The band members were about 17 years old when they recorded this.

@olavrell

4 ай бұрын

Yeah, between 16-18 in the time of writing and recording this album.

@NONE_SO_VILE

12 күн бұрын

Insane!!!

When being one wizard isn't enough 😅 This isn't third wave of black metal, this is 2nd wave

@CriticalReactions

4 ай бұрын

**That** explains why it's so experimental compared to the third wave stuff

@biollanteazul

4 ай бұрын

The way I over simplify the black metal waves is early 80s-1990: 1st Wave - Venom/Bathory/Celtic Frost/ 80s Mayhem, really just evil thrash, and upping atmosphere. Also the South American factor of Sarcofago/Sextrash, etc. 2nd Wave: early to mid 90s- what your vast experience with the genre is. Your perception of one idea, ultra orthodox, primitive darkness stuff. I love it, but get why you don’t. This is Mayhem’s live and demos with Dead on vocals and the De Mysteriis album, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, Dissection, Dark Funeral and dozens more. 3rd wave: a weird thing because there are a couple of identities sprouting up at once; the Norwegian second wave bands get weirder and proggier. (Primarily thinking of Enslaved, and then the peak of Moonfog Productios [Satyricon, Disiplin, Dodheimsgard, Thorns] and their signature experimental *for the time* sound.) The rise of US black metal, providing their take on the second wave and adding a bit more weird DSBM atmosphere (Xasthur, Weakling, Leviathan). All in the first half of the 2000s. Then comes post-black and blackgaze; big in the US and France informed by The Cure and a lot of shoegaze like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, etc. and post metal like Neurosis and Isis. That’s your Amoseurs, Alcest, Deafheaven, Vattnet Viskar, Ghost Bath, and so on. Meanwhile, 2nd wave style bands are just persisting throughout, having bands all over the world dedicated to their take on the sound of the early to mid 90s.

@Adrian_kal

4 ай бұрын

Were dein 4 vawe now. 3 wave ended somewhere around 2005. 3 wave was more about folk, now it's about depression. Second wave was about aggression.

@bertil3887

4 ай бұрын

@@Adrian_kal I would say that the black metal got to diverse after the 2nd wave that it's impossible to say what the 3rd wave consisted of There were so many different subgenres created in late 90s to 2010 that makes it impossible to say they played a third way

Most impressive to me is how young they were when they recorded this., if I remember correctly they were between 16 to 18. A lot of the black metal people in the beginning were very young and one of the core reasons was due to rehearsal rooms being subsidized by the government (at least for Sweden and Norway) and a lot of schools had rooms you could book for free. There are quite a few interviews out there with pioneers of Swedish Death Metal speaking about this being a major reason to their success. Good example of this is the recording of Jon Nödteidt (Dissection) on a musical school project when he was 11 or 12. That recording is available here on youtube named "Thunder (1987) - Jon Nödtveidt (Dissection)", already a good guitar player at that age.

@n.afonso7171

4 ай бұрын

Right. Garm also created Ulver when he was just 16 or 17 years old. By the way the lyrics for this song were written by Mortiis.

This was one of the first black metal songs I learned to play on guitar!

This album is a masterpiece

@truejohnsolo

2 ай бұрын

Definitely a masterpiece and all-time classic.

Oh, Emperor were (truly) progressive throughout their career! The main riff here is really clear to me - and catchy as f*ck! as well. And yes, it was that riff being brought back in a mellower form towards the end. It's the kind of riff that keeps popping up in my head outside listening. Really enjoyable analysis. I especially admire that you've developed the skill to listen past the "chaos" in bm, and catch what's actually interesting/intriguing where- and whenever it's there to be found.

