This is an incredible, majestic album, and when it was released it was groundbreaking in the context of black metal. The production is perfect for atmospheric black metal, and the songwriting is nothing short of classic. Not as technical as their latest, IX Equilibrium, but overall much better. I love the subtle riffs that periodically get overtaken by an orgasm of keyboards. The best songs on this album are the last three, all of which are in my all-time list of favourites. The only way this album loses points to Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (which gets 10/10) is that the brutal insanity of Trym's drumming had yet to grace the band, and that Ihsahn's vocals hadn't yet progressed to their distinctive despairing feel.

This review is credited to:
Julian Forbes

'An absolute classic' - that is the best way to describe this album in three words. Emperor's first official full-length release is a relentless ride through a cold and dark nordic night on the back of a black horse that gallops as if there's no tomorrow. If you think that previous metaphor was a bit of a stretch for a music recording, then you've got another thing coming. Just pop in In the Nightside Eclipse on a dark and stormy night, turn off the lights, turn up the volume, close your eyes and feel yourself get lost north of the Arctic Circle.

Nary has this acredited musical journalist (LOL! Yah, right!) heard an album more devastatingly atmospheric or infinitely majestic in scope and grandiosity than this one. Beginning with the 50-second intro that sounds much akin to a sequence of distant thunderclaps permeating through a vast Scandinavian forest, this Norwegian quartet (which has since shrunk down to a trio in the studio, but that's a story for another day) wastes no time in encompassing the listener in their microcosm of brooding tempestuousness. Hark...the thunderclaps seem to get closer with every second, and after the last one, you are assaulted by a barrage of blindingly agile drums, hypnotically rolling guitars, tortured screeching vocals and above all, the omnipresent ambient keyboards that give this album much of its distinct personality.

This primordial sonic blizzard is called "Into the Infinity of Thought", one of the band's timeless classics. This song is an 8-minute epic that sets a precedent for the rest of the album by being ruthlessly fast and circumventing the listener in a wall of sound that (given one hasn't lost all semblance of imagination) will - in conjunction with the equally dark and encompassing lyrics - paint vivid landscapes of ancient Scandinavia, populated by daemons, trolls and other mythical creatures.

That being said, there really isn't much in the way of variety on this album. Nay, the grand scheme of Emperor on this album was not to overwhelm their audience with virtuoso guitar work (even though both guitarists are classically-trained musicians) or constantly shifting time signatures that plague all too many extreme metal albums these days, but to bring out the bestial spirit of the northern wilderness in them. This is a goal that Emperor not only achieves, but sets a new standard for. Since the release of this album, a nearly innumerable quantity of bands has concocted music to try and outplay Emperor at their own game...and while some have come close, In the Nightside Eclipse is still the number one "atmospheric" black metal album in history.

Songs like "Beyond the Great Vast Forest", "Towards the Pantheon" and "Majesty of the Night Sky" continue to enchant the listener with the ambience that the first track created. None of these songs deviate very much from the original formula profferred at the album's beginning, but each contains an unprecedented riff or passage that compels one to remain under this album's spell like a siren.

However, the best compositions on this 48-minute LP beckon at the end (the proverbial gold at the end of the rainbow, if you will). Song #7, "I Am the Black Wizards" is hailed by many as Emperor's best opus ever, with a main riff that pops out at the listener in a more flamboyant manner than any prior one on the album. The song then proceeds to slow down into a plodding middle section that pulls one even further into the dark abyss of ambience, and finally it slows to the terminal spoken word part that is one of the most memorable 2-minute segments in black metal history. But Ihsahn and Co. aren't done yet...the last song on this album is one that (in my opinion) has defined and will continue to define the black metal genre as a whole from now until eternity expires..."INNO A SATANA". This song is absolutely breathtaking - beginning with a riff so beautifully composed that it would make the likes of Mozart and Vivaldi jealous, proceeding into a section of intertwined chanting and screaming vocals that, though un-polished, seems more impressive than most operatic singing when placed in context. The remainder of the song just continues to impress more and more until reaching orgasmic levels at the end, when Ihsahn bellows out "Inno A Satana" several times before the song ends promptly, and the listener relapses to reality. This song is one that nobody who considers themselves a serious music fan should go without hearing.

Alas, despite its grandeur, In the Nightside Eclipse is not the easiest album to get into. After hearing Emperor's two subsequent LP's (1997's Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk and 1999's IX Equilibrium) prior to this one, I was initially unimpressed by ItNE's relative lack of complexity and seemingly buried guitars. What compelled me to re-examine this album and hence discover the magnificence thereof was hearing and being highly impressed by the live versions of the final two tracks on the band's recent live album Emperial Live Ceremony. This was the key to hearing the true beauty of In the Nightside Eclipse that was unapparent to me at first. Therefore, if you're not initially sated by this album, I urge you to find the live versions of any of these songs so you can unlock the full potency of Emperor's first opus.

What else is there to say about In the Nightside Eclipse? It is, quite simply, a stunning piece of audio-sensory art that should not be missed out on by anyone. IF YOU ARE YET TO OWN THIS, BUY IT RIGHT THIS SECOND AND BECOME ENTHRALLED.

This review is credited to:
The Havoc Vulture