I know I probably asked this before, but how good are any of these
Emperor CD's. Because CM is having a clearance sale, and they're like
$5 each. I may be making an order in a few weeks..(mainly to get the
N-more remaster)

Wrath Of The Tyrant
In The Nightside Eclipse
Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk
IX Equilibrium

ian salsbury

Wrath of the Tyrant is demos and an old mini CD the band recorded very early
in their career. Some of the songs are re-recorded on the debut ItNE. It`s
one for completists really. I have it but have only played it a couple of
times, pretty rough sounding.
ItNE is arguably the greatest black metal album ever recorded, very
atmospheric, blindingly fast in places, subtle uses of keyboards, not overly
produced (vocals are quite low ) - as great as it is I`m not sure how much
it would appeal to you. Then again for $5 it would seem criminal to pass it
by.
AttWAD is another classic, again I would say it`s easily among the genre`s
greatest. Similar in style.
IXE was the start of the downfall of the band for me, tried changing things
around slightly, bringing in more death metal elements. It`s still a decent
album ( as is their last and final recording Prometheus ) but very much
lacking in what made the first 2 so fantastic.
For the price I`d urge you to give ItNE and AttWAD a go. They could take a
few listens if your`re not used to the style but they`re very much worth the
effort. The 3rd album might be more instant straight off but isn`t essential
in the long run.
For the record, essential BM albums are

the above mentioned Emperor ones
Blood Fire Death and Under the Sign of the Black Mark - Bathory
Under a Funeral Moon and Transilvanian Hunger - Darkthrone
The Somberlain and Storm of the Light`s Bane - Dissection
Blodhemn and Eld - Enslaved - later albums are great also but less "true" BM
sounding
At the Heart of Winter - Immortal - many would list the early albums also
but this one blows them away IMO
Nemesis Divinia - Satyricon - Mother North is the greatest BM track ever,
again IMO
De Mysterious Sathanus - Mayhem - many would cite this as the genre`s
greatest - whilst I like it I`m slightly more reserved in my praise
probably should mention Burzum but I`m not a fan personally.
Also, for a lesson in intensity - Panzer Division Marduk by Marduk, the BM
equivalent to RiB, quite exhausting to listen to, never lets up, 30 mins of
sheer blast beat madness!

BM is an acquired taste and you have to get past some poor production (
particularly on the Darkthrone albums ) but there`s some great stuff to be
found amongst this lot. Nowadays there are loads of bands playing that old
style still that I just find boring now, it`s been done now as far as I`m
concerned.

I've put these on a list to remind me when and if I do the order to
add them in, if the total cost of all the other stuff I order isn't too high.

This may be something that puts me off of some black metal. I've
heard a few Emperor songs. So I know their production isn't horrible.
But I have also heard some other black metal songs that sounded pretty shitty.

I guess that old style comment could also apply to thrash and death.
Many bands are sort of just clicking away at it about the same way
they did 10 or 15 years ago.
It would be nice to hear some new stuff that is refreshing and
somewhat original. But it's so hard to do something with muted
e-string guitar riffs, blast beats and growled vocals that's not
already been done, and in many cases done better.

Tom

to mega therion

I'm listening to Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk this morning - it's
definitely an amazing album. I'm not into too much black metal either
(for the same reasons - production isn't everything, but you need to
have at least a little) but this one is a classic.

Thanks for the second vote of confidence.

Tom

ian salsbury

At such a cheap price at least one of them is worth a go.


Emperor`s albums are produced OK, although as I said, some may find the
vocals mixed too low. The first 2 albums really are incredibly good though,
they deserve to be listened to at least. The production on the Darkthrone
albums is quite off putting, although there are those that will tell you it
gives the albums an added feel that`s part and parcel of what BM is supposed to be.

It`s not often something really different sounding comes along now. I have
really fallen for this folksy black metal stuff, try the likes of Finntroll,
Moonsorrow, Ensiferum, Turisas, Manegarm, Mithotyn, Thyrfing, Korpiklaani,
Falkenbach...bands that are f****ng ahead with as close to a new style as
I`ve heard in recent years.

ian salsbury

Indeed, although I still think In the Nightside is better. Groundbreaking
stuff.

I'd probably buy both the two you recommended.

The songs by Emperor I heard the vocals seemed mixed well enough.


I've hardly even heard of these bands you list. Only Finntroll and
Moonsorrow because you've mentioned them so many times. The other
ones, though, aside from Falkenbach, I doubt I've even heard of them,
let alone actually heard some of their music.

Tom

ian salsbury

All I can say is keep an eye out, I think this stuff is really good. Most of
what I`ve listed there is this up-tempo thrashy folk black metal, I can`t
get enough of it just at the moment. Ensiferum are sort of a cross between
every style of metal going all mixed up in a folky style, I love them!
Moonsorrow play a similar style to Finntroll but much more epic, lots of 10
min+ songs, slower and groovier. Turisas are a sort of Bal-Sagoth style
happy melodic swords in the air type black metal band ( if that makes any
sense at all! ), Thyrfing another Finntroll type affair but slower and less
OTT. Korpiklaani I`ve only just discovered, sort of thrashed up Irish music
and Falkenbach are a moody, slow keyboard heavy oddball band. Manegarm more
of the same, as are Mithotyn who sadly split up to form a power metal band
called Falconer.

Personally, I think it's an odd mix, however, I've sort of gone
overboard on the opera vocals over metal music bands of late, so who's
to say what is an odd mix. Tom