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"In The Nightside Eclipse" is a true Emperor masterpiece. Though this album is a true, original black metal opus, it suffers slightly from a raw production. As with many early black metal bands and artists, the attitude regarding production was something along the lines of "fuck it; this is supposed to be evil sounding anyway." Though many black metal fans will argue that the lo-fi "necro" production only adds to the dark atmosphere (and I wouldn't necessarily disagree), it certainly takes away from the CD's listenability for those who are uninitiated in the scene. Though there is something to be said for the dark fuzziness of this recording, it could also have benefitted from a cleaner production – the disc would sound ravishingly beautiful if drums were crisper and guitars were more solid sounding. Despite this drawback, "In The Nightside Eclipse" proves itself to be worthy of the title "one of the best black metal albums of all time". Once the ear is accustomed to the low quality of the recording, this disc reveals itself to be darkly beautiful and ethereal, yet it still maintains a strong sense of evil. The majesty of the synth melodies and the swirling guitar work will entirely consume the listener and cultivate bleak, cold images within the mind.
As far as technicality goes, "In The Nightside Eclipse" is not astounding, but all of the instrumentation and songwriting is very solid. As mentioned, the guitars and the synths (which lean toward a choir or string-orchestra type sound) are very dark, and their melodies provide an excellent canvas for Emperor's dark poetry, screamed out mercilessly by Ihsahn. Faust's drumming is powerful, surprisingly with fewer of the visceral crashing and blastbeats found on comparable works of the time (such as Mayhem's "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas"). Instead, he leans toward a double-bass / driving-cymbal type feel. It's unfortunate that his playing is so buried in the mix, even though he is perhaps not quite up to Trym's standard on the later album, "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk".
Though Emperor has a unique sound on this album, their early influences are still clear, and snippets of riffs and melodies are reminiscent of older works such as Bathory's "Blood Fire Death" – indeed, the re-release version of this disc even comes with a cover of the Bathory song "A Fine Day To Die", a track from said album. With this disc, Emperor take the old sound of dark-thrash and add to it some of the most malevolent, beautiful, and utterly merciless riffs, melodies, and passages; thus, they give birth to (along with other important bands of the period) what has become known as black metal. As a whole, "In The Nightside Eclipse" is a hauntingly hypnotic, majestic, and evil musical experience. This single recording has delivered powerful anthems which are still hailed today as the greatest black metal songs of all time. Those seeking to delve further than Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth into the realms of black metal will find a mystifying and majestic opus in this album. It is the perfect place to begin with older black metal releases. It is also an excellent place to start in understanding the sonic evolution of the musical deity known as Emperor.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Into The Infinity Of Thoughts |
| 2. The Burning Shadows Of Silence |
| 3. Cosmic Keys To My Creation And Times |
| 4. Beyond The Great Vast Forset |
| 5. Towards The Pantheon |
| 6. The Majesty Of The Nightsky |
| 7. I Am The Black Wizards |
| 8. Inno A Satana |
: 48.26
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