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Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk tour


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Emperor is back together again to play Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk live at select tour dates...as a Canadian that missed out on the last reunion when they played In the Nightside Eclipse in its entirety, I'm once again mortified I won't have a chance to catch this amazing show..any other Emperor fans around and did you get to see them live at any point? Guess I'll have to setup a mock concert in my basement again and to the surprise of my stuffed animal crowd, jump on "stage" and preform the solo of With Strength I Burn alongside of my childhood hero's.

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I saw them live once in a club. It was either the tour for Anthems or IX Equilibrium (which I usually cal IX Fecalibrium because it was the beginning of the end for them) can't remember which. It was an awesome show. I'll definitely try to see them on this tour if they play near me. Wish I had seen the Eclipse tour as that's my favorite album by then.

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It's a moot point from an Australian perspective as they won't be coming here. I'm with Parker on this, I love the original mini-LP, 'Nightside' and 'Anthems' and am much less interested in 'Nein, Unequilibrium'. 'Prometheus' was an improvement. 

Anyway, I'd love to see them live as I never have before, but the point remains moot. Moot. 

These reunion/album shows are nice little earners for the classic bands these days! 

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Yeah they are, I remember when they did their first reunion tour and the cheapest tickets were more than $60 USD... before they got bought instantly and resold higher. No thanks. At least a Rammstein show has pyro for that kind of money.

IX Equilibrium is my favorite Emperor album, insofar as any of them could be a "favorite". I can't deny the energy of Nightside Eclipse, but I pretty much never listen to it anymore, and Anthems didn't do much for me no matter how much I tried to like it. I guess overall they're a band that I respect far more than I enjoy.

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3 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Yeah they are, I remember when they did their first reunion tour and the cheapest tickets were more than $60 USD... before they got bought instantly and resold higher. No thanks. At least a Rammstein show has pyro for that kind of money.

IX Equilibrium is my favorite Emperor album, insofar as any of them could be a "favorite". I can't deny the energy of Nightside Eclipse, but I pretty much never listen to it anymore, and Anthems didn't do much for me no matter how much I tried to like it. I guess overall they're a band that I respect far more than I enjoy.

Wow, what an admission. I respect that. For me, 'Nightside' is so good that I can't really listen to it without going a little crazy, like I want to run out into the woods or immediately quit my job. It's like a taste of what real life should be - or the potential for what it could be. Oh man even typing this is getting me amped so I'm going ahead and hitting Submit Reply before I put the house up for sale...

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3 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said: Yeah they are, I remember when they did their first reunion tour and the cheapest tickets were more than $60 USD... before they got bought instantly and resold higher. No thanks. At least a Rammstein show has pyro for that kind of money.

IX Equilibrium is my favorite Emperor album, insofar as any of them could be a "favorite". I can't deny the energy of Nightside Eclipse, but I pretty much never listen to it anymore, and Anthems didn't do much for me no matter how much I tried to like it. I guess overall they're a band that I respect far more than I enjoy.

Wow, what an admission. I respect that. For me, 'Nightside' is so good that I can't really listen to it without going a little crazy, like I want to run out into the woods or immediately quit my job. It's like a taste of what real life should be - or the potential for what it could be. Oh man even typing this is getting me amped so I'm going ahead and hitting Submit Reply before I put the house up for sale...

 

ITNE is pretty great, but so is IX Equilibrium. They really started to spread their wings there and made a much more interesting and memorable album than Anthems, with shops balance of experimentation and great riffs.

 

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11 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

 

ITNE is pretty great, but so is IX Equilibrium. They really started to spread their wings there and made a much more interesting and memorable album than Anthems, with shops balance of experimentation and great riffs.

 

I couldn't agree less.

I definitely like 'IX E', but it doesn't hold a candle to 'Anthems'. The essence of the album is good, no doubt, and it has some great moments, but it's so complex and 'deathy' that the things that made Emperor great in the first place are really lost. It's cool, for sure. But gosh, to compare it to 'Anthems'. No. 

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44 minutes ago, Requiem said:

I couldn't agree less.

I definitely like 'IX E', but it doesn't hold a candle to 'Anthems'. The essence of the album is good, no doubt, and it has some great moments, but it's so complex and 'deathy' that the things that made Emperor great in the first place are really lost. It's cool, for sure. But gosh, to compare it to 'Anthems'. No. 

I see you edited this - I was going to ask what you meant by "awkward" and the bit about falsetto. I'm pretty picky about awkward songwriting and I think it fits together really well. I also love Ihsahn's cleans here, and the only prominent falsetto I recall is the very beginning of the album (edit, right, also that part in "The Source Of Icon E" - I like that stuff, reminds me of King Diamond). I suppose you're right that it's more complex and maybe the riffs are a bit "heavier" - probably why I prefer it, I enjoy the variety and ambition on display. I would think its overall bombast would appeal to you.

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11 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:  

ITNE is pretty great, but so is IX Equilibrium. They really started to spread their wings there and made a much more interesting and memorable album than Anthems, with shops balance of experimentation and great riffs.

 

I couldn't agree less.

I definitely like 'IX E', but it doesn't hold a candle to 'Anthems'. The essence of the album is good, no doubt, and it has some great moments, but it's so complex and 'deathy' that the things that made Emperor great in the first place are really lost. It's cool, for sure. But gosh, to compare it to 'Anthems'. No. 

