimenting with riffs and overall music. They really got a hold of evil and stayed with it till the end of the album.

I went ahead and bought this album, but it's only for people who value extreme music especially black metal. I used to be apposed to a lot of black metal because it's depressing but it actually gives me a boost hearing something like this. I like the energy and extreme sounds that they dish out. I would have to say this is one of Emperor's better albums though still active maybe they'll surprise us in 2021 and come out with something new. I'm sure the sound quality will be much better than the old but the intensity willl probably still be there. I'm also sure that more bands were influenced by this one than select few others. Hear this one!

So there's this band called Emperor. And on this album, they play a brand of music that could well be described as "imperial sounding" black metal and as many sharp minds have guessed it, it's no coincidence. This should convey a rush of thoughts into one's mind about what this would sound like on the fronts of technicality and overall feel.

The tracks are partly organized like classical music compositions, constantly evolving with thematic motifs trading off in succession rather than standard rock/metal verses. The album fosters a strong progressive edge with a wealth of contrasting moods and varying tempos and time signatures, coupled with elements of traditional song on steadier clean-sung choruses and interludes. This is like a perfect marriage between old music and contemporary band song - a smooth fusion of flamboyant Baroque hubris with modern metal extremeness. There's also a definite medieval inspiration as can best be heard on the album introduction ceremony and its Middle-age fair-like ambiance, among other briefer sections throughout. Also the album closing instrumental 'Opus a Satana' could've easily been part of the Warcraft 2 original soundtrack (masterfully crafted music in its own right) as it's nearly identical in style with the aerial lead trumpets and soft cinematic strings over forceful medieval percussion.

Brutal, corrosive black metal strumming and tremolo picking with fanatical blast beats backed by a prominent orchestral presence instilling a grandeur to the whole is the order of the day, but only as the main platform while the arrangements and various used instruments; too many to name; embellish the music with remarkable command. Faint glimmers of melody amidst ravaging chromatic chaos will make appearances, while the purely melodic moments (the late album instrumental 'The Wanderer' as a good example) help depict an utter purity juxtaposed with the ugliness and despair that haunts this record, only making the album more poignant and vividly intense emotionally.

Main song-writer and band maestro Ihsahn does well maintaining consistency in the songs despite the ongoing musical madness and density of the tracks. Although the songs are long (with an average of 5.5min) and filled to burst with different parts, the band manages to give the tracks a tempered pace and a natural sense of composure; like they've got lots to show but aren't in a rush to do it; as the sections aren't immediately taken away moments after being introduced, as is the tendency in any prog music. The band grants the listener the time to appreciate the sterling work as it's given just enough attention and time to be fully efficient and memorable. Not too long, not too short - just right. And it is infectiously catchy.

Black metal anthem 'The Loss and Curse of Reverence' simply needs a mention of its own as certainly any musician/composer, inside or outside metal altogether, could learn from it. It's one of the rare tracks that might just have a claim to being an all-encompassing summary of an entire genre. It's really got basically everything that might be expected from black metal as a whole, crafted with the finest quality. Among other trademark features of Emperor's music, who wouldn't recognize their infamous hammer-on/pull off chromatic licks punctuated by an accented pinch harmonic ? These are as iconic for Emperor as Megadeth's 4-chord chromatic progression or Cannibal Corpse's diminished arpeggio riffs to name a couple of examples.

Long bouts of instrumental composition wisely provide the tracks with breathing room and a break from Ihsahn's voracious harpy-like vocal shrieks, with the drums regularly resting as the song theatrically reveals a new awe-inspiring musical phrase before all instruments return. As dense and wildly busy as the songs are, they somehow don't come across as being overly gluttonous, nor volatile, although it will surely take a bit of getting used to from the listener to fully appreciate the quality on display here.

Simply put, this album is a tempest. Uncompromising and restless, it expresses the tumultuous plight proper to the human condition through chaotic violence and a profound grievance against existence. It keeps the listener connected from beginning to end, prolonging this aural hallucination further and further with a laudable sustained consistency. Like a great film, it covers a plethora of emotions and genres, here ranging from epic to mournful, euphoric or tragic and heavy, mysterious or revelatory. It's easy to write or to find technically proficient music. It's exceptionally rare, if not nearly impossible to find technically proficient music that is also great music - authentic, unique, memorable and strikingly daring. And this album bears this most unmistakable mark of masterpieces and calling this an outright masterpiece is at least a tenable position to hold. Does black metal ever get much better than this over a full album ?

Annable Courts - http://antichristmagazine.com/review-emperor-anthems-to-the-welkin-at-dusk-candlelight-records/

Emperor are definitely one of the most legendary names in black metal. Hailed and respected by the whole metal community, and even in their home country Norway of course (Ihshan has even received an award by the people of the village he lives in, for his activity as a musician and a music teacher), they have reached an incredible popularity status even commercially speaking (for a black metal band at least), having sold more than 500,000 copies of their albums. "In the Nightside Eclipse" is seen by many as their best album (and, without doubt, it's one of the best black metal albums of all times), but a lot of people tend to underestimate their second full-length release, which, although extremely popular and beloved by fans, is considered slightly below the level set by its predecessor.

I'm talking about "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk", an album that, in my opinion, is even better than the already superb "In the Nightside Eclypse". Now, you might ask: what makes me lean towards "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk"? Well, first of all, it's without doubt a more mature effort, and it clearly represents a further step in the evolution of Emperor. The technicality aspect, the complexity of the compositions: these aspects are enhanced when compared to the previous effort, and, matched with an overall more "direct" approach, leaning towards giving a more epic feel to the music, while retaining the typical black metal atmosphere, they make up for an absolute Emperor classic.

The keyboard parts are much more complex, and they aren't limited to the atmospheric role anymore: indeed, we have now also extended symphonic sessions directly inspired by romantic/classical music. Just think to the first half of "Ye Entrancemperium", the mid session of "Ensorcelled by Khaos", or to the arrangements in "The Loss and Curse of the Reverence": these are just a few examples attesting the far more essential role held by the keyboards in this release. The vocals consist mainly of demonic shrieks and screams, but this time we witness to the inclusion of a great number of clean-sung choral parts, essential to the structure of certain songs (see for example "With Strength I Burn"), and adding to the overall epic feel of the compositions.

The music in "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" is epic and atmospheric, but also dark, evil, at times definitely brutal: the spectacular and technical guitar work provided by the guitars, relying on razor-sharp tremolo-picked riffs, dissonant arpeggios, minor chords and often playing different patterns, is complemented by the insane drumming by Trym, who entered Emperor with this album. Trym is far more brutal and technical than his predecessor Faust: the absolutely precise, aggressive and fast amount of blast beats and the constant flurry of double bass drumming he employs for the whole duration of the album really add to the music an all levels. His jazz-influenced background is immediately spottable in his fill patterns, or when he slows down to match the frequent tempo changes of the songs, proving that he's not a drummer capable only of being brutal and playing fast, being his style original, creative and polyhedral, always enhancing the songs.

The production emphasizes the music, being clearer than in the band's first full-length, allowing all the instruments to breathe and to be audible, while retaining the raw, evil sound of the guitars. The only thing I have to mention is that the vocals at times tend to be quite low in the mix, but after a few listen you'll get used to it. The lyrics are absolutely spectacular, the studied words used make them almost resemble the lines of a poem: they deal with themes of individualism, satanism and occultism, and I really suggest that you read them at least the first time you listen to the album.

I recommend listening to "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" in full, as all the songs are top-notch, flawless stuff, plus the album retains a strong sense of cohesion and organicity, making it seem almost a concept album, and only a proper full-listen will allow you to appreciate it at the maximum extent. However, particularly thrilling moments can be found in "Ye Entrancemperium", starting the album at full blast after the first, introductory track, thanks to the ferocious drumming, the perfect screamed/clean vocals combo, and the quasi-apocalyptic orchestral part, not to mention the highly evoking and atmospheric mid session; "Thus Spake the Nightspirit" is probably the most evil and dark song of the platter, and also one of the most technical, while "Ensorcelled by Khaos" results particularly majestic and atmospheric thanks to the extended orchestral mid-session. "The Loss and Curse of the Reverence" is another highly energetic and aggressive track, while "With Strength I Burn" is absolutely evoking and conveys a quasi-mystic feel, thanks to the excellent atmosphere created by the keyboards and by the clean-sung chants.

"Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" is not only an essential piece in Emperor's discography, but also one of the absolute best black metal albums coming out of Norway in the 1990s, in my opinion even better than the already fantastic "In the Nightside Eclipse". Don't miss it for any reason, listen to it now if you still haven't! It won't disappoint you.

