Emperor is a Norwegian

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band formed in 1991 by guitarist and vocalist

Ihsahn Vegard Sverre Tveitan (born 10 October 1975), better known by his stage name Ihsahn ( ), is a Norwegian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer who is best known for his work with the black metal band Emperor (Norwegian band ...

and guitarist Samoth. 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. Emperor is regarded as highly influential by music critics and by emerging black metal bands.

History

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''. It quickly gained popularity in the underground and attracted the attention of the then-start-up label Candlelight. Soon afterwards, a record contract was signed, Samoth moved to rhythm guitar, Ihsahn continued the vocal duties and lead guitars, and

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

was recruited as a drummer. Emperor released their debut EP,

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

, under Candlelight Records. The band then was signed to the infamous first black metal label, Deathlike Silence Productions, and planned to release their next album soon, though the band never managed to release any material while signed to DSP. In the summer of 1992, a series of events were set in motion by the black metal inner circle. Samoth, along with various other black metallers, set out to burn down old churches in Norway. Also in 1992, Faust lived in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

, and in the newly constructed Olympic park a man named Magne Andreassen approached him and suggested that they take a walk in the nearby forest. Faust agreed, and, once in the forest, Faust claimed the man began to make strong sexual advances towards him. Faust then stabbed the man to death, kicking him in the head afterward to ensure that he was dead. He was not convicted until two years later. The day after Faust committed the murder, he went with

Euronymous Øystein Aarseth (22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the No ...

of Mayhem and

Varg Vikernes Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian musician and author best known for his early black metal albums and later for his crimes. His first five records, released under the name Bu ...

Burzum Burzum (; ) is a Norwegian music project founded by former Mayhem member Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a staple of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most infl ...

to burn the

Holmenkollen Chapel Holmenkollen Chapel (''Holmenkollen kapell'') is located in the neighborhood of Holmenkollen in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. The original chapel from 1903 was destroyed by arson in 1992. The new chapel was completed in 1996. Holmenk ...

in Oslo. In the summer of 1993, the band began working on their first full-length album. Emperor ceased wearing

corpse paint Corpse paint is a style of body painting, used mainly by black metal bands for concerts and band photos. The body painting is used to make the musicians appear inhuman, corpse-like, or demonic, and is perhaps "the most identifiable aspect of the ...

; they stated that it was becoming a trend and losing its original significance and symbolism. In autumn of that year, the police began to investigate the murder of

of Mayhem, naming

as a suspect; this investigation eventually led to the incarceration of Samoth for arson, and of Faust for the murder of Magne Andreassen. In 1994, Samoth was sentenced to 16 months in prison for burning the Skjold Church in Vindafjord, together with Varg Vikernes. The arson was committed during a pause in the recording of the

EP '' Aske'' ('Ashes'). In 1994, '' In the Nightside Eclipse'' was released, and earned Emperor widespread acclaim and a large fanbase. After Samoth's parole, the band was joined by Trym and Alver on drums and bass respectively, and at the end of 1996, Emperor entered the studio to record '' Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk''. ''Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk'' won the 'album of the year' poll in many metal magazines around the world, including UK '' Terrorizer'' and US ''Metal Maniacs''. Bassist Alver soon left. Aside from their European shows, the band played in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

on 24 July 1999. Now continuing their career as a trio, with Ihsahn handling keyboards, vocals, guitars and bass, the band recorded their third album ''

IX Equilibrium ''IX Equilibrium'' is the third studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Emperor, released on 15 March 1999 in Europe, and on 27 April 1999 in the US, through Candlelight Records. Reception Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic describes the album ...

'' and toured

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and North America. It was around 2000 when Samoth and Trym started to gravitate more towards

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

, while Ihsahn directed his musical exploration towards his side project, Peccatum. Thus, in 2001, Emperor decided to disband after releasing one final album, '' Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise'', composed entirely by Ihsahn. Ihsahn later recalled that "When we announced the split up in 2001, we didn't think we would do anything more with Emperor ever again...The decision was also based on the feeling that Emperor had a lot of integrity, and that if we were going to end it, we should end it while we still created great music. For us, the decision was made in the black metal spirit. Since Samoth and I pulled in different directions, we didn't see any point in continuing. The core of the band wasn't intact anymore". Samoth echoed Ihsahn's position: "At that point, we both had other priorities that we wanted to pursue and we both felt that splitting up Emperor was the best thing to do. We really wanted to focus on other things, and felt it was the only right thing to do".

