This is Emperor's final album, not counting the best of/complitation Scattered Ashes: A Decade Of Emperial Wrath. I'd also like to make it clear that the name of this album is Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise but Sputnik was being stupid and not letting me type the entire title. Many Emperor fans were disappointed by this album as it slipped out of black metal and into extreme symphonic metal. I, as a non band fan but more a genre fan (that genre being symphonic extreme slightly progressive and avant garde metal) have found this album to be a masterpiece.
One of my favorite parts of this album is the guitars. The crystal clear production lets the guitars pop out and the riffs are excellent. They beldn in well with the strings frequently heard and in some cases, the riffs seem not so much like riffs but more like an electric, metal guitar as part of the orchestra, almost a concerto of sorts. There is repetition, but not the blatant "play this 4 bar chord progression 8 times" type. Another standout is the vocals. Ihshan does an excellent job on this album, occasionally delivering clean(er) vocals but usually sticking to his hissing roar. He is probably one of my favorite vocalists, next to Mike Patton and Garm. The drums are very, very well done. Lots of speed and varying parts keep it interesting along with many fills.
Above all of the individual instruments though comes the compositions. Ihshan (who I have a feeling does the majority of the writing on this album based on my experience with Peccatum and his role in the band as vocalist, lead guitarist, keyboardist and bassist) has done a marvelous job tastefully inserting orchestral arrangements into the metal. He does not have the shortcoming of some metal composers who overuse the symphonics and also knows how to vary his sound well. Even the heavy onslaught sections have a lot of variation. The delivery of each section can be quite far removed from others, despite contending speed, decibel and distortion levels. The use of frequent harmonics adds well as it breaks up the riffs and adds a sense of technicality. The softer bits with spoken word add tons of dynamic and atmosphere and the clean vocals found occasionally do a superb job contrasting the harsh screams.
My largest complaint here is the lack of a real orchestra. I don't mind synth strings but I can always tell the difference between real and fake and this album could have benefited from at least a small chamber orchestra. In the heavier sections the synths fit well, but a real orchestra is always better and in the softer sections, it becomes painfully clear that this is an electronic device that simply cannot carry the emotion or fluidity of a human being.
The theme of this album seems to be fairly clearly the story of Prometheus although the quality of the lyrics suggests to me (not having the willingness to truly investigate them) that there is a deeper meaning, simply using the Greek myth as a metaphor for something greater. Whether or not this is true, I like the lyrics. They are nowhere near the best I have ever seen but are complex enough to require some thought without being so esoteric Ihshan sounds like a pretentious prick.
Recommending songs here is difficult but in the end The Tongue of Flame, Empty, The Prophet and Grey are simply songs you should hear. All of them could work as recommendations and I don't really find any particular standout which I like in an album. It is a sign of consistency, especially when the songs are consistently good.
Buying this album will not be a waste of your money. It has certain charicteristics (good production, lots of melody, clean vocals, dynamic) that will appeal to casual metal listeners. It is easy to have playing, although will not go over well with more closed-minded people. It could be an album to recommend to a person getting into metal and looking for that step after Opeth or Dimmu Borgir. I know some more tr00 black metal fans will be disappointed with this album, but I truly think it shows progression and leads nicely into Ihsahn's current project, Peccatum which as opposed to this, which is black metal with avant-garde leanings, is instead avant-garde music with black metal leanings. I am sad that Emperor never had a follow-up to this album, but at the same time glad because they may have returned to their older style which, while good, I don't find as musically interesting or advanced.