I purchased Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk around a year ago, after having heard great things from just about everyone. To increase the hype, I didn't touch the album for a few days. I can't remember why exactly, but it was most likely to clear any expectations. This was ultimately a great decision as I'll never forget my first listen. The album's intro Alsvartr (The Oath), had presented me with three minutes of mysterious, dark and beautiful sounds before Ihsahn (frontman) shouted: "I am the emperor!", letting us know that the album was about to truly begin. I was expecting an assault of blast beats, speed picking and shrieks, but to my surprise, the song did the exact opposite! The last minute embraced clean vocals, a symphony and an overall medieval sound. It was at this moment that I realized this was not just any black metal album; this was something special.

Emperor's sophomore album is best described by the following: Beautiful extremity. I say this because from start to finish, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk mixes the traditional black metal sound with a beautiful symphony. When present, the choir and string instruments take the spotlight and soar over the extreme madness below. When I say it takes the spotlight, I really mean it because the instrumental work basically drowns everything else. Although this may seem bad, it really isn't an issue. The melodies don't overstay their welcome and they are great anyway so their presence shouldn't bother anyone. Speaking of the mix, the vocals are really buried in there! Unless you are following with a lyric sheet, they basically go by unnoticed. Once again, not a huge issue as there isn't a whole lot of variety to Ihsahn's shriek and the album is much more focused on the instrumentals anyway.

There is an aura of mystery throughout the entire album. The chords are dark and sort of sad and even the empty spaces are filled with whispers and ominous sounds. It really isn't a "headbanging" record, it is the type of album where you sit and admire the genius songwriting. This is "In the Nightside Eclipse" but cranked to eleven! The melodies are memorable, the atmosphere is ever-present and the lyrics really make you think... There is a reason this album is critically acclaimed.

Now, this is the part where I would talk about the flaws and to be honest, there really aren't any! I am actually trying to find something wrong with this album at the moment and I just can't. Every track is unique and has a place on the album for a reason. The songs are constantly throwing different themes and ideas at you, all with the purpose of guiding the listener through a field of complex emotions and on to the final track, which acts as an amalgam of everything found throughout the album.

I started this review detailing my first listen and it's only fair that I end it the same way. When the last song faded out, I felt that I had learned something about myself. That may sound a little far-fetched and philosophical but this album toyed with my emotions from start to finish. It made me feel empowered, sad and curious. The first thing I did when the album finished was play it all over again and if you don't understand why, I suggest you give Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk another listen; then you'll understand.

The Norwegian wave of black metal in the 1990’s produced many gems, like “De Mysteriis dom Sathanas”, “Transilvanian Hunger”, “Nemesis Divina” and Emperor’s debut, “In the Nightside Eclipse”, to name but a few. The times were exciting, and not only because of the buzz generated by the church arsons and murders, but because there were so many excellent new bands producing excellent albums, and they all sounded different from each other. All the “big” bands had their own personal sound, clearly distinguishable from each other. Emperor made a huge impact with their debut, bringing keyboards to a dominant position in the soundscape, and taking the compositions to more sophisticated spheres, and new ground was broken in the black metal world. Three years would pass before the sophomore manifestation would be born, and when it did…oh, boy.

Ihsahn is and always has been, a man with a clear vision of what he wants to accomplish. In order to perfect Emperor’s “sophisticated black metal art”, as the album’s back cover states them performing, the main man-frontman-vocalist-guitarist-composer-lyricist-arranger reportedly took classes in classical composition, arranging and instrumentation. And it shows. Not only are the songs on “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” full of memorable riffs and melodies, all parts are imaginatively arranged to draw all possible potential from the material, build up energy, maintain it and reach unfathomable emotional heights by careful placement and reliance on a fully dedicated, passionate execution from all participants. And that we are granted.

The songs are filled with diverse stuff; supersonic tremolo assaults, chaotic orchestrated bombasticism with strings and horns, soaring and majestic melodies, relentless blasting etc. The balance and flow between harsh and beautiful, harmonic and disharmonic, fast and slow/mid-tempo is so well-kept that the complex song structures, instrumentations, and riffs sound natural and organic. Truly a compositional masterpiece within the metal world. Even the intro track is perfect, a dramatic build-up to a triumphant fanfare and the words “I am the Emperor!” – kick in “Ye Entrancemperium”, with an energetic and primitive intro riff composed by none other than Euronymous (RIP), and we’re off to a rollercoaster ride through the black and jagged landscapes created by one of the greatest bands in black metal history.

The keyboards were played and orchestrated by Ihsahn, and feature both (sampled) traditional instruments from the classical orchestra world, like strings, trumpets, flutes, timpani etc; as well as some synth pads. The keyboards are almost omnipresent, though their role varies from part to part. They alternate between being at the forefront playing the main melody, playing a supporting role with a secondary melody, and just plain filling and backing up the soundscape with chords and harmonies. Any which way, they are a huge part of Emperor’s sound and are used expertly as one could expect from a musician as talented and educated as Ihsahn. His main choice of voice on "Anthems" is high-pitched shrieking, and it is harsh and piercing as fuck. His conviction and passion are undeniable, check out the ending of “The Loss and Curse of Reverence”. Sends shivers down my spine, every time! The Notodden mastermind also utilizes clean vocals that bring a distinguished air to some parts, like in the outro of “Thus Spake the Nightspirit”. Great stuff. The lyrical content? Symbolic. Pretentious. Misanthropic. Thought-provoking. Satanic. Self-absorbed. Vague. Transcendent.

The guitars oftentimes play second fiddle (har, har) to the keyboards and vocals. All according to the master plan. Disharmonic savagery, vast and lofty melodies, lots of multi-string tremolo picking. The bass usually follows the guitar riffs, but sometimes wanders about beneath the chord structures. Could’ve done a bit more of that, as I love more active bass lines on black metal albums. Good examples of this: Khold “Krek”, Dødheimsgard “Kronet til konge” and all early Ulver recordings (even though I’m hard pressed to call them black metal). Drummer Trym is a fucking beast. His blasts are so enraged and animalistic, it sounds like he’s so full of hate towards his drumkit that he’s trying to beat the living crap out of it. Listen to “The Loss and Curse of Reverence”, from 4:10 and onwards – the UNLEASHING of the FUCKING FURY!! I always headbang the shit out of everything and everyone when that transition and blast part comes on. Trym also displays very fast kicks, great tom fills and some subtle cymbal work. His performance would be perfect if he wouldn’t sway just an eeny-teeny bit in tempo at times; although this gives a more organic feel to the music, and I would never want to quantize the drum tracks, it’s enough to whine a small bit. Still, worship him.

Let's talk about the production. It’s like the album has been drenched in a sea of chaos and filtered through a black web of evil. If your music is as complex and multi-faceted as “Anthems” is, you have two ways to go. Either you make the production crystal clear with distinct instrumental separation, or you press everything through the same filter and get a uniform, homogeneous, soundscape. Obviously, Emperor chose the latter, and to great effect. Even though some details drown in the ocean of massive orchestrations and blast beats, all the essential bits have been polished and lifted out of the mix. The overall sound picture is raw, chaotic and evil. Just the way it should be.

The atmosphere that permeates this disc is unique; if I was a pretentious bastard I’d call it divine. In an anti-Christian way. The bold statement “Emperor performs Sophisticated Black Metal Art exclusively!” on the back cover is hard to back up, but damn – these Norse fuckers pull it off. “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” has been one of my favorite albums since it was released, and I wouldn’t want to change one single second on it. The songwriting is genius, the execution is immaculate, the production is great…if this isn’t perfection, what is?

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk might be the pinnacle of the Norwegian black metal scene. Emperor truly made their place in metal history with this masterpiece. It's sheer complexity is incredible, and the performance is amazing. Though I initially had some difficulties listening to this album, as it felt like there was a wall between me and the music, it quickly became my favourite Emperor album.

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk feels like the natural follow up to the legendary ''In the Nightside Eclipse'', albeit a bit less atmospheric, as it blurs the lines between melody and intensity. Many black metal pioneers emphasize on simplicity, however it seems as emperor completely disregarded this. The complexity resembles that of a classical composition, and there's so much going on at once, somewhat of an organized chaos. The magnitude of different layers adds a lot of depth to the compositions. Ihsahn uses a lot more clean vocals here than on previous releases, and he does it well. The lead guitar is a lot more predominant as well, and the guitar parts are much more technical. Anthems is, for the most part, quite fast paced, with each song having a different structure.