I can see where you're coming from with saying a lot of black metal sounds the same or similar to you. I've recently been listening to a podcast by these two dudes who cover a handful of newer extreme metal releases per episode ranging from super underground stuff to more popular stuff and you can tell by the way they speak about the music that they really know what they're talking about when it comes to extreme metal. For every release they talk about, they're able to figure out what bands or music styles the band was influenced by and they always have some really interesting analysis about the style of riffs or melodies that are played. I've really been enjoying it. Anyway, they talk about country distinctions within black metal and then kind of sub categories within those. One example is French stuff. There's the super lo-fi "vampiric black metal" that you hear from bands like Mutiilation and a lot of other French bands that were part of Les Légions Noires There's also the really aggressive, highly melodic and proud stuff like Sunhopfer, Vehemence and Aorlhac This exists for a lot of the different countries that sort of have their own style like Norway, Sweden, Germany, Finland, etc. It seems to mostly come down to the styles of riffs they play and the melodies they write from what I've heard listening to them talk about it. I'm guessing when you've listened to all the old bands that originated these styles you start to pick up on stuff like that. I can kind of hear what they're talking about in some cases and not really in others and I've listened to quite a bit of black metal, so this is something most people probably won't pick up on, but it's super interesting to hear them talk about it. They recently covered that new Hauntologist record and it was really interesting to hear them dive into the goth and post rock influences. kzread.info/dash/bejne/qXek1JqzqpDOoKQ.htmlsi=tHY7AoqELKt72kZg

@CriticalReactions

4 ай бұрын

That sounds wild but totally understandable. There's going to be nuances with all of the sub-sub-genres and regional versions of subgenres but it takes a great familiarity with a sound to hear those minute details. Pretty cool to hear that people are well enough attuned to a sound, in this case Black Metal, to be able to do that.

The lead guitarist Ihsahn has a solo project which is a lot more progressive which may be what led you astray 😊

@seanp9915

4 ай бұрын

Also love the black metal musical villain idea 😂

The outro riff is the same riff as the opening riff after the intro but, just sounds different because it isn’t tremolo picked.

Emperor has a strong devilish dash of prog as they progressively grew with greatly improving musicianship. In The Nightside Eclipse being their first of four full-lengths of classical enhanced progressive black fugging metal. My favorite is XI Equilibrium though its not on top for production. Anyway, excellent attentive review and talk about this album. PS. Cardiacs brought me to you.

This song has a lot of cool riffs, but when people talk about "the riff" of I am the Black Wizards, everyone knows which one they're talking about. It's the intro riff starting at about 10 seconds and that then comes back again during the first verse. The funny thing, though, is that while watching you, I was thinking if anyone wouldn't realize what the "the riff" was, it would be you. So, I wondered if they gave you the timestamp or not.

Lyrically, why this is such a bizarre song comes down to the plural. If it were "I am the black wizard" it wouldn't be all that interesting. But the protagonist isn't "A black wizard" or "the black wizard", he is "the black wizardS"...all of them at once. "My wizards are many, but their essence is mine/Forever they are in the hills in their stone homes of grief (I am them)/Because I am the spirit of their existence/I am them". Which is a really strange disruption of the usual "I do/I am/I feel" narrative songwriting structure - I cant think of any other song that straight out says "I am the hive-mind" like that....which was strangely impressive as all of this recording is considering that everyone involved was 17 years old. It's written by the original bass-player who doesn't play on this recording, but who went on to have a surreal career as a LARP trans-dimensional synth (black) wizard, recording many albums and writing a book elaborating on his dark fantasy ideas while dressing up as a goblin, then making some awful NIN-sque music and then going back to one-finger synth music because there was more money in it. Which is not a criticism - I hail the fact that there is space in the world for going full goblin mode

@richardbourn5896

3 ай бұрын

Pretty sure Mortiis wrote this one so its not really surprising it has impenetrable lyrics

@truejohnsolo

2 ай бұрын

Mortiis is the king of dungeon synth for sure. And the lyrics to this song that he wrote were just insane and some of my favorite black metal lyrics of all time. Goat

Alrightie.... this song is a classic, but they were, as said earlier, about 17 yrs at the time. They way they evolved through out the years ... just check out Emperor's last album "Prometheus : The Discipline Of Fire And Ice" . The opening track "The Eruption" or "In The Wordless Chamber"

Yeah the ending is a slowed down refrain of the main riff verse riff guitar melody at the beginning. The main riff is the riff. The main melodic riff that comes in when the whole band kicks in off the intro which gets called back slower at the ending refrain. It’s a catchy riff

I think part of the issue with identifying “the riff” in this case is that you understandably wouldn’t understand the song in its historical context of the genre. The riff that you pointed out as the chorus is actually intended as the verse, and “the riff” in question really is more the lead part in that verse, which appears again in a non-tremolo form at the ending in that slower variation. Back to the historical context: the reason the song is so iconic within the scope of black metal is because these sort of epic ideas and classically informed song writing was very unique at the time. It expanded what black metal could include, and brought an entirely different sort of emotion and atmosphere to the genre. As always appreciate your views and insight into how you experienced my favorite genre!

