Emperor
Reverence

THE REVIEW

"Reverence" was created by the historic and fundamental Emperor in 1997 as a precursor to one of their most appreciated masterpieces, that "Anthems to the welkin 'at dusk" that revolutionized the way of seeing early nineties black metal, evolving it in an exemplary manner.

There are three pieces that characterize it, short in duration but profound in both content and elevated quality. The opening track is "The loss and curse of reverence", which will also be presented on "Anthems..", a true musical tornado. The guitars, which cause painfully severe sound wounds, pair with very evocative keyboards creating that mix of graceful ferocity that had already amazed everyone in the previous "In the nightside eclipse".
Ihsahn is an unleashed demon, his rants of pure madness are uncontrollable, yet here more comprehensible thanks to production that better emphasizes the vocals. It closes with a final break of synths alone and then a riff of almost death-grind mold, reminiscent of their past in Thou Shalt Suffer. Tremendous and unsettling.

The second chapter is the reworking of "In longing spirit" from 1992. Slow, sulfurous, with an almost doom pace centered on oppressive keys and spoken parts it erupts into screams of voices and guitars from hell! a truly chilling end of the track and the lyrics are also very valuable, always tinged with dark omens and nostalgic towards the pagan past. The last track is, in my opinion, the strong point of this intense ep.
It is that "Opus a Satana" which represents the symphonic version of one of the most famous songs by the cursed Norwegians: "Inno a Satana". Ihsahn is responsible for a very successful combination of solemn and melancholic synths that alternate in a ride to the center of the most total oblivion. The whirling progression of the keyboard notes reveals the true essence of the symphonic sound and brilliantly overwhelms into classical music. Epic, fantastic, and emotional.

As mentioned, only three pieces but so intense that I highly recommend the purchase, also because 2-3 are unreleased tracks never revisited. Emperors, pioneers and innovators, will never be forgotten. Great.