Though less atmosphere driven than it's predecessor, it's not completely gone, only somewhat different as it has more of a medieval vibe to it. There's both pure and brutal metal riffs, and more melodic riffs, complimented by the brilliant synth. In truth, the album is best described as simply epic. The drumming is incredible, such speed and stamina, it's quite impressive. Trym is able to do more with one hand than I can do with two (I'm not an incredible drummer, however, so take that as you may). At first, his drumming is a bit overwhelming, and makes it hard to listen to the music, however it didn't take long until I came to love it.

The guitar work is simply excellent, such complex, fast and technical riffage played flawlessly. It shows how skilled these guys really are. The tremolo picking is spectacular, the speed is quite impressive. The depth of the compositions is, and I can't say this enough, so complex and purely genius, each time I take a listen to ''Anthems...'', I always seem to discover a new detail that I didn't notice before. This adds a lot of replayability, and I have listen to this countless of times. The synth is great as well, however it's not as complex as the guitar work. That isn't to say that it's bad, however, as it perfectly compliments the guitars. It adds both atmosphere and melody, and is a part of what makes Emperor so special. I'd say it is quite similar to the synth on the debut, though not overly complex, it is just as complex as it needs to be to add that needed melody and atmosphere.

The shrieks aren't really anything too unique or interesting. They're good, sure, but not special by any means. Though they're not as aggressive or screamy as most black metal vocals, they're not really anything you pay attention to or think about upon listening. The clean vocals are quite good, as in Ihsahn doesn't just simply sing the melody that guitar already plays, his vocals actually adds to the music. Additionally, there are also often several different layers of the vocals, making them very dynamic and good. But further than that, they're not too special. They are good, and he hits each note, however I don't really listen to ''Anthems..'' simply for Ihsahn's vocals. The lyrics are actually quite good, however, much like the shrieks, they're not revolutionary. They can be quite intriguing, such as the lyrics for ''With Strength I Burn'', however for the most part, they're the standard lyrics for (atmospheric) black metal bands, writing cryptic and vague in a mystic manner.

I think Emperor themselves described this album best when they said "Emperor performs sophisticated black metal art exclusively". I'd recommend this album to any fan of metal, as this masterpiece should be known to all.

I think comparing Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk to Emperor's legendary debut only goes so far. In the Nightside Eclipse offered a lot of the band's defining traits right off the bat, not least of all the swirling complexity and symphonic backing. Too many faults weighed down the debut for me to see it as a masterpiece, but it's still pretty incredible to think that a band (of teens, no less) were making such technically proficient black metal back in 1994.

Keeping in mind that approach was practically anathema to the proud baseness of "typical" black metal, I'm not sure we would have seen the genre trend toward sophistication in the late 90s if In the Nightside Eclipse had not been there to light the match. Even with that influence however, I don't even seen In the Nightside Eclipse as the first quintessentially 'Emperor' album. I'm sure (and hope) most would disagree with me on this, but I'd say the honour goes to Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk. Here's where Emperor's reach finally matched their aim, and it resulted in an album that still sounds as vicious and elegant today as when it was released.

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk represents a more distinctive, vicious sound than In the Nightside Eclipse. This is the sound I think of when Emperor is mentioned. Comparison only goes so far. There are things I hear here that were scarcely present earlier on. A fraction of the same dry execution remains, but Emperor do finally sound as dangerous here as they should. They were always more sophisticated than their peers from the demos on, but Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk elevated that regal sophistication to the point of controlled chaos. Unlike other prog-tinged Norwegian black metal (read:Enslaved), Emperor remained true to speed and violence. "Ye Entrancemperium" is one of the strongest examples of how Emperor could adopt a band like Mayhem's aggression without losing their complex edge.

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk is where frontman Ihsahn's distinctive howl came into play. Having got into Emperor via this album and IX Equilibrium, I remember being surprised when I heard the comparatively thin rasp on In the Nightside Eclipse. Here, he sounds matured and savage; I can't imagine hearing another vocalist play into Emperor's style as well. Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk also distinguishes itself on the merit that it truly feels like an album that was written as a whole monument to be heard from start-to-finish. I can't think of another Second Wave album that nails a pristine sense of albumcraft like this one. "Alsvartr (The Oath)" builds anticipation for "Ye Entrancemperium" to a boiling point. "The Wanderer" is an instantly memorable way to cap off the album; the gorgeous way this album ends almost makes me wish there were more instances where Emperor emphasized melodic writing more. We'd hear more of that in Ihsahn's solo career, but of course it's not the same.

Most reviews I've read on Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk look at the album as a consolidation of the threads Emperor introduced on the debut. To a certain extent, the second album benefits from the context of the first. I'm part of the miserable minority that couldn't get into In the Nightside Eclipse on account of its weak and muffled production. Three years undoubtedly gave Emperor the time they needed to sharpen up their craft. As a result, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk sounds considerably more biting than its predecessor. Emperor's symphonic bent (which I'm still unsure about) was scaled back a bit, giving the drums and guitars some much-needed punch at last.

Even if everything else had been the same, Emperor's vital improvement to the production would have made Anthems a sure hit to me. This isn't even to say the album's production was perfect or ideal, only that it was brought up to the point where it ceased to hold the music back. From where I stand, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk and 1999's IX Equilibrium both sound a bit dry, thin and crowded; it wouldn't be until their final album Prometheus where the technical end finally caught up to their vision. It's a shame that Emperor struggled with production for most of their career; they never had a style that pandered to the typically amateurish sheen of classic black metal. As much as I love Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, I know I'd love it even more if it had a fuller sound.

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk was less groundbreaking for its time than In the Nightside Eclipse. History and context be damned in this case however; if the debut was a promise, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk answered the call in every way. It's finally as violent and cathartic as becomes a band like Emperor. I know the question still rages today that more technically inclined metal bands lack the same potential to be cathartic as a rawer counterpart. Then again, I'm sure the answer would be far closer to positive if more bands were like Emperor. Even the bands that followed closest in their footsteps have very seldom channelled the same swirling wrath. The album's nearly twenty years old, and it still sounds dangerous. I'd say that's the big distinction between Emperor's first pair of records. If In the Nightside Eclipse amazed me for the fact it came out in 1994, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk inspires the same feeling for the fact alone this music was made by humans.

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk is an important album to a great many persons, and this is not now or ever going to be in question. In fact, for tens of thousands of extreme metal (and hardcore) fans, this was undoubtedly one of the first albums in the black metal genre that they had experience with, alongside Enthrone Darkness Triumphant and Dusk and Her Embrace. It arrived at a time when Emperor was the band with the most impressive momentum and potential out of the Norwegian crop, poised on the edge of a far broader success, and thus more or less NEEDED to inspire thousands of imitators and accumulate breadcrumbs on the tables of various record execs. To that extent, I don't think anyone can deny that these Anthems were working as intended. On the flip side, though, the band was so hyped by this point that they could have released a disc of ABBA covers with Ihsahn rasping the lyrics and it would have sated the starved bellies of their overflowing bandwagon of followers.

Personally, I found this to be a monumental disappointment after In the Nightside Eclipse had soaked my mind and terrified me for a number of years. I imported the European edition, and spent time absorbing the artwork and lyrics before even attempting to listen through the disc, discovering the well written prose of ritualistic self-empowerment which so accurately mirrors and defines the many lost souls who listen to this stuff (I'm not excluding myself). When that time arrived, though, to experience Anthems in full, blaring out my speakers, I was astonished to find that so little of the album would stick for me. Repeated spins would not yield different results, and I've now spent well over a decade scratching my head at its overwhelmingly positive reaction. Like Death's Human, or Morbid Angel's Blessed Are the Sick, it's one of those paragons of extreme metal which seems to have laid the seeds of supplication in just about everyone I know, excepting myself. Hell, I have known folks who consider this the apex of its genre...and I'm sure we all remember the various magazine polls that placed it as one of, if not THE greatest singular achievement in metal music to its day!

Bollocks, all of it. Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk might have won its spot in the hearts of many newcomers to its medium of expression, and it might indeed be a finely honed piece of work in terms of raw production value, but this in no way surpasses In the Nightside Eclipse and in truth I found it to fall short in many areas. Not the least of which is the almost complete dearth of haunted and vile atmosphere which made that debut so beloved and resonant. This is no stylistic departure, mind you. Anthems is basically a tidier, polished answer to its predecessor, with the addition of a metric ton of clean, soaring vocals which are assumed to expand the sound, but never really prove anything other than the fact that Ihsahn can actually pull them off. Lots of structured blast sequences, orchestration, and dynamic versatility are strewn throughout, and one can certainly praise Trym for his unbridled energy and importance to the band's celerity, but when there aren't that many scathing and memorable riffs to support, even he often comes off as some soulless, muscular metronome.

