TRACKLISTING

1.-Alsvartr (The Oath)
2.-Ye Entrancemperium
3.-Thus Spake The Nightspirit
4.-Ensorcelled By Khaos
5.-The Loss And Curse Of Reverence
6.-The Acclamation of Bonds
7.-With Strenght I Burn
8.-The Wanderer
Bonus Tracks
9.-In Longing Spirit
10.-Opus A Satana
11.-The Loss And Curse Of Reverence (Live)
CD-ROM Video Track For "The Loss And Curse Of Reverence"

  

   After surpassing any expectation with their In The Nightside Eclipse, Emperor continues their quest to improve the genre. Anthems, if any, defines again boundaries for the Black Metal and shows the quality of the band. Unlike In The Nightside Eclipse, the songs in this new album are varied in the structure, exploding it and obtaining a diversity and a complexity never heard before in their material (layer under layer under layer of composition, providing a very organic [orgasmic] sound) and yet, a surprising unity certifies the equilibrium of the album as a whole. Of course, to ensure this new feature, something was lost in the creation process. The unity that bounds every track breaks somehow the unity in the instruments, the sonic dullness that proved Emperor's greatness in previous releases. The production favors the guitar and quiets the keyboard's voice a little bit. Thanks again to the production, the powerful drumming, provided by the great Trym, is confused in the background. The riffs are impeccable, and so are the solos, but sometimes their sound throws off balance the mix, being more notorious than the rest of the band. In a few words, the instrumental improvement took care of the guitar and the rest was eclipsed by it, even if not totally. Still, and even if this represents a failure (at least comparing Anthems... with the potency of In The Nightside Eclipse) the album ultimately goes beyond its mistakes, for the arrangement is in perfect balance of feeling and technique, and the cohesion is still strong enough to produce an impressive work. Opening, it's found the "Alsvartr (The Oath)"/"Ye Entrancemperium" saga. From such beginning, they take back where they left: in "Inno a Satana", from the previous effort, they tended to use a clean-voice chorus. This represents another problem: the melodic streak is added by accesible displays of voice. Something so much simpler than the subtile harmonizing of In The Nightside Eclipse, still reached at some points of Anthems..., but rarer than before ("Ensorcelled By Khaos", "The Loss And Curse Of Reverence") Even if the accesibility of the band has widened, the heaviness produced is greater than before. The riffs are by far thicker than the not feeble ones in In The Nightside... and the drumming doesn't give way for even one minute. The mixture between the agresiveness and the symphonic, intelligent touch, beautifully done by the masterful use of Ihsan's keyboards, is, at the very least, seductive.

  

   The album never falls, it wavers around perfection, insinuating it through glorifying chants of power and independance from the old believes. Emperor stands on a thin thread; the balance has technical perfection on one side and efficient black metal on the other, and it would be very strange if they still managed to consider both things in the next production, so surely they will choose one of the paths for good. Meanwhile, Anthems... is for the enjoyment of a Black Metal fan, being one of the most notorious albums inside the genre.

 

96 OUT OF 100