Review by Marcelo Vieira on August 4, 2024.

Emperor were like something out of a comic book. Just ridiculously talented and so ahead of the curve in regard to vision that no one could keep up with them. The rapid creative evolution that took place between their debut, “In the Nightside Eclipse” and their sophomore “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” LP was enough to talk about but the music itself? Emperor are to black metal what Megadeth is to thrash metal… On a level of their own but with their best days long behind them. At least Megadeth still record albums. They suck but they try… I digress… 

With “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk”, you’ll experience the majesty of refinement, the suspense of anticipation and the glory of Heathen revelry as swirling, mad-scientist progressions converge with Borgir-heralding symphonic elements and hearty chants. A contrasting alternation between this souped-up sort of “look mom, no hands!”, amped atmosphere black metal and subtle but unmistakable, earthy Kampfar/Taake vibes. But it’s just the fucking overindulgence of Emperor’s music that has always rubbed me the wrong way. “Thus Spake the Night Spirit” - a glorious cut once the insanity stops for a minute - a rare and an even more brief moment or two of tranquility during the latter minutes before “Ensorcelled By Khaos” unfolds with gross levels of gaudiness and overwhelming atmospherics. So intense and overbearing that it actually becomes boring; warranting that “okay dude” kind of response to someone who is showing off… A finely produced, jaw-dropping, world-dominating black metal album! Just devoid of most of what makes for the true black metal experience, more like the soundtrack to some kind of black metal circus… Give it a rest guys… Save some for the next album… 

Emperor are rightfully admired for their talents and undeniable early scene contributions, but it would also be accurate to say that they’re also about as valuable to black metal right now as King ov Hell. Emperor play exclusively old material live shows and King just posts old photos of himself onto his Facebook page all day. Hardly viable entities as they stand today. And “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk”? A black metal album with about as much heart & soul as a rock but stupid talented and not without a few memorable parts. Overrated! Masturbation… Just shallow and cosmetic through and through. Could also benefit from having about 15 minutes worth of runtime shaved off. 

At what point do you just turn this thing off? Usually about halfway for me. As many times as I’ve tried to appreciate this album, I just can’t get past the excessive nature of it. What were they trying to prove? That they had lost whatever connection to the true essence of black metal that they may have previously possessed? Or that they were just better musicians than everyone? Distasteful music and downright unbecoming of black metal’s true nature. The rest of the discography aside from their debut is nothing to write home about either. Just one truly great, one truly influential and one undeniably important album to their catalogue. Uber-talented, an institution! Just grossly overrated and questionably overly-admired. Grab that live concert cash! Bring nothing redeemable to the table… A new album? It would only be another abomination of trying way too hard… “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” - a legendary album for reasons beyond my understanding…

Rating: 5.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on October 3, 2023.

Plebeians, beware, the Emperor has returned. Three years after the overwhelming debut, Ihsahn and Samoth were still bursting with energy. Their first portion of extra class black metal had already shown their superiority and their exceptional status. Burzum, Immortal, even Mayhem – doubtlessly great names, but not equipped with the talent to write completely unique and very sophisticated music. All of them had a tendency to some primitive outbursts. This was absolutely okay and totally exciting, but Emperor delivered another aroma and it was a very fresh and seductive one. Of course, the bar was set extremely high for “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” and the main protagonists felt too much creativity in themselves to present “only” part two of “In the Nightside Eclipse”. Thank God, they did not yet think in erratic ways. There is a pretty close connection between album one and two, although “Anthems…” went a huge step further. Despite all its majestic glory, the debut had still a down-to-earth approach. Emperor had been a firm part of the Norwegian black metal movement and “In the Nightside Eclipse” was a contribution to define its frame, but it did not hurt the guidelines. With their full-length from 1997, the borders began to blur.