The main problem, as I hear it, is that with the possible exception of "Ensorcelled by Khaos", the entire first half of this album is about as impressive as watching your lawn grow. "Alsvartr (The Oath)" cycles from acoustics and hooting owl samples to whispered, self-aggrandizing narration over the onslaught of bombastic synths and circular guitar melodies. The actual note progression is playful enough, if predictable, but even the various hisses and rasps off in the distance fail to manifest the level of intimidation this was meant to represent towards the listener, so when the King Diamond wails and storming, blast-thunder of "Ye Entrancemperium" arrive, one is just happy that "The Oath" is over. Unfortunately, this next tune itself is pretty much a poster child for how technical performance and speed do not equivocate memorable music. All of the guitars, with the exception of the unnerving sway at around 2:00, sound like zero effort was placed in their construction, just sheer speed, and the keys and clean vocals also zip through one ear and straight out the arse.

"Thus Spake the Nightspirit" is mildly more measured and grandiose, but it too cedes into this vapid blasting, and the spikes of melodies curried through the guitars are less than ideal; and while "Ensorcelled by Khaos" tries pretty damn hard to excel with the opening tremolo riff and the somewhat catchy symphonic progression deep in its verses, it still seems to lack that tangible darkness and tyrannical violation of In the Nightside Eclipse. No, it's not until "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" and "The Acclamation of Bonds" that I felt the grasp of diabolic witchery finally wear down my senses. Ironically, a song that I described as two minutes of excellence in a six minute shell (on the Reverence EP) positively sparkles next to most of this album, it's initial blasted momentum transitioning towards an admittedly superb tremolo riff and later an almost jazzy, textured symphonic sequence. "The Acclamation of Bonds" is also worthy for the flights of racing melodies and their interplay with the ghostly keypads later in the run time, but I still would not put it against anything on the debut album.

Just when I thought the album was getting decent, of course, I was struck with the eight minute slog that is "With Strength I Burn", which showcases a lot of the clean vocal harmonies astride what must be the least interesting set of riffs on the whole album (slow and faster paced). Quite disheartening, and not in the 'good way' that I expect from an effective black metal piece. I've covered dozens if not hundreds of albums with similar songs to this: inflated to the point that they escape the wielder's hands to the clouds, only to wound up impaled on an airplane propeller. Finally, it's sad that the sweltering, dense emotions of the central guitar line and synthesizer in the closing instrumental "The Wanderer" are more memorable than about half the full length lyrical songs on the album...but that is, indeed the case.

Clearly, Emperor were firing on many cylinders when they sat down to write this material, but the strength of the band's arsenal amounts to little more than saber rattling here. Where In the Nightside Eclipse captured its fell glories in a frozen sculpture of menace, this album seems to embrace the pageantry of speed and musicianship without the impeccable undercurrent of evil. Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk was in the right place, at the right time, and I think that explains much of the veneration it received (or receives). But the music itself should no way be entitled to such admiration, because it's just not that great, no matter how fast the drums and guitars are, no matter how entwined the textures of errant melody and faux orchestration. An important album chronologically for its ability to open the rabid floodgates of fandom, but not nearly the masterwork some would have us believe. Average, surging symphonic black metal with only small glints of brighter craftmanship on the surface of its dull blade.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Second albums are frequently a tough task for bands. Whether they are refining a rough sound found on their debut or forging a new direction in their music, many bands stand the risk of alienating part of their initial fan base in one way or another. Emperor was one such band. “In the Nightside Eclipse,” Emperor’s full-length debut, is generally considered a defining piece of black metal and one of the classic albums in the history of all of heavy metal. With Emperor’s second album, “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk,” the band decided to both refine their existing mastery of black metal while experimenting with slightly cleaner production values and heavier symphonic elements. What results is an incredible display of black metal, which manages to sound completely fresh while maintaining Emperor’s defining sound.

What first stands out on “Anthems” are the differences between it and “In the Nightside Eclipse,” namely its production values and symphonic elements. In comparison with their debut, Emperor’s efforts here sound less raw and more audible. That’s not to say that this album has a clean sound. Instead it’s quite the contrary, with Ihsahn’s vocals being very low in the mix and the instruments taking the forefront. Those instruments (the guitars and keyboards especially), find themselves with more definition on “Anthems,” and no longer feel like they are being used merely as a means to create atmosphere and ambience. The feeling created by the keyboards on this album is decidedly different than Emperor’s previous work, as it is used more selectively and creates a symphonic feeling compared to the constantly present tones of frost and darkness found on Emperor’s debut.

The guitar work, as previously mentioned, plays a central role on “Anthems” and is more prevalent in the mix. Ihsahn and Samoth do a phenomenal job, creating lightning fast riffs that can become quite technical at times. A big departure from their previous work is the use of guitar solos, which can be seen in “The Loss and Curse of Reverence,” and “With Strength I Burn.” Although not as technical as the solos found in other genres, Ihsahn’s soloing is very good and demonstrates a good combination of speed and emotion in his playing.

Ihsahn’s vocal performance on “Anthems” is impressive, and shows how wide his range is. Although he switches between a more “necro” style of vocalization and cleanly sung passages, this actually helps his performance. Although black metal purists show disdain for clean vocals, the cleanly sung passages on “Ye Entrancemperium,” “Thus Spake the Nightspirit,” and “With Strength I Burn” are among the best moments in any Emperor song. Ihsahn’s lyrics also show some progression from “In the Nightside Eclipse.” The lyrical content is still dark, but more poetic in nature. Although I personally prefer the lyrics on their debut, “Anthems” shows a growth in maturity and sophistication that is much appreciated.

Trym Torsen, the drummer and final new element to “Anthems,” puts forward a stellar performance. Between the blast beats of “Ye Entrancemperium” and his lightning fast fills and footwork, Trym is a tremendous improvement over previous drummer Faust. At times, however, Trym can almost be too good at drumming. Since the album’s mix is still very raw, at times the drums come to the forefront of the song and can overwhelm the rest of the composition.

Minor gripes aside, “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” is an astounding achievement. It not only cemented Emperor’s legendary status within the black metal community, but displayed that Emperor could take some risks while still maintaining their characteristic sound. Although it may live in the shadow of “In the Nightside Eclipse,” “Anthems” fully deserves to be recognized as a masterpiece of black metal on its own merits.

This album is just beyond words for me. There's so much going on all over the place that it's almost too much for the average listener to bear, but for those who can appreciate the atmosphere conveyed here, Anthems is a masterpiece above and beyond not just other metal releases, but other musical recordings period. I could totally put this next to the compositions of Bach and Dark side of the moon. It's really that freaking good. Anything negative you hear about this album usually comes from people who aren't really fans of music in general and tend to prefer bands that record their stuff in a Kvlt forest aka bedroom.

Every time I put on anthems (which is about five times or more a day for the last three years) I am in awe each and every time. The music is just so beautiful and yet dark at the same time, but this is not some kind of Opeth or Agolloch album. Anthems maintains brutal levels of intensity while mixing with Ihsahn’s spacey sounding keyboards at the same time. The feel upon allowing oneself to be brutalized by this opus is that of being ejected into a space time continuum of sorts and being blasted through the universe at light speed.

Furious blast beats are everywhere. Trym is the man. Few drummers can pull of such intense blasting and throw in fills every five seconds and make it work. All this infernal beating of snares and toms goes hand in hand with the furious guitar riffs, which aren't very discernible in the mix but you can still hear the buzz well enough, and once you actually try playing the songs yourself you realize how fucking technical they are, and not just for the sake of being technical like necrophagist. While all this is going on, the keys are in the background providing a wonderful atmosphere for the whole opus. I hear a lot of people say that the keyboards aren't as prominent on this album as nightside eclipse, but I think they just aren't as loud in the mix, but trust me they're as loud as they need to be, and they're implemented perfectly.

Ihsahns vocals are not very easy to hear, and sometimes I think that was intended. Once you read the lyrics, one can interpret that the music itself is a storm of questions and hypocrisies and revelations, and Ihsahns voice is lost in this blizzard trying to be heard by the night spirit. I'm one of those people who are fascinated by the universe and the meaning of existence, and these lyrics definitely deal with that. They also deal with Satanism, but Ihsahn had no belief in any kind of deity as far as I know. Once you read some of Fredrick Nietzsche you realize that the antichrist is in all of us. Our will to do what we please, and think for ourselves.

