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Emperor - Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk review



Reviewer:
9.6

1054 users:
8.89
Band: Emperor
Album: Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk
Release date: July 1997


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.

Guest review by
Maasai Mara
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 ››
published 26.03.2019 | Comments (46)


Comments

Comments: 23   Visited by: 404 users
07.02.2007 - 21:27
Rating: 10
Katatronik
Angel of Lust
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!
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"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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07.02.2007 - 21:37
Rating: 9
Sunioj

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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08.02.2007 - 19:17
Rating: 9
dark awakening

Thanx.
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Baptized in a lake of acid tears...
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17.06.2007 - 00:51
Rating: 10
Warman
Erotic Stains
Good review, truly the best Emperor album!
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17.06.2007 - 16:42
Baz Anderson

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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23.02.2008 - 00:56
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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23.02.2008 - 01:01
Lucas
Mr. Noise
Written by Baz Anderson on 17.06.2007 at 16:42

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


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.
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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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23.02.2008 - 15:38
Baz Anderson

Written by Lucas on 23.02.2008 at 01:01

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.

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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24.02.2008 - 18:55
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Baz Anderson on 23.02.2008 at 15:38

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


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.
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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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24.02.2008 - 22:21
logan
Account deleted
absolutely their best work... and some of the best work out there.
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28.03.2008 - 15:26
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
A fantastic album, lightly inferior than the perfect ''In The Nightside Eclipse'', but still on my list of favorites. 9.9/10
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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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26.06.2008 - 21:27
Rating: 10
Passenger
Lost To Apathy
Possibly the best Black Metal album ever made.
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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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05.08.2008 - 17:39
Baz Anderson

Written by Guest on 05.08.2008 at 17:25

I was thinking about getting this, but then someone mentioned "In The Nightside Eclipse" being better and I lost interest. Not that "ITNE" is terrible I just find it boring compared to Prometheus, which I think is brilliant.

Am I out of line? Will anyone hate me for not getting it?

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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05.08.2008 - 19:24
Raziel X

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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17.09.2008 - 19:56
deathovertime
Account deleted
I'd say this is one of the greatest black metal albums ever to be recorded and released, and wouldn't be surprised if it's a very influential one either. I don't think any other album by Emperor or by the majority of other black metal bands can top this, but good luck to them if they want to try though.
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09.04.2009 - 18:21
Rating: 8
Paradox0
Unasuming Madnes
I listened tot his maybe a year or two ago and thought "*blah* generic black metal garbage, these guys and The Dead Kennedys will ruin music listeners forever with their allure of real music conflict blah blah blah"
However a bit older, somewhat more enlightened and well.... you know, anyways, this album just exemplifies everything that is black metal. The atmosphere and ferocity, heck even the lyrics are just the epidemy of black metal. Wicked album.
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11.08.2009 - 04:56
Rating: 9
In_tallica

Amazing album.
'Nuff said.
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25.09.2009 - 12:32
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
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...
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My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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08.10.2009 - 00:05
Motionless

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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28.01.2011 - 09:16
Rating: 10
Assassiyoun

This album is a "must have" for everyone liking black metal. The atmosphere is cold and haunting, the sound is raw enough to feel the black metal essence but not too raw so all the instruments are "easily" aubible and I daresay that this album is very epic in a way (just listen to "With Strength I Burn").This is a cornerstone in black metal, especially symphonic black metal but it is definitely an acquired taste. Like alcohol you don't like it at first and even hate it but after a while the effect it has on you is so exhilarating that you want more...and more... until your ears are bleeding...or vomitting in a toilet.
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"Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehen, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein." - Friedrich Nietzsche
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27.09.2012 - 17:05
Rating: 9
Evil Chip

One of the best black metal albums ever.
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09.10.2013 - 04:01
LuCiFeRsHaL0

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.
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"I am the Eater of Worlds"
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16.10.2013 - 07:22
Lord_Regnier

Written by Lucas on 23.02.2008 at 01:01

Written by Baz Anderson on 17.06.2007 at 16:42

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


Ha! I am a big fan of Black Metal but I've never seen what's so great about Emperor.


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.
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"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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