Again, you should dive into Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk for these guys… I am the Black Wizards is a great track, but you may find something more to dive into with tracks like Ye Entranceperium or Ensorcelled by Kaos To really hear the more “progressive” version of Emperor, consider Ihsahn’s solo work.

@progperljungman8218

4 ай бұрын

Or the later Emperor albums (for more progressive bm)

@pallidmask3822

4 ай бұрын

@@progperljungman8218 for sure, Prometheus especially

One of the best black metal songs and one of the greatest black metal albums of all time. Pure masterpiece and the lyrics are an amazing piece of poetry that fits the mood exactly perfectly. Insane how young they were. They never topped this later in their career IMO. Peak 2nd wave black metal right here for certain.

I almost suggested this song to you, but ended up suggesting Inno a Satana from this album, which I think might give you more elements to dive into. Inno doesn't just fiddle around with keyboard atmospheres and actually has some newclassical ideas being played in the guitar and as such it serves as the bridge between the slightly cruder Emperor here, the enormous leaps they made going into the second album, and the experimentation with neoclassical touches that defined Ihsahn's solo career. And I always kept this album in mind because of an experiment you posted where you played some choral synth patches over a black metal riff, which made me jump and say "this is incredibly Emperor". As to what riff in this song is the standout, everyone will point out that it's the lead guitar riff at the start. Every black metal fan will recognise that riff within a 10 mile radius. This song is a classic and encapsulates a lot of what made 2nd wave black metal so interesting when it showed up: It's catchy, doesn't rely on a single monotone tempo (in fact, it actually has no blastbeats), has a strong sense of atmosphere and it's fairly revolutionary, especially when contextualized in its day and age. Only these guys, Arcturus and Nocturnus in the US were really using keyboards as an integral part of their sound back in the early 90s and Ihsahn's neoclassical aspirations were already very noticeable at this point. The guy was about 16 when he wrote this, 17 when this was recorded, and there's already an considerable degree of maturity to this that would grow exponentially in everything Ihsahn recorded. ANd there's personality in the guitars, as you've noticed. Ihsahn's guitar tends to sound a fair bit sharper and more defined, while Samoth, the other guitarist, has a very muddy, fuzzy sound, which works very well for them, especially given that they only rarely play the same lines. I've often used the term "It's a buzzard and a jet plane playing classical music" to define Emperor and Obtained Enslavement, and maybe this song sheds a bit more light on that definition. While this album is a good collection of songs, it's a debut written by teenagers. The second album, "Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk" expands this sound considerably and is widely regarded as the band's masterpiece. I would not only say that but add that it's probably the best black metal album period. The composition is tighter, and not only are the songs well rounded, and varied within themselves, but they're varied from one song to the next, and none has exactly the same mood. And yet, it sounds like an album, and is composed as such, gradually evolving its mood from bombastic and aggressive to increasingly more melancholic. The third and 4th albums are good, but you could see Ihsahn and Samoth growing apart creatively, showing that the different guitar voices were very important for the band, even if Ihsahn composed about 80% of the material. By their last album, Ihsahn recorded all the guitars, and the "magic" just wasn't there. They still go on tours, but they haven't recorded new songs since 2001, and it's probably for the best.

@thegrimner

4 ай бұрын

Also, what you're saying about the diferences in how experimental this stuf was compared to what came after did resonate with me, and it's interesting to hear you say it. I'm 45, grew up with this stuff, and there's a nostalgic component that more or less crystalises this sound for me. I always kind of wonder, as I grow older and more nitpicky about what impresses me and doesn't, if that nostalgia ins't stacking up the newer bands against some impossible odds, and in that sense it's refreshing and gratifying to see someone come into this music with a fresh set of ears and no emotional baggage and say that yeah, these guys in the 90s were more willing to push the envelope.