Each song contains an albums worth of awesomeness in my opinion, but listened to from beginning to end is the way to go. From the intro, to the brutal opening track, the ups downs, peak, and ending, the intensity and beauty never wavers. Encorcelled by Khaos is definitely my second favorite track on the album next to the loss and curse of reverence. It starts off fast, then eventually it slows down and after the "dark is my call" line you enter ethereal world of astonishing beauty. Definitely one of my favorite sections of the album, and it rolls along at a middle pace until everything stops for a second leaving nothing but a guitar riff, then the drums come in with all the other instruments and after that the blasting begins. The line"the mortal forces driving me, more noble more free... Take me" always sends shivers down my spine. I also strongly believe Acclamation of bonds is an underrated track. The song iself is as epic as any of the other tracks, and the mid section of the song has some of the darkest riffs I've ever heard in black metal, and it rolls at a steady pace until there's a section with some blast beats, and then most of the instruments pause and all you hear is E chord being strummed repeatedly while a bell rings in a background, and after that the rest of the instruments sweep in and hurl you into a vortex of darkness. I don't need to say anything about with strength I burn. That song speaks for itself, and you could not have picked a better outro for such an album than "the wanderer".


I've gone through many love affairs with bands and albums but so far this one is still at the top of the list. This may sound emo but this album is very emotional and like an awesome dude said in one of the reviews down there, the lyrics come alive in the music. For those of you who enjoy psychedelic drugs, I strongly recommend putting your Jefferson Airplane records aside and giving this a spin during your trip. It’s an amazing experience

...My rubbery, winged ass. This, Emperor's second full-length offering, has (unfortunately) become the "face" of the band--the album that is most remembered; most talked about; most lauded. These eight tracks are the laurels on which Emperor's reputation has rested for just under a decade now….interesting that said reputation, perhaps always just a bit corpulent (as one might reasonably expect of a band that has always been as extroverted and as highly visible as Emperor), has now become as bloated and "sacred" as the cold flesh and warm memory of a recently deceased housepet. "Buttons" met her end beneath the wheels of the family's old rust-red Caravan (Sarah never was one to check her mirrors before backing out); Emperor as a respectable entity met its end under the silky, molesting caress of the rhinestone-gloved hands of overexperimentation and overexposure-and it began here. Truth be told, this is the nadir of the band's career…and with a career like Emperor's, that's saying something. Actually, "Anthems" really isn't the weakest of Emperor's albums in any single respect--it's not as haphazard and directionless as "IX Equilibrium"; not nearly as pretentious and self-serving as "Prometheus"; and, by most measures, sounds more hale (on the surface, anyway) than its predecessor, "In the Nightside Eclipse." No, it's more like the other albums all caricature certain aspects that this album combines in concert. You've all most likely heard the expression that something is "greater than the sum of its parts", yes? In this case, the inverse is true. The instruments don't work well together, the various passages don't build up momentum or coalesce into memorable songs, and the individual songs don't establish any kind of flow or real interplay between themselves, despite the fact that they do all sound like they belong on one album (with the exception of "The Wanderer", which was written entirely by Samoth and hence doesn't fit in quite as well).

Recorded in late '96 at Grieghallen, Anthems is one of many examples of the rather peculiar (and sometimes unfortunate) sounds for which Pytten and company have become known over the years. By most material (read: monetary) measures, Anthems is endowed with a stronger production than its much more well-written predecessor--guitars are distinct and reasonably crisp, percussion is clear and forceful, synth sounds slightly more expensive, and vocals have more presence. As so often happens, the bass gets the shaft, but it matters little in this case, as the instrument never does a single thing of note on the album. However, although the sounds of (most of) the individual instruments have been bolstered somewhat, the mix remains a serious flaw…Nearly everything is integrated at exactly the same level and at nearly the same volume. Everything is even--too even--and this creates several problems. First and foremost, this monodimensional approach has the effect of subjugating the rest of the instruments to the loudest and least subtle of their number, which is in this case the drum track--Trym spends most of the album blasting at top speed (whether the moment calls for him to do so or not), and his enthusiastic but unimaginative performance quickly becomes both annoying and distracting, especially when contrasted with the rather tame and wishy-washy nature of the other performances. The guitar, synth, and vocals compete for what limited "listening space" is left. It's a competition which doesn't really have a clear winner; although I'd say the vocals tend to get the short end of the stick (which isn't so bad, really, as it does help to spare us somewhat from Isahn's awkward singing voice). This poorly thought-out (if it was thought out at all) mix is part of what I mean when I say that the instruments don't seem to work together; more important, however, is the more complicated realm of songwriting and arrangement.

If the album's problems were all purely cosmetic, the character of this review might be a bit different--for after all, there is no shortage of well-written albums clothed in production jobs that might be described as sloppy, over/underdone, amateurish, or any number of other undesirable adjectives. Unfortunately, the music is nearly as one-dimensional as the production.

The guitar riffs and passages are a bit more uptempo and pronounced than on the previous album. While most of them don't lack for (kinetic) energy, most of them do lack subtlety or any really evocative qualities--they seem a bit like souped-up cast-offs from previous works. Occasionally a brief (keyword) theme with real feeling behind it will present itself, such as the intro to "Ye Entrancemperium." This little theme is probably the single most memorable utterance from the string section on the entire album, having a half-crazed, insistent quality…and it wasn't even written by Emperor (rather, by an odd little fellow by the name of Euronymous), funnily (or not) enough. I suppose the significance of my complaints here can be tempered somewhat with the fact that the guitars don't really seem to have been intended to carry the album, anyway…rather, they seem to have been intended to cohabit on equal terms with the synth. Ah, the synth. The syrupy synth. The intrusive, unnecessary, ridiculous synth. From the hokey "trumpet" at the conclusion of the intro track and onwards, the album is vexed with tasteless synth. Not quite baroque, and not quite ambient, its "majestic" Casio tones will occasionally burst forth in some ill-conceived little spat of soloesque eloquation (what in Cthulhu's name, I ask you, are those fruity chirruping notes in the middle of "Entrancemperium" supposed to be?), but most of the time they vacillate betwixt smothering on one hand and pedomorphizing on the other what little atmosphere the lackluster strings can manage to muster over and above the nonsensical masturblasting from the drum kit. To give him due credit, Trym does seem to realize that something is amiss (of course, it's hard not to get that sort of feeling when one's own performance at times sounds to have been recorded for a different album than that on which one is playing), and tries to vary his blasting a bit--sometimes accentuating the hi-hat, at others the cymbals (which is a pretty cool effect for the first 10 seconds or so, actually), and at still others going for a more "equal opportunity blast"---but nearly always with the blasting. He only slows down when a blastbeat would sound so out of place that no amount of "avante-gardes", "shockingly originals", "cutting-edge darings", or any other number of megazine-borne superlatives could excuse it. One might say that he seems to have no setting between "very high" and "not quite off."

Wandering in and out of the teeming warren of oafish blasting, harebrained synth noodlings, and half-baked guitar structures like a lost child through some nighted industrial burrough, Ihsahn's often smothered vocals range from his always-serviceable shriek (which took on its slightly "throatier" character here) to his increasingly ubiquitous clean vocals. While it's true that there are many (metal) singers far worse than he is, Ihsahn, like so many extreme metal vocalists, has rather a reedy voice, and no real business attempting clean singing. He seems aware of his limits and doesn't try to soar beyond them for the most part, at least; instead adopting a forgettable sing-songy approach, as on "With Strength I Burn." There are a lot of spoken sections on the album, as well, and not a one of them works well--Ihsahn and his shy-sounding and vaguely philosophical recitation is inevitably lost behind some other facet of the performance, usually a mincing wash of synth or some half-assed guitar lead. And now we come again to my earlier complaint…the failure of the album's components to "gel" in any significant way is not, after all, simply a matter of the way it is produced. The various components simply don't work together very well, or at times even at all. Indeed, not only do they fail to compliment each other; they often outright compete. This is not good arrangement, never has been, and never will be. Very likely what we can observe here is the beginning of that musical schism between Ihsahn and Samoth that would eventually widen to a veritable chasm. Because the instruments don't usually work well together, the musical passages follow suit, and what results is a collection of songs in which each fails to build up to any kind of climax; an album devoid of tension or any real dynamism. Look at "Alsvartr (The Oath)"--a half-hearted acoustic lick is swamped by boorish synth, nature sounds, and some arbitrary electric guitar warbling, only to eventually erupt forth into a cute little "trumpet" /vocal fanfare that sounds like something Blind Guardian would've (very wisely) left on the cutting room floor. The whole album is written like that-all melodrama, no drama.

