in 1994 EMPEROR made a huge leap forward with the second release “In the Nightside Eclipse”. This was my first exposure to Emporer when it came out and I was still a teenager but it blew my head off. This was a dense wall of sound like nothing else that preceded it. While the first album had given the band a name around the scene this is the album that pushed them into mainstream conciousness.
From the moment you put this on you know you are listening to something special here. “Into the Infinity of Thoughts” hits hard, the keyboards are quite dominant and this is the first time I’ve really heard such dominant keys in anything except Cradle of Filth (But I can’t remember back clearly enough to know which band I heard first) . Emperor really succeeded in creating and etherial other worldly sound. The production was much clearer than their last release which really allows the talent of this band to shine through.
The majesty of this record continues song after song with “The Burning Shadows of Silence” continuing the creation of their otherworldly soundscape. The drumming on this album is also quite phenomenal. Drummer Bard Eithun (Faust as he was known) was definitely in the upper ranks of the black metal drummers at the time, with only really Immortal as their peers.
This is an eerie assault on the senses with the band unrelently blasting through 45 minutes of black metal mayhem. Ishan’s guitar work is great and his vocals have an eerie death like quality to them. The keyboards, are rather simple and really just follow the root notes of the guitar lines but really adds a unique flavour to what the band are doing. If any band was going to bring the second wave of black metal out from the underground it was this band. They were probably the first to really have what I’d call a reasonably accessible sound. Meaning you didn’t have to be a die hard Black Metal fan to appreciate this. Bringin out a symphonic edge that they’d used on the previous album but this time used it to full effect.
My favourite songs on this would have to “The Majesty of the Night Sky”, “I am the Black Wizards” and of course the last track “Inno A Satana” it just seems to combine everything Emperor were doing at the time perfectly. A great album to listen to in the dark and let your mind wander in the darkness.
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