Emperor – As the Shadows Rise EP
Here I am again, back with another Emperor review. In case you didn’t know who these guys are, Emperor is a black metal band from Scandinavia. They were incredibly influential on the genre and this was one of their earlier EP’s that was released in 1994. This is personally the most enjoyable EP that I have heard from Emperor and it contains three good, solid tracks in it. Here are the details for the rest of the album.
The quality of this album wasn’t that great, but it adds to the overall feel of the album.
The album opens with Ancient Queen, a song that starts off with some really heavy guitar tone and then drums and vocals quickly come in. They keyboards in the back make this song sound really creepy, with plenty of lyrics that are near impossible to understand. I personally don’t mind it, but there might be some listeners that do. The song is filled with fast drums and some cool guitar riffs. This song isn’t a classic, but it’s certainly a good, dependable Emperor track that’s fun to headbang to.
Now, onto the best track on the EP and one of my personal favorite Emperor tracks, Lord of the Storms. The opening riff is insanely enjoyable, and then an incredibly evil scream is shrieked and the greatness begins. This song is consistent all the way through, there is never a part where you find yourself bored and waiting to get to a better part. The vocals are some of the best that I have ever heard in the black metal genre. Also, listen to the song at 3:13, this part is pretty melodic and sounds awesome. The riffs are always entertaining and fun to listen to, but the only small flaw is that you can never hear the bass. I guess it’s just something the band never focused on.
We now have reached the third and last song on the album, Witches Sabbath. A rather simple but catchy drum intro then takes you into the verse. The verse riff is pretty heavy and the vocals have been distorted so that they sound like Satan himself is saying this. It’s really evil, but some people might not like the way that it sounds. It’s probably a good thing that this song is under 2 minutes, any longer and it would have seen like it was overkill. And now, the album is over.
Remember, sometimes good things come in small packages. If you want a quick little sample of what Emperor is all about, I would check this out. It’s got some cool riffs, impressive vocals, haunting keyboard work, fast drums, and overall great songwriting. If you’re a metal fan and you’re trying to find another good release to check out, give this a try.
Final Rating: 4/5