So, what do people see (hear, rather) in this? I don't know, to tell the truth, but it certainly has no shortage of fans. Indeed, I must confess that I can't shake the impression I've had for many years now that "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" has through some arcane and/or accidental series of events come to be something of a "token appreciation receptacle" for those having a cursory or nonexistent interest in black metal (if you doubt me, you have only to look around you)…not that they're the ONLY ones, of course, but a good portion of them. Again, the question…why? Well, I often hear that the album is "epic." I suppose that would depend on one's conception of "epic." To once again give due credit, Emperor has avoided the pitfall of only playing at one speed on the album…every now and again, they'll lapse into a brief slower section, as in the doomier bit at the tail-end of "Thus Spake the Nightspirit", or that beloved-by-many little spoken bit in "With Strength I Burn." Of course, these slow sections are generally as inept as their more volant counterparts, but it's the thought that counts, I suppose. So, is that it? Is it this vulgar contrast between fast and slow that makes it "epic?" Intense; relaxed; trickle of renewed intensity. Is that it? If so, most of you have probably had bowel movements more "epic" than this.

It's a shame. Emperor is or was capable of so much better than this, and they deserve to be remembered for the portion of their work wherein their potential was realized. Hell, there are even brief flashes of potential here. For example, "Ensorcelled by Khaos", with its openly recursive structure, is a fleeting bit of genuine dynamic that could be a solid song if the synth were reigned in (the faux choir is a serviceable bit of texture; the keening "ambience" and the unpiano need to go) and the tempo were varied a bit more. By and large, however, what we have here is a real JFK of mid-nineties extreme metal. Take that as you will.

Standout: Ensorcelled by Khaos

The long journey starts with a return - through the gates of Death to revelations once abhorred, yet lucid before the eyes of the one who reentered. Shall a circle be completed? Indeed, but still to reopen his eyes - whence he shall behold his blindness.
Fueled by dare and the presence of the Nightspirit - with whom the journey commences - the now lone rider engages in a quest unto the infinite realms of the yet unknown, and of that which shall eternally remain unfathomed. Through the unavoidable questions of the nihilist individual, through longing comes the end within obscurity - beyond the Grey Havens of the soaring cliffs.

This is pure beauty, as the shimmer of the moon above the rim of the mountains. I fail to settle down on a single term to define the atmosphere of the album, as themes range from the realms of the astral to Faustian and metaphysic compositions. Uncountable layers of sound interweave to create a complex lattice, bearing hidden elements of sound which are gradually unveiled at each spin, granting the listener another key - to yet unlock the door of another maze. As I discover new details, I still ponder how many of them are still left unfound out there among the lyrics and music.

The album bursts into the clear and silent night of “Alsvartr” and commences with the galloping “Ye Entrancemperium” which rides on as a cavalcade through a thunderstorm. Rapidly changing riffs and drum beats crush you as melodies sweep in among them, giving a divine touch to all. It is as if the grand forces of nature, fair and wrathful were invoked unto tape in the course of this recording.

What’s nice in the whole arrangement of the album is that the lyrical theme, to speak, the beauty in the pain of he who ever yearns actually comes to life in the music. As I have already stated and I shall elaborate further in this review, the music changes rapidly and in a surprisingly smooth manner, facing its rise and immediate fall in accord with the lyrical narrative. And I do not refer to the closing track only. Seldom do I get to hear anything so fantastically crafted in both dimensions. An attempt to recall the tortured beauty of “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” on following piece “Equilibrium - IX” didn’t result in such a brilliant output - since it was that lyrical harmony that the latter lacked in its rather static themes and introverted notion of violence.

Speaking about the lyrics - these may seem solely nihilistic at glance (“I sought a plague for those who smiled at walls in humble fear”\track 4; “Honor, commended no longer as virtue yet shall be extolled by light’s demise”\track 5), yet hidden among the carefully chosen words and pompous verses are the deep soulscapes of their writer. Ihsan doesn’t seem to be afraid of breaking the emotional limits of his songs beyond the now rather clichéd black metal misanthropy. Just like nature, fragile within its might and complexity, they are the soul of an entity sad and proud, young and old which is Emperor. The voice in which they are uttered changes according to their content - ranging from whispers of deep yearning and belligerent harsh vocals to “heroic” cleans at the landmark closing track.

This recording is unlike everything else - it grips you hard even in places where, despite the close match they hold with the Emperors in my playlist, bands like Arcturus somehow make my mind wander away from the music. Just to give you a clue of what I’m talking about, I think I should mention “Ensorcelled by khaos” and “The loss and the curse of reverence”. Both of the tracks gave me quite a hard time back then when I was a black metal newbie, thus becoming two memorable favorites. The former features a dissonant riff accompanied by synth horns or clarinets that don’t really show at the first time. The latter slowly builds up its tension - higher and higher toward a climax, wherein strings come up to the front just to be replaced with something similar to the opening piccicato pattern but more melodic. These come to accompany a short spoken part somehow criticized as being a bit cheesy, but I reckon it is just in place to serve the whole emperial ceremony. The song subsequently breaks into a sweeping waltz as if to celebrate the pompous words of Ihsan. As mentioned before, I was quite impressed by the way in which the lyrics and the music of this album synchronize with each other: holding mutual conversations, or filling up expressional parts that the other fails to achieve. I find it quite rare in black metal or metal as a genre wherein, for better or for worse, the music comes as one monolithic chunk of sound.

I will not move on to the summary without saying a few words regarding the album’s closing track. But I need say no more than enthrone it as one of the best moments among all vast emperial creations. “With Strength I Burn” follows the slight sink caused by track 6, which I reckon being one of the weaker moments on this album. As if to conclude the masterpiece, and as recollections of a long journey, the music takes turns among the trademark combinations of its sound: storm like black metal, bitter-sweetly touching melodrama and theatrical spoken parts. I shall say no more. I do want to leave thou unprejudiced. Just listen to the music and read the lyrics while doing so. The songs in this album don’t really shine out till their lyrics are thoroughly read. Even when they are, it takes a little time until they really catch, but they’re in forever when they do.

Weak points: as above stated, “The Acclamation Bonds”. The song itself is not that bad but there’s nothing too unique about it among the other songs in this album, rendering a bit of a 5:54 redundancy. Its lyrical concept too is not as clear and consistent as on the other tracks. Furthermore, if you want to hear and get acquainted with pure black metal this is not the album for you. Clear production comparing to previous releases and complex riffery doesn’t remind anything of the original agenda of this genre in its production of dirty\filthy sound. If you want to know better about black metal, listen to previous achievements of this band or earlier acts as Burzum or Darkthrone.

Still, back then I was a late newcomer to Norwegian black metal and this was the first release in the genre that I’ve ever purchased. Previously holding only a shallow and unobligatory relationship with the dark realms of doom metal, I must admit that this gave a 180 degrees turn to my whole perspective toward extreme music and inspired my writing deeply. This is a complex piece of art for a beginners purchase but I do not regret it, since it gave me the ability to fully appreciate quality black metal and distinguish it from other blueprint junk which unfortunately became so common in the recent years. I highly recommend it to any of you newcomers out there. It is a truly rewarding challenge and a magnificent piece of art.

With their first few releases, full-length or otherwise, Emperor solidified their status as the most progressive of their kind, on a level of musicality. The single "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" gave a glimpse of what was to come; a far more intense and epic beast, on a level of its own. Anthems seperates itself from the band's debut album in many ways; the keyboards now serve an integral part of the band's sound, instead of background ambience. Pompous, sweeping crescendos of brass and strings give all of the songs a distinct medieval atmosphere, and the lyrics only help to aid in this. Trym's entrance to the band certainly brings a more extreme and chaotic edge to Emperor's sound; this is the same guy who played on Enslaved's album Frost, so you know it's gonna be crazy. The majority of his works are blast-beat centered, but this isn't regular mid-paced blasting seen in most black metal. We're talking insanely fast superhuman drumming. One listen to "Ensorcelled by Khaos" or the end of "Ye Entrancemperium" will show you the new ground that has been broken.

