Emperor: In the Nightside Eclipse (1994)
I'm not one to collect picture discs, but when I found this eye-catching, limited-edition 2019 reissue of Emperor's seminal first long-player, In the Nightside Eclipse, for a relative bargain, I wasn't about to get fussy.
But I do find it remarkable that this symphonic black metal (heck, symphonic "any metal") watershed turns 30-years-old this month and that its music has endured, even transcended, some of the unfortunate crimes perpetrated by three of its four performers.
I'm talking about the shocking arrests and subsequent jail sentences served by rhythm guitarist Samoth, bassist Tchort -- both of whom spent 16 months behind bars for burning historical churches -- and drummer Faust, who did 14 long years for murder!
Luckily for music lovers, if not their victims, In the Nightside Eclipse had already been recorded in July of 1993 -- not long after the release of Emperor's influential self-titled EP, and obviously before justice caught up with the musicians.
So the tapes just had to wait until the start of '94 for final mixing by Emperor's creative driving force: chief songwriter, vocalist, lead guitarist, and keyboard player, Ihsahn, who was thankfully smart enough to keep his nose clean.
Mind you, this precocious, satanic little Mozart was barely 17 when he wrote all this!
Remember that as you spin, or re-spin, astounding creations like "The Burning Shadows of Silence," "The Majesty of the Night Sky," and the epic "Into the Infinity of Thoughts," all of them so intricate in their construction, so difficult to play, and that's besides the added layers of synthesized symphonics and demonic choirs so expertly arranged to complement all that metallic mayhem.
At the same time, Emperor's favored lyric obsessions -- pre-Christian Viking history and pagan rituals, vampires and Transylvania (note the Trascău Fortress pictured above), basically anything freaky and occult -- are evocatively addressed on tracks like "Beyond the Great Vast Forest" and "Inno a Satana."
There's even a nod to Tolkien via the ornately gothic cover art designed by Kristian WÃ¥hlin (a.k.a. Necrolord, of Sweden's Grotesque, and the artist behind other famous LPs by Dissection and At the Gates), depicting an army of orcs on a midnight march to the fortress of Minas Morgul.
Look it up ... I believe there are several cozy AirBNB's in the vicinity.
But seriously, look closely and you'll also see a miniature of Gustave Doré's Death on the Pale Horse, which graced Emperor's aforementioned self-titled EP, and reflects the fact that two of its stone-cold classics -- "Cosmic Keys to My Creations & Times" and "I Am The Black Wizards" -- were re-recorded for In the Nightside Eclipse.
What else can I say about this essential heavy metal album other than it epitomizes the genre's fundamental search for bridging the horrifying and the sublime, the perverse and the divine, the grandiose and the grotesque, and all dichotomies under the sun.
... and under the night-side eclipse.
p.s. -- In 1999 the album was remastered and reissued with two bonus tracks: Bathory's "A Fine Day to Die," and Mercyful Fate's "Gypsy," which shed light on early influences, also including Venom, Hellhammer, and Celtic Frost.
More Emperor: Emperor EP, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk.
