Emperor is one of the most visceral, gut-wrenching and ambitious black metal bands of all time. While their 1992 demo album Wrath of the Tyrant garnered underground acclaim, their eponymous EP, 1993's Emperor, would become an all-time classic. Emperor's first full-length album, 1994's In the Nightside Eclipse, is one of the most influential black metal albums ever; it introduced the world to the band's brutal yet sophisticated instrumentation, wrathful vocals and symphonic terror.
In 1997, Emperor released their next groundbreaking album, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, and another EP, Reverence. Their third album, IX Equilibrium, was released in 1999 and saw the band transform into a trio. After the release of their fourth album, Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise (2001), Emperor disbanded until they'd reunite to record new material for the 2009 concert album Live Inferno.
Emperor was originally formed by guitarists Ihsahn and Samoth, who met at a youth music seminar as teens in their native Norway. The project began as an offshoot of a group they had formed called Thou Shalt Suffer. With the addition of bass player Mortiis, they created Emperor and began to work on their 1992 demo. When asked in a 2019 interview with LoudTV if they had any intention of releasing new music, Ihsahn stated, "We'd rather stop at the level where we were all creatively involved, rather than doing it for keeping the logo or for any of those reasons."
Emperor consists of guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Ihsahn (Vegard Sverre Tveitan), guitarist Samoth (Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen) and drummer Trym (Kai Johnny Mosaker). The band's 2023 tour -- their first in 15 years -- will take them across the United States, Romania, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.