 

I feel like the arcane atmosphere of ITNE was lost after it was released, leaving us with a really streamlined and kind of dull sounding result on Anthems. It's got the pomp and circumstance, and the songs are pretty good, but it feels a little flat to me. I like the way they livened up the guitars and vocals on IX, and got a bit weird with it. I really enjoy Prometheus too though, and I know that's hardly popular opinion. It seems like the first album of Ihsahn's solo career more than an Emperor album, which I know has a lot to do with why it's reviled by many, but I like Ihsahn's solo career too.

 

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I have no problem listening to any of their albums but the original EP, Nightside eclipse, and Anthems are the ones I still listen to regularly. Wrath of the Tyrant was one of my first bm experiences many years ago and turned me onto black metal in general. The albums after anthems get pretty out there for me as I really think even their early stuff would be better without the keyboard (the guitar tracks on anthems are amazing yet buried beneath layers of synth) but then again who am I to judge when they wrote that shit anyway. They definitely got more experimental but I still enjoyed the later albums just not as much. Need to see them at least once tho

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I'm glad that the 20th Anniversary re-issue of Nightside came with a different mix without the wall of reverb that was on the original. And yes, Faust did play on their last tour (duh). I could go for seeing them play Anthems in it's entirety, but looks like I'll miss them this time 'round.

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11 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

I see you edited this - I was going to ask what you meant by "awkward" and the bit about falsetto. I'm pretty picky about awkward songwriting and I think it fits together really well. I also love Ihsahn's cleans here, and the only prominent falsetto I recall is the very beginning of the album (edit, right, also that part in "The Source Of Icon E" - I like that stuff, reminds me of King Diamond). I suppose you're right that it's more complex and maybe the riffs are a bit "heavier" - probably why I prefer it, I enjoy the variety and ambition on display. I would think its overall bombast would appeal to you.

Yeah, I edited it because I put the album on as I was posting and found it to be neither awkward nor as riddled with falsetto as I remembered it. It's actually a really good album and for some reason I remember it being worse than it is.

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1 hour ago, Requiem said: Yeah, I edited it because I put the album on as I was posting and found it to be neither awkward nor as riddled with falsetto as I remembered it. It's actually a really good album and for some reason I remember it being worse than it is.

The best possible outcome! [emoji3]

 

I love it when that happens! When I end up liking something that didn't click with me before as I play it to remind myself why I didn't like it, it's worth being wrong to finally have it click.

 

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I'm glad that the 20th Anniversary re-issue of Nightside came with a different mix without the wall of reverb that was on the original. And yes, Faust did play on their last tour (duh). I could go for seeing them play Anthems in it's entirety, but looks like I'll miss them this time 'round.

 

That reverb totally sells the sound! The guitars sound so thick with that reverb that it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Emperor.

 

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20 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

That reverb totally sells the sound! The guitars sound so thick with that reverb that it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Emperor.

 

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In some parts, yes. In others it buries the guitars in everything else. Makes them sound hollow and indecipherable at times. I don't dislike either mix really, I'm just glad the other was included as well. It's the one I prefer now when I listen to Nightside. Plus you get the As the Shadows Rise tracks on the 20th Anniversary version. It's a really underrated EP.

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20 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said: That reverb totally sells the sound! The guitars sound so thick with that reverb that it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Emperor.

 

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In some parts, yes. In others it buries the guitars in everything else. Makes them sound hollow and indecipherable at times. I don't dislike either mix really, I'm just glad the other was included as well. It's the one I prefer now when I listen to Nightside. Plus you get the As the Shadows Rise tracks on the 20th Anniversary version. It's a really underrated EP.

 

That's the one Emperor release I don't have. I've been holding out for a copy of The True Kings of Norway, because then I would get the Immortal EP and the Svartalvheim EP out of it too. No reason to buy ITNE again or their compilation when I have all of the other songs.

 

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58 minutes ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

This reminds me it's time I give Emperor another chance to make an impression. They've never quite clicked for me which is odd since I can't put a finger on what exactly turns me off.

I have a heap of CDs from bands that I purchased without listening to first, based on artwork or label or whatever. It doesn't happen a lot these days in the age of Youtube. Anyway, occasionally I'll take some of them into my car to give them a good airing. In most cases I find that I was right the first time, but sometimes I see things differently and I actually really enjoy the album. Blind Guardian is probably the last band that this happened with - although I never actually had a full album from them, just a couple of songs on samplers. 

I tried to enjoy Ghost Brigade the other day again and just confirmed how boring and empty they are as a band. For some reason I actually own two of their albums, can you believe it. 

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Ah those were the days. I prefer not to admit some of the albums I bought way back when I first began my metal journey. Back when I'd go to the 'metal' section of JB Hi-Fi and buy cds by whatever band name I thought sounded cool. Then I decided most of what I bought was gavage and just listened to the same ten bands for a few years. It wasn't until joining Metal Forum I became tuly enlightened. Indeed you may thank our past and current brothes and sistes for helping forge the remarkable headbanger who now types out this post.

 

So once again special thanks must go out to NTNR, Iceni, BAN, MacabreEternal, FatherAlabaster, ReturntoCarthage, Ghouly (who hopefully returns soon), and anyone I missed.

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