As a songwriting unit, the band have stepped up tremendously. Things are chaotic and a swirling, high-speed haze at first listen, but most listeners will come to find that Samoth and Ihsahn are playing some fairly technical riffs, especially on "Thus Spake the Nightspirit." Both guitarists exchange dissonant-sounding octave harmonies, and the tremolo riffs ascend chromatic scales for a maddening and climatic feel. Truth be told, there are only a handful of moments that even remotely resemble old Emperor, as the band opted for a more sophisticated and epic sound. The only thing that will really resemble the band's debut album is "The Acclamation of Bonds," which is driven forward by pounding double bass and flurries of speed-picked power chords. One other noticeable difference in the band's approach is the fact that the guitars are only secondary to the keyboards; this is generally frowned upon in black metal, but the keyboard lines tend to purvey the atmosphere better in this case, not the guitars. "With Strength I Burn" is a perfect example, where the keyboards play the main role up until the ending. Also a thing of notice are the band's cultivated ability to write songs of narrative proportions; riffs are rarely repeated in cycles, favored in a sort of thing where the lyrics do the talking for the songs. Speaking of which, Ihsahn's lyrics are nothing like that of what Mortiis wrote. This is where the classic Emperor style of writing began, and is shown wonderfully on "The Loss and Curse of Reverence." These lyrics may be a bit too snooty and pretentious for some black metal fans, but the change is certainly welcomed in the context of the music.

Ihsahn's performance is also a step up. His voice is more throaty and clearer than previously, and it's a miracle that you can actually hear him in the songs. Some clean vocals are attempted at points through the album; some are decent, some not so decent. The spoken word passage in "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" is somewhat cheesy, but the clean vocals in "With Strength I Burn" are some of the best clean vocals ever put down by Ihsahn.

Trym's performance, jaw-dropping as it may be, borders on mind-numbing. He takes a bit too much enthusiasm for the blast beats, "Ensorcelled by Khaos" serving as a prime example. When he's not pounding his snare into a shattered pulp, the bass drums take a heavy beating; and that's not always a good thing. Constant streams of sixteenth notes run underneath the music, but it becomes repetitive fast. Trym certainly has some chops, but everything is too one-way for my taste. To me, drums were never really important in black metal, even in the chaotic, high-speed stuff. But apparently, Trym doesn't think so. He's not quite as bad as Hellhammer, but there are certainly some borderline attention-whore moments. Some of the fills are kind of random and lame, and don't really serve their purpose of transitioning the music through its phases. The man certainly is a force to be reckoned with, though.

And once again, I have some problems with the production. It's much clearer than In the Nightside Eclipse, but the guitars are fairly hard to decipher at points due to the veil of the keyboards and the drums, which are entirely too loud in the mix. Things get a bit too clusterfucked during the faster moments, so all of this is hard to take in upon initial listens. But, like most black metal, it only serves the atmospheric charm of the music, and is an acquired taste.

Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk may not be Emperor's "best" album, but certainly is their most evolved before going off the deep end with IX Equilibrium. If really ferocious but sophisticated and epic metal is your cup o' tea, give this album a listen.

Anthems is one of the best Symphonic black metal CD's out on the market. Filled with an eerie atmosphere that gave me the feeling that I was walking in a dense forest during the thick of night, this cd has calmed my soul, only to quickly crush it, and then calm it down again.

The talent on this cd is absolutely amazing when it's done correctly. Don't get me wrong I love the screams and rapid playing that Emperor does on this cd, but there are two songs on here that feel like fillers to me. “The Acclamation of Bonds” and “In Longing Spirit” are the two songs on this album that in my opinion could have been left off the cd. The songs themselves are not bad. The guitars, synthesizer, and drums are excellent and so are the vocals. The biggest problem I have with these two songs is that I always get the feeling that I’ve listened to them before on other tracks that were a lot better. To put it bluntly these two tracks are the weakest.

Other than those two songs this cd is one of the best black metal cd’s out there. The best tracks are the ones that incorporate the clean/melodic vocals into the songs. Stand out tracks are;

Alsvartr (The Oath): This is the opening track of the cd. The entire song is filled with a nocturnal like atmosphere that slowly builds to the climax that leads into “Ye Entrancemperium”
Both songs seemingly go together, with Alsvartr being the calmer half of Ye Entrancemperium’s brutal side. The guitars are fast, and an amazing display of talent is shown. The vocals are furious and insanely quick, as are the drums.
Thus Spake the Nightspirit is another brilliant song on the cd. The biggest highlight of this song is when Ihsahn goes from the trademark black metal scream growl to a cleaner more melodic set of vocals towards the end of the song. Combined with chilling effects of the guitar and keyboard and the rhythm of the drums this song instantly sends a chill down my spine.
The best song on this entire album, the one song that displays Emperor’s full talent is With Strength I Burn. Clocking in at 8:17 this song displays all sides of Emperor. The heavy side, the fast side, the atmospheric side, and the melodic side. If this were the only song I liked on the CD I would still give it a review of a 60. Yes this song is that good.

Should you buy this album? Fuck yes you should! Which version should you get? Will I got the re-release with the live version of The Loss and the Curse of Reverence used for $5.99. It truely depends on if you want the original, or the re-release. Either way you must get this cd.

"Emperor performs Sophisticated Black Metal Art exclusively!", boldly states a note on the back cover of the band's long awaited second full-length "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk". A proud declaration of identity that the music featured in the album has no problem living up to. If "In The Nightside Eclipse" had been the band's insuperable achievement when their music was still rooted to more traditional Black Metal, "Anthems To The Welking At Dusk" witnesses Emperor taking off to reach incommensurable heights of musicianship, originality and general brilliance.
With the addition of machine gun drummer Trym Torson and bassist Alver in the line-up, Samoth and Ihsahn have found what they were looking for to take Emperor where they wanted to: beyond any boundaries, daring anyone else to follow them.
The progression shown on the new opus is enormous in every category, and the album is also graced by a much more suitable sound. Gone are the buzzy and trebly days of early Black Metal, for this is where the band introduced us their well known "wall of sound", an unique combination of overpowering layers of guitars and keyboards with the drums and bass more in the background and, most oddly, the vocals - especially the clean ones - pretty hidden in the mix. It sounds unorthodox and it certainly takes several listens to be fully appreciated (the very complex structures of the songs don't help the stranded listener either), but enhances the spirit of the band's music to such a level that it's impossible to doubt that the band spent several hours in the studio trying to create this particular atmosphere. This sound is made to drench and saturate, and manages to sound overwhelming even at low volumes. It must be heard to be really understood.

The album opens with a rather long and unique intro, namely "Al Svartr (The Oath)". Forget all the keyboard / guitar only intros you've heard, because this one features ALL the band's instruments as well as vocals, plus a series of sound effects and other studio tricks such as haunting guitar feedbacks and filtered vocals, to summon a cold, nocturnal atmosphere. It begins with a quiet clean guitar melody but soon becomes much darker and menacing, and as the song progresses more elements join in, until the climax reaches a peak when Ihsahn proudly screams "O' Nightspirit, I am at one with Thee! I am the Eternal Power! I am... THE EMPEROOOOOR!!" Right after this, synth horns announce the Emperor's arrival, soon joined by guitars and drums, and the song becomes a kind of triumphal march; Ihsahn sings the last verse, but instead of the last note, we are assaulted by a ferocious drum fill, and so begins the first "proper" song... "Ye Entrancemperium".
The first riff of the song is actually borrowed from an obscure Mayhem song (it's stated in the song's credits, don't worry), which to my knowledge was only featured on the live bootleg "Ha Elm Zalag"; Trym's drumming is insane from the beginning, and the guitars shred all that stands in their way. Soon, this introduction gives way to the song's first main riff, and the drumming gets EVEN FASTER; some sparse keyboard inserts complete the unearthly atmosphere, and the chaos begins. Ihsahn's harsh voice is rather different from early Emperor days: this time he is less shrill but much more clear and aggressive. Very soon, we get a chance to hear his improved clean voice too, although as I said they are kept pretty low in the mix: the "Empyrium" chantings during the faster sectins are almost completely buried, but his wonderful contribution in the slower break is luckily more audible. The song has lots of twists and turns, ranging from the total violence of the blasting parts to more mid-paced but still prety fast section; what amazes, however, is how Trym keeps complex and fast patterns all the way through the song. The guitars are also more layered than in the past, with tons of dual guitar harmonies to be found; there is also a wide usage of full chords rather than simple power chord patterns, and in order not to make the sound too chaotic these are played with a lower distortion (this is apparent in the slowest section of the song, where the less distorted guitar plays a very beautiful arpeggio, while the other provides additional melodic lines when Ihsahn isn't singing). Highilight... and we have only just begun.

