Excellent musicianship but almost too epic - The music on this disk is certainly incredibly technical and really impressive overall but it just really gets boring quick. Almost to grandiose in scale for me. I would liken it to Lord of the Rings in terms of heavy metal. Its incredibly deep in terms of substance and everything about it is nearly perfect but you just can t watch it over and over. Too boring after a few experiences.Probably more taste than anything because this is a great CD... just not on replay.
The Best of the Best - I find this to be Emperor s most complex, passionate, and triumphant effort. Each album in the discography is a must-have but this one stands out as a tightly woven amalgam of primal rage, black sadness and cerebral existential angst, that I think forms the pinnacle of their pioneering influence on extreme metal. Teaches the Tongue of Fire!
Emperor s Greatest Work - Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise is the greatest Emperor album ever*. Participants are (mostly) only Ihsahn and Trym but with music this brilliantly composed and played, who needs more musicians? Highlights include every track on the album. Buy it. Listen to it (preferably on a good system). Enjoy!*Not to worry, as all their other albums are also their greatest.
Emperor pushes the boundaries of Black Metal again! - I decided to write a review because I just happpened to stumble across this cd today in my massive collection and forgot who much it kicks total A$$! I have all their albums and this one took me a few listens to really get into, its my 2nd favorite album of theirs my favorite being Anthems,followed by IX Equilibrium tied with In the Nightside Eclipse. I love the chromaticsm of the melodys and the arrangements as always are excellent, the episodes of polyphonic lines intertwining are my favorites. Its well ballanced with some moments of repose and melodic parts and changes feel often enough to hold my interest. It does get somewhat monotonous at parts but usually only briefly,it does help to keep it coherent as a whole. Overall I highly recommend this album but if you think Cradle of Filth is black metal steer clear from this one, and if you want to hear Anthems put it in your cd player, these guys arent ac/dc they are experimenting and pushing boundaries of a limited genre!
A landmark achievement from black-metal s finest. - What we have here is the mighty Emperor completing their transformation from devestating black-metal to something more experimental and passionate. This album is more along the lines of Zyklon, but with a much stronger focus on melody and experimentation. Even though I will always hail in the Nightside Eclipse as one of the greatest true black-metal albums, Prometheus proves to be the greatest slab of music that Emperor ever released. Prometheus is a brutally heavy release, and while not true , it still strongly sticks to its black roots. The diversity of this album is shocking, and you will probably not be able to remeber much of it from your first listen. Emperor geniusly crafts songs out of everything from lush string arrangments, dischordant assaults to very thought out guitar melodies. This album definately has a signature sound that stands out not only in Emperor s catalouge, but that of all metal. Each song cleverly shifts and contrasts from theme to theme with absolutely stunning results. Every song has more parts in it than you can count easily, and each song is successful in taking you out of this world, into the genius world of Emperor, where dissonance and evil beauty blend together in nefarious harmony. Ihsahn s vocals stand in front of the mix rather than in the back, as do in most Emperor albums. Rather than dominating the mix, Ihsahn s vocals masterfully compliment it, and rather than his standard black-metal shriek, it is constantly morphing just like the amazing music itself. This album does lack something that most albums do though... It lacks weak parts. Every movement to every theme in every song is done with absolute perfection. This album is truly a gem in the metal world. You will never find a black-metal album this perfect ever again. I love this album, and it still pleases just as strongly as it did on my first listen.