The album begins atmospherically and the fanfares at the end of “Alsvartr (The Oath)” are the perfect link to kick off “Ye Entrancempirium”. By the way, great fanfares also herald the beginning of “Thus Spake the Nightspirit”. But let’s get back to “Alsvartr (The Oath)”. It starts softly, but dark and gloomy elements come creeping in and the feeling of discomfort arises. In simple terms, it is a perfect introduction for a black metal work, although its melodies (and not vehemence, brutality or something like that) play the main role. Emperor do not shy away from clean vocals, neither here nor during the later tracks and this is another indication for the variety of their approach. “Ye Entrancempirium” marks a contrast due to its explosive, wild beginning. Permanent double bass is combined with sharp, somewhat dissonant guitars and the vocals commute between raw and clean. But even this very harsh demonstration of power does not neglect melodic elements, just listen to the part with the clean, heroic vocals during the second half of the song. Emperor have piled up a lot of layers and the adventurous configuration of “Ye Entrancempirium” does not remain an isolated case. Quite the opposite, it is the most characteristic trait of “Anthems…”.

At the latest the aforementioned “Thus Spake the Nightspirit” leaves no doubt: this album is a bigger challenge for the listener than the debut was. Just like “Ye Entrancempirium”, the song spits fire, but it also holds a very progressive instrumental part as well which borders on a cacophonous orgy in view of some strange guitar tones. But brutality gains the upper hand and helps the band to stay on track. It’s almost paradox, but the brute base of the songs did not work as a restriction for the undisputable talent of the Norwegians. Instead, it gave them orientation and rolled out the carpet where Ihsahn and Samoth could wallow in twists and turns, experiments and decorations. They did it very cleverly. Maybe sometimes they added one layer too many or a symphonic keyboard section which would not have been necessary. But even a song like “The Loss and Curse of Reverence” that I would not call a highlight, has still a lot to say – regardless of its more or less aimlessly meandering instrumental part.

“Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” does not only deliver a million sonic, sometimes almost confusing impressions, a fantastic artwork and intelligent, genre-compatible, but not violence-glorifying lyrics. One of its main advantages is that it is still a pure black metal album although it offers much more than a good typical work of this style. The full-length does not lack aggression or nastiness, passion or spirituality. Moreover, all songs clearly show the signature of its authors. There is only a minor detail I do not appreciate wholeheartedly. From my point of view, the production has a very little noisy touch. It goes without saying that Emperor did not intend to release a low-fi album, but perhaps the material is a bit overproduced (fortunately without sounding sterile). Anyway, understand this just as my remark for those of you who have the hobby to find a fly in the ointment. I prefer to enjoy “With Strength I Burn” with its thousand different moods, melodies and segments. Hovering keyboards, drilling guitars and insane drums shape a monumental orgy of unbridled desire. Emperor were really close to perform the perfect and ultimate black metal track – too bad that “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” already existed. However, the quartet from Notodden released two extremely exciting albums that will probably never lose their fascination and this is the crucial thing. I have read an interview with a guy from Tsjuder in a mag called Metalegion and I absolutely agree to what he said. “The most interesting music is not necessarily the music that you like a lot when you listen to it for the first time. It’s the music you can listen to again and again.” True! But the cherry on the cake is that “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” was mind-blowing, spectacular and radical in its own way right from the beginning and it is still fantastic. Only the wonderful, melancholic-melodic outro comes much too soon.

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

Review by Luka on May 31, 2001.

Mighty black metal warriors from Telemark, Norway make their second full-length an absolute masterpiece, an album that reached a "wider audience" in the metal world and is hailed as a sure black metal classic, if not the best black metal album ever.

So what makes it so great, anyway? At first, the unwary listener might be repelled after being bombarded by the drum blasts and the constant ‘wall of sound’ type recording. Listening to this too loud on earphones -will- result in pain, trust me... Plus the music is so distorted and complicated that at first it’s impossible to figure any of it out, and don’t even attempt to decipher the words being sung, they’re so buried under the distortion that you can barely hear there’s singing at all.
But listen carefully, dig deep into the fast, furious riffs, make sense of the distorted guitar riffs and you’ll find a whole realm of godly music. You discover so much complexity and diversity within the songs when you focus on the things going on behind the main sounds. The evolving, dark melodies, the majestic synths and Ihsahn’s hissing vocals that, when all combined together, sound like a furious hailstorm.

Anthems is an album that immerses unbelievable complexity and creativity within black metal, but stays true to the genre with the purely distorted and furious black metal production. The result is a musical masterpiece that has yet to be matched. The entire album is simply amazing, tracks 2, 3, 4, and 7 are even better! Takes time to get into but once you’re in you won’t leave!

Bottom Line: Surely one of the greatest black metal releases ever!

Rating: 9.5 out of 10