"Thus Spake the Nightspirit" is relatively simpler rhythm-wise (although you can't really notice it thanks to Trym's constant variations) but even more intricate when it comes to the arrangements, with layers and layers of guitars and occasional keyboards submerging the listener with floodwaves of aggressive melody; Ihsahn's voice is a bit higher in the mix here and even more fierce-sounding. Some really catchy riffs are hidden in the maelstrom here, and can be made out after some listens; the most memorable part, however, is the slow and majestic grand finale, where Ihsahn's voice is sadly almost completely inaudible (check out "Emperial Live Ceremony" to hear it loud and clear, it will be easier for you to make it out here then) but on the other hand, you can hear Alver's bass. Yes, the sound on this album is pretty chaotic, but the bass manages to be audible.
"Ensorcelled by Khaos" is a title that describes pretty well by feelings for this album... jokes apart, this one opens with a series of very melodic and memorable riffs backed by majestic keyboards, only played at an absolutely frantic pace. There is, however, a long slow part in the middle of the song, introduced by a fantastic keyboard section which sustains it all the way to the next riff change. The speed goes up again towards the end, and the song finishes with the sound of guitar feedbacks which always conjuers to my mind the image of the band standing in awe after having performed the song, surrounded by the equipment they have just bown with their intensity.

"The Loss and Curse of Reverence" takes the album standards even higher in terms of complexity, as it can be best described as a feast of riffs and variations from the beginning to the very last chord... all of this, of course, without being fragmented or incoherent. The guitars unleash once more a deadly harmonic attack, while the keyboards provide a broad symphonic contributin; Ihsahn sounds closer to his older style on this one, which appears atrnge at first but soon is archived by the ears as a welcomed variation.
Next is "The Acclamation of Bonds", and in my humble opinion, it's a rather forgotten masterpiece we have here. This one opens with a great guitar intro, and then offers many of the album's most memorable riffs without sacrificing speed and power. The keyboards add a huge amount of atmosphere, as well as a hook for the ear to follow during the most chaotic sections, and the guitars sprt once more that semi-distorted trick in the mid-paced section in the middle of the song. Curiously, when the frantic rhythm comes in again, the riff the guitars play is the very same featured at the end of "In Longing Spirit" (one of the non-album tracks off the "Reverence" EP), only played obviously faster. The break where only the guitars and keyobards play the melody before the drums come back with their blasting is one of my favourite bits of the album... so atmospheric and enthralling.
And yet, none of the atmosphere shown here can foreshadow what's next...

Enter "With Strength I Burn", arguably the most immense, epic wonder Emperor have ever created during their career. It's foolish to think that words can describe this masterpiece, but I'll try to give you a hint of its greatness. First, I'll have to say that the lyrics of this song are nothing short of excellent, a tale of thirst for knoledge an inner strength which has to be mentioned since the music follows its mood quite closely.
The song begins with a very fast part, backed by unusual and beautiful chord progressions, then it becomes slower and more bombastic, with the guitars and keyboards singing enchanting melodies. This part is the main core of the song, and it's entirely sung with harmonized clean vocals, luckily kept higher than usual in the mix; the verse "I hate my flesh / Its dimension poisoned my soul with doubt / It made me questin / The essence of... the I!" gives me shivers (in the best possible meaning) every time. Then, a fantastic keyboard break occurs, and Ihsahn narrates a prose section; it might seem totally out of place the first time(s) but as this part ends with Ihsahn proclaiming "...and away they sailed!" and the plodding rhythm begins again, you realize that it fits with the rest perfectly, in every sense. The song then goes into a rather sorrowful and fast riff, and vocals revert to the harsh pattern; the break that follows is one of the fastest pieces of music on the album. "Hear my call!", screams Ihsahn during a split second pause, and the sad riff comes in again, providing the fading out instrumental bit that closes the song, enriched by many guitar melodies after the last verse. This album would be worth buying for this song alone, and I really mean it.

But it's not over yet, as Samoth was kind and inspired enough to offer us a short but absolutely marvellous outro called "The Wanderer", built upon a single entrancing riff to which the guitars and keyboards add new elements with every repetition. And with the image of the lonely wanderer carrying its way on through the desolate landscape, the album ends.

On the re-released version, though, there are three more songs to find. Two of them ("In Longing Spirit" and "Opus a Satana") were originally featured on the "Reverence" EP which was released as a teaser some months before this album and therefore fit rather well (they were also recorded during the same sessions, so the sound is basically the same). The third track is a live version of "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" recorded during the tour that followed the release of the album; frankly, this one sounds like it was taken from a bootleg and slapped on this release, because the sound is pretty poor, but it still manages to prove how Emperor are confident when playing such complex material in a live environment. It's a pity that a better live rendition of this song was never officially made available, so we'll have to stick to this one, with its overly buzzy guitars, pot-and-pan drums and overpowering loud vocals. Whatever...

At any rate, "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk" is probably the album which best represents Emperor's unique musical essence, and is very recommended for anyone willing to get into this band... as well as everyone else, of course. Emperial Hails!

From the first note to the ending chord, you know this is gonna be one hell of an album, and it is. Everything is great about this album. The drums are spectacular, courtesy of Trym, IMO one of the best drummers in all of metal. Ihsahn's vocals are top notch, even topping his performance on In the Nightside Eclipse, and his guitar work is brilliant. Samoth is once again awesome and Alver's bass is sadly inaudible. The keyboards are wonderful too, adding a great atmosphere.

The album opens with Alsvatr (The Oath), and it definately sets the mood for the rest of the album. It takes you to, IMO, a medeval forest, full of trolls, vikings, and just, well, odd things. It has an incredible atmosphere. The battle horns at the end, to me, signify the Emperor's arrival, and he has come to kick your ass! Through the course of the album, you can't help but feel as if you are right there in the middle of the battle, sword in hand and fear in your mind. The highlight for me is definately With Strength I Burn. It is one of the most epic songs Emperor has ever done. The middle passage is beautiful. They even made a video for The Loss And Curse Of Reverence, which is a great song too. The video is set in a forest, with medeval ruins where the band is playing. Awesome, just awesome.

To me, this is Emperor's second best album, only losing the #1 spot to In the Nightside Eclipse. If you are an Emperor fan and don't have this yet (which to me would be absurd), then get this ASAP!!!! Long live the Emperor!!!

Wow. This album blew my mind. After the release of the magnificent "In The Nightside Eclipse", the metal community was having high expectations for Emperor’s next masterpiece. I think it’s safe to say that they were satisfied. This album is so complex, so multi-layered, it’s just mesmerizing. The atmosphere on this disc is very dark and bleak. You’ll feel like you’re in the middle of Antarctica with a cold wind blowing. The production is fantastic as every instrument comes through clearly and sounding very powerful. On to the song highlights!

Track 2: "Ye Entrancemperium" - This song is pure fantastic chaos. Emperor’s trademark "wall of sound" comes in to full swing. It never lets up. It also has one of the fastest blastbeats I have ever heard.

Track 3: "Thus Spake the Nightspirit" - This song has a very epic feel to it, while remaining incredibly heavy. A very interesting riff also comes in and out of the song. Very haunting breakdown as well.

Track 5: "The Loss and Curse of Reverence" - I love everything about this song. Classic epic black metal the way it should be played. A symphonic composition lingers in the background.

Track 7: "With Strength I Burn" - Catching on to a pattern yet? Well, this is another winner. Almost every metal element lies in this song. It sounds very reminiscent of recent Borknagar. Awesome.

All the songs are fantastic, but these are the ones that stick out in my head as the best. Most black metal bands wish they could write music like this. Ihsahn was the man. It’s a shame they broke up. In conclusion, this is my favorite BM band and one of my favorite bands of all-time. If you are a fan of metal, (not necessarily black metal) and you have patience, you should grow to love them. One will not absorb all that this disc has to offer in one sitting. I’m still hearing new stuff! Do yourself a favor and give "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" a listen. I doubt you’ll regret it.

This album defines the genre of symphonic black metal. Well placed synth, adding a medieval atmosphere, intelligently composed guitar structures and impressive drumming. Emperor is my favorite band, and this is my favorite album from them. It is the perfect example of what black metal should be.

The opening track has a relaxing sound that places you in a Scandinavian forest filled with creatures of legend and myth. There is even a tastefully placed sound of an owl hooting in the intro to the song. After some whispered vocals, majestic keyboards announce the arrival of the Emperor, and the second track sets in. It is far more aggressive than the first track, and gives you an idea of what the rest of the album will be like.

The next tracks all contain those signature triumphant medieval keyboards and raging guitars. Ihsahn's screeching vocals carry you through hell and back, and Trym's complex drumming patterns will make your head spin. "Ensorcelled by Khaos" is an impressive track with beautifully written symphonic scores and guitar riffs. It also features some electronically altered vocals, which make it all the more enjoyable. The last few tracks are mostly instrumentals, with a symphony version of "Inno a Satana", renamed "Opus a Satana" at the end. This album truely deserves to be called a masterpiece.