Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk review
| Band: | Emperor |
| Album: | Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk |
| Style: | Symphonic black metal |
| Release date: | July 08, 1997 |
| Guest review by: | dark awakening |
01. Alsvartr (The Oath)
02. Ye Entrancemperium
03. Thus Spake The Nightspirit
04. Ensorcelled By Khaos
05. The Loss And Curse Of Reverence
06. The Acclamation Of Bonds
07. With Strength I Burn
08. The Wanderer
09. In Longing Spirit [reissue bonus]
10. Opus A Satana [reissue bonus]
11. The Loss And Curse Of Reverence [live] [reissue bonus]
I started listening to Emperor with the last work of the band: Prometheus. Yes, that album was good, but there were too much "addings" that shouldn't be found in a Black Metal album in general. I appreciate the progressive elements though in some parts of the disc. Hearing this I was a little sceptic about the other Emperor works, but at the same time curious.
When I bought "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk" and put it into the player my heart stopped beating. A great intro based on a duet of electric guitars (Ihsahn's one with a kind of jazz sound); then the keyboards start leading the listener with medieval horns in the hall of the Emperor. Unbelievable speed, catchy riffs, high level of technique, strong symphonic influence; that's the material with which Ihsahn & co. created one of the mightiest albums ever. We can hear all the rage and the strength of the band since the first notes; when the song "Ye, Entrancemperium" destroys everything with its incredible speed and blows away the listener's mind. Each song is a poem because of the lyrics and a work of art because of the music. Another great thing in this album is that Ihsahn screams like we've never heard before and he also has a great clean voice. We can hear this on songs like "Thus Spake The Nightspirit" at the end, and in the mighty "With Strength I Burn"; for me the best of the album. This is a crescendo of symphonic elements that Ihsahn cuts with his razor-guitar and divides with two solos.
What else should I say? Nothing except; buy it! This is a great album; everyone should have it.
Best songs: Ensorcelled By Khaos, The Loss And Curse Of Reverence, With Strength I Burn
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by dark awakening | 07.02.2007
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
2.0
2.0
|
Rating: 2.0 |
In our lives, sometimes we are unlucky enough to meet bastards who make us feel that, for certain, hell must be real and such characters are subject to eternal damnation. Think of all liars, charlatans and philanderers that you have met, who swindled money out of you, stole shit from you or subjected you to all sorts of lies and betrayal. Now, with the feeling of rage bringing your blood to the boil, think that there can be a bunch of worse people and there, my friend, you meet Emperor and their sophomore album. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 24
Visited by: 411 users
| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018  |
What a wonderful album!  My favourite Emperor album and one of the best black metal albums ever IMO!  Everything here is great, even the production (I prefer Anthems to Nightside only for this...), great review man! 
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894  |
Sweetness, good reviews showing up everytime Im back in MS...the intro just kicks so much ass and is so beautiful at the same time. Then Emperor bursts into my favorite song, ye entranceperium. Great. EDIT: I've grown incredibly bored of this album, its overrated and not nearly as well produced as the other albums IMO.
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| dark awakening Posts: 574  |
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| Warman Erotic Stains Posts: 7695  |
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254  |
yes, bit of a short review but anyone that knows anything abut black metal will know that this is an essential album to get and one of the greatest albums of all time
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| erctus-seth Account deleted |
erctus-seth
Account deleted
i can't find the words to describe this perfection! Definitely 10! ... THE LOSS AND CURSE OF REVERENCE! kneel and praise!  
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427  |
Written by Baz Anderson on 17.06.2007 at 16:42 Ha! I am a big fan of Black Metal but I've never seen what's so great about Emperor. Or about Symphonic Black Metal in general, besides some exceptions they bore the shit out of me. But then again, that's most probably an opinion not many people share with me.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?  "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Written by Lucas on 23.02.2008 at 01:01 well, not that I am an expert with black metal at all - but you like the slower, more depressing, ambient stuff don't you? Emperor are more bombastic than that - that's probably why they have never meant anything significant to you I actually listened to this album a few days ago - first time a long long time and I loved it all over again. it just reminded me of standing in a wet field in France shouting along to pretty much everything. hahaha and seeing them in London too.. if you saw them live I think you would appreciate them much more - I know Marcel was very impressed after the Hellfest show last year
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Baz Anderson on 23.02.2008 at 15:38 I already loved them before seeing them for my first time at Hellfest. I have always loved ALL of Emperor's stuff. They are probably the only Symphonicish Black Metal band I truly like.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| logan Account deleted |
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
A fantastic album, lightly inferior than the perfect ''In The Nightside Eclipse'', but still on my list of favorites. 9.9/10
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| Passenger Lost To Apathy Posts: 1464  |
Possibly the best Black Metal album ever made.
---- You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it ~ Mean Streets
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Written by [user id=23805] on 05.08.2008 at 17:25 Yes. Ok, so this is someone else, me, mentioning that this album is much better than "In The Nightside Eclipse". Both albums are quite different, this one is clearer and a step grander and generally better in all ways, apart from it doesn't quite sound as "cold". But that isn't important anyway. Get this album, it is one of the best albums ever released.
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| Raziel X Posts: 117  |
Hmm, it is good, it is brutal, but honestly... it cannot match Bal-Sagoth's Starfire burning upon the ice-veiled throne of Ultima Thule.
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| deathovertime Account deleted |
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| Paradox0 Unasuming Madnes Posts: 592 |
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| In_tallica Posts: 151  |
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669  |
I am hearing only positive comments about this release but i personally dont like it...at least so far, maybe after some time and more listenings...
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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| Motionless Posts: 17  |
The first black metal album I heard just when it came out. It is still my favorite black metal album. I remember so many moments of my life accompanied by this album for the last dozen years....
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| Assassiyoun Posts: 45 |
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| Evil Chip Posts: 505  |
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| LuCiFeRsHaL0 Posts: 3  |
I remember browsing through the different categories of metal in the Camleot music store in a dump of a mall years ago and spotted this. The artwork was so intriguing so I purchased it and some other shit as well. I was totally blown away listening to it on the way home and couldn't believe I had found such amazing music! Definitely one of my all time favorite albums. It's a masterpiece.
---- "I am the Eater of Worlds"
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| Lord_Regnier Posts: 1469  |
Written by Lucas on 23.02.2008 at 01:01 I'm in the same boat. A big Black Metal fan, yet I can't listen to anything by Emperor. I hate how "thin" it sounds in general and I hate vocals.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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| 𖤐br0kenskullz𖤐 Posts: 23  |
I love this album with a passion and my soul, one of my favorites for sure. "With Strength I Burn" never fails to give me goosebumps and leave my jaw hanging, this album was not a let down. long live the emperor 
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