Emperor Albums Ranked

Emperor is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1991, regarded as highly influential by critics and emerging black metal bands. The group split up in 2001, but reunited from 2005 to 2007 for a few festival dates and brief US tours, and again reunited in 2013 to 2014. Emperor reformed for the third time in 2016. The group was founded by Ihsahn (guitar/vocal) and Samoth (then, drums). In their youth, Ihsahn and Samoth met at a rock music seminar. The two young men began playing together under various names; first Dark Device, then Xerasia, then Embryonic. The group soon evolved into the now well-known band Thou Shalt Suffer. Soon, however, Samoth began to write music outside of Thou Shalt Suffer, and together with Ihsahn and a new bass player called Mortiis (later of his own eponymous band Mortiis), Emperor was formed. After a short while together, the band released a demo entitled Wrath of the Tyrant. Here are all of Emperor albums ranked.

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5. Wrath Of The Tyrant / Emperor (1998)

“A pretty good compilation! I like the Emperor EP more than the Wrath of the Tyrant demo because of the quality, so the first four songs are my favorite part of this compilation, but I understand the bad quality on the later tracks because it´s a demo so good quality can´t be expected… But still is still a quite interesting view to the history of Emperor.”

4. Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire & Demise (2001)

“This has really demented atmosphere, manic vocals by Ihsahn, chaotic structure and technical performance. I fell in love with this album the minute I heard it and I think this love is eternal. Masterpiece.”

3. IX Equilibrium (1999)

“IX Equilibrium is a good album that I find hard to recommend unless you are into old-school black metal. This symphonic black album is more than 20 years old and as a consequence of that it may be not a gentle entry point for anybody wanting to get into this style of music. The cold, stabbing, chaotic guitar riffs build a complex sound landscape that although evolving and very interesting, may make some listeners lost in detail. Definitively not an album to listen to in the background – some active listening is required to fully appreciate it.”

2. Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk (1997)

“A little bit of the raw brutality present in the debut is missing here. However, this is more than made up for by the band’s increased skill at incorporating synths into their sound. Here they most fully realize their vision of a truly epic, symphonic black metal – something many bands have tried to recreate but very few did anywhere near as successful as this. ‘With Strength I Burn’ could be the band’s finest song, and possibly the style’s finest song.”

1. In The Nightside Eclipse (1994)

“This album is better listened to in the dark at night with a fan or a slight breeze blowing on the back of your neck and the tops of your bare arms. In this condition, Towards the Pantheon will kill your heart, and in the process your brain, which will make you shit your pants, but you won’t care because you’re a sick bastard who listens to Emperor in the dark.”