Hiatus and occasional live performances

Following the breakup, Samoth and Trym continued playing in the black/death metal outfit Zyklon, while Ihsahn concentrated on his family project Peccatum. Later

announced a solo project, much in the vein of '' Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise'' and Peccatum, featuring drummer Asgeir Mickelson of Borknagar and Vintersorg. It has generated positive feedback in the

community. The band played a surprise three-song show in Oslo on 30 September 2005, at which they announced a series of full concerts to take place in California, New York City, and Europe in 2006. As of February 2006, they were also scheduled to play at the

Inferno festival Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival that takes place every year during Easter in Oslo, Norway. The festival was founded by Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland in cooperation with Radar Booking in 2001 and takes place at R ...

in April and Germany's

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...

in August. Samoth was unable to take part in the US tour dates, as his conviction for the arson he committed in 1992 lengthened the process for his visa application, so Emperor performed without him. On 7 October 2006, Emperor performed at the under-18 Motstøy-festival in their home town of Notodden. The band had wanted to do an under-18 gig and a gig at their home town, so the festival fit perfectly. It was held at a small venue called StuA, and with only 450 tickets available, the concert quickly sold out. On 28 October 2006, Emperor returned to the UK to play a gig at London's Astoria venue, where the band was warmly greeted by fans. In 2007, Emperor played a series of one-off shows in the United States and two festival gigs in France and Finland. A

tablature Tablature (or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering or the location of the played notes rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuel ...

book based on their '' Scattered Ashes: A Decade of Emperial Wrath''

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, containing thirteen Emperor tracks from their back catalogue, transcribed by Ihsahn with a

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...

also by him, was released 31 October 2007 via

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in London, founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bass guitarist Lee Barrett in 1993. The record label originally specialized in black metal, but quickly expanded to various other forms of hea ...

. Emperor's albums were also re-issued in a special box version with a bonus poster on 21 August 2007. Samoth announced on 23 October 2007 that Emperor had begun preparing a second official DVD release. On 8 December 2008 it was revealed that this release will be called ''Live Inferno'' and come in the form of a double-disc live album and a live DVD, taken from their appearances at Inferno and Wacken metal festivals during their brief reunion. It was released on 16 April 2009 in Europe and 21 April in North America. On 2 August 2013, it was announced that Emperor would be reuniting to headline the 25th anniversary Wacken Festival in 2014. In the following months, they were announced as headliners for the 2014 editions of the

Bloodstock Open Air Bloodstock Open Air is a British heavy metal festival held annually at Catton Hall in Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, since 2005. Originally held indoors for one day with two stages, the festival started in 2001 at the Derby Assembly Rooms and ...

and

Hellfest Hellfest (), also known as Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...

festivals. In April 2014, they announced shows in Tokyo and Osaka for July with Trym playing drums due to Faust's visa issues. On 12 August 2016, it was announced that Emperor would reunite again in 2017 for a special set of performances to celebrate their 20th anniversary second studio album '' Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk''. On 27 December 2018, the band announced its presentation at the Mexico Metal Fest in Monterrey, Mexico in 2019. Despite playing a handful of reunion shows, Ihsahn has stated that Emperor has no plans to record a new album. He was quoted as saying: "It's kind of a lose-lose thing. The whole point of black metal, people want something that is real and has integrity of what it is. At this point, none of us can see any reason to do that beyond what we already do."

Controversy

In 1995, Ihsahn promoted

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

in an interview: " Skjold Church was a large wooden church about 100 years old. The church contained an altar board and preaching chair from the 16th century. All this was said to be of historical, Christian value. So it was to be reduced to a pile of ashes. The material damages are set to be of 13 million Norwegian Kroners. The church was still being used by a large flock of blind followers. It became a victim for true Norwegian spirit on the 13th of September Anno 1992 during a stormy night. Witnessed by the moon, this symbolic act of anti-Christian war enlightened the night with

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

flames. Heathen barbarism is on the rise. We will bring back the forgotten past of strength, pride, and victory." In 2014, Emperor attracted further controversy when the original drummer, Faust, joined them for live performances. Faust is a convicted murderer and caused some upset by being part of the shows.

Band members

02-08-2014-Emperor at Wacken Open Air 2014-JonasR 09

Current lineup

– vocals, guitars, keyboards * Samoth – guitars , drums * Trym Torson – drums

Former members

* Håvard "Mortiis" Ellefsen – bass * Bård "Faust" Eithun – drums * Terje "Tchort" Schei – bass * Jonas "Alver" Alver – bass

Live members

;Current *Tony "Secthdamon" Ingebrigtsen – bass, backing vocals *

Jørgen Munkeby Jørgen Munkeby (born 3 September 1980 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegians, Norwegian jazz rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, known as the frontman in the band Shining (Norwegian band), Shining ...

– keyboards, backing vocals ;Former * Vidar "Ildjarn" Våer – bass * Steinar "Sverd" Johnsen – keyboards * Joachim "Charmand Grimloch" Rygg – keyboards * Jan Erik "Tyr" Torgersen – bass * Einar Solberg – keyboards, backing vocals * Gerlioz – keyboards *Ole Vistnes – bass

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums * '' In the Nightside Eclipse'' (1994) * '' Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk'' (1997) * ''

'' (1999) * '' Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise'' (2001)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emperor Norwegian black metal musical groups Norwegian symphonic black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in Norway Musical groups disestablished in 2001 2001 disestablishments in Norway Musical groups reestablished in 2016 Norwegian musical trios Century Media Records artists Musical groups from Notodden Candlelight Records artists