Emperor is one of the very cornerstones of black metal. Led by musical visionaries Ishan and Samoth, this band pretty much singlehandedly invented symphonic black metal. Bands such as Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, and Ne Obliviscaris can trace a direct lineage to this groundbreaking outfit from Bergen, Norway.

Emperor’s debut album, In The Nightside Eclipse, turned 20 years old last year and the band celebrated with a string of high profile headlining slots at festivals across the world. Ishan remains adamant that there will be no new Emperor music as he is currently riding high on the success of his solo works, but die-hards such as myself will always remain hopeful.

From Emperor’s massively influential 1997 sophomore record, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, this is the official video for the track”The Loss & Curse of Reverence.”

Black metal is an underground sub-genre of heavy metal emanating largely from Scandanavia. There has historically been a large amount of controversy surrounding black metal due to its primary themes of blasphemy and/or Satanism and the nefarious activities of many of its most prominent musicians (i.e., murder, suicides, and church burnings).

This year has been rife with major happenings from many of the founders of the black metal genre. Metal’s most notorious band, Mayhem, released their first album in seven years, titled Esoteric Warfare. King Diamond announced his first U.S. tour in nearly a decade, including a Halloween show in L.A., which I will be reviewing [the NYC GoD crew will be at the New York show in October]. We also observed the 10th anniversary of the death of Bathory leader and the man who many consider to be the father of Scandinavian black metal, Quorthon.