@swaillidan5558

4 ай бұрын

"Only these guys, Arcturus and Nocturnus in the US were really using keyboards as an integral part of their sound" Hey, you're forgetting Limbonic Art, Moon in the Scorpio basically feels more like a classical music-driven/structured insanely atmospheric masterpiece (and I am yet to find a band that successfully replicates the sound of that album - nobody has really come close while many have indeed gotten close to In The Nightside Eclipse's) and the synths are the absolute core of the sound, the riffs and bass sound like a mere rhythmic backbone than anything else, the music is all about the vocals and synths (which are respectively really up/high in the mix)

@thegrimner

4 ай бұрын

@@swaillidan5558 I'm not, that's why I specified the early 90s. Limbonic Art are pretty good, but they were Emperor protegés, so to speak. So much so that they, alongside Odium and a few others actually were published by Samoth's label. And this happened in 1996. Emperor and Arcturus were already known by then, and they more or less paved the way for the others. Which is no dig at Limbonic Art, or Obtained Enslavement (a favourite of mine from the era, Witchcraft and Soulblight are spectacular albums) but back in the early 90s, 91-93, it was really Emperor and Arcturus going all in on the neoclassical atmorpheres.

The title isn't really a grammatical error, since I think it's saying that he's all of them -- as in he sees through them? Either way, a classic band and album.

@harmony5305

4 ай бұрын

I think he meant he's their essence

@richardbourn5896

3 ай бұрын

Theres literally a line in the lyrics "my wizards are many, but their essence is mine"

best black metal song ever

The correlation between I Am the Black Wizards and songs that introduce characters in stage musicals is gold :)

i being the emperor himself, is the one controlling all of the black wizards throughout time, so it is gramattically correct

Ihsahn fronted this band. He is, by all accounts, Black Metal Royalty. He does a lot of progressive stuff.

That guitar tone is peavey solid state amps with some pedal to add distortion. Like combo amps.

Bryan looks like he's in pain every time he has to listen to black metal lol.

@CriticalReactions

4 ай бұрын

It's not my favorite but it's much less excruciating than when I was first introduced to it. It's the third most reacted to genre on the channel with only Prog Metal and Death Metal beating it out.

Black cosmic keys to the black astral gates and the black mystical doors to my black creations and blackened times

I wouldn't recommend reacting to Emperor's album versions. They are interesting in a historical context for their contribution to and influence of early Black Metal. But, their musicality is much more apparent in their live stuff, when the mixing allows you to hear what they're doing. Everything is washed out in a harsh winter blizzard noise on the albums. But on the Wacken 2006 videos, and even the Wacken 2014 videos, and especially the 2021 streaming concert, you can hear everything so much better, and after 30+ years, they've found much better ways to play each song. Everything is better in the reunion era. Would highly recommend checking out Wacken 2006 version of Black Wizards, With Strength I Burn, Loss & Curse of Reverence, or Wordless Chamber. And you have to see 2014 Hellfest version of Towards the Pantheon, recorded by audience member & youtube uploader, "Vlad Tepes." Greatest live Emperor video ever.

Actually the last slow riff IS the first riff of the song!

Also to clarify: I believe the intention was for the guitars to be in 4/4 at 16th notes for duration prior to the bridge, strumming happening in syncopation with the kicks, which I think you identified already. I think it feels more diverse in the opening half prior to the bridge, is because the ideas because the writing is just more interesting, in part because the two guitars have separate but complimentary ideas?

Lyrics definitely are a bit campy but you have to remember that the guy who wrote them was seventeen when this track was first released, who knows how old he was when he wrote it. And it's not in his native language.

Godspeed You Black Emperor?

@pascalg16

4 ай бұрын

Exactly what he was thinking.

Think of how Sauron is the will of the Nazgul. Tons of 2nd wave black metal themes are lifted directly from Tolkien. Like Burzum and Gorgoroth.

Would love to see more will wood 😘

Oh man - I hope someone has suggested Mercyful Fate for 'The Riff' week! Though actually that might be hard, especially for the earlier stuff, because every riff is 'The Riff' lol.

Im suprised the request wasnt for ye entranceperium

Emperer basically invented symphonic BM and were one of original (and most influential) 2nd wave Norwegian BM bands in general. They were also the first BM I got into. Even though I disliked Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone and the other 2nd wave bands I loved how Emperor used those synths to create an entirely different atmosphere, and I always thought they had more going on musically in terms of variety. This was from their first album when they were still making music on bargain basement production equipment; the subsequent albums would sound better, and by IX Equilibreum they sounded pretty darn professional, even. Luckily (for me, at least) they weren't one of the BM who thought the awful production quality wasn't an essential aspect of the genre. I also think they got better as they went on, with their later album pushing into prog metal category. Their last album, Prometheus, is still one of my all-time favorite metal albums and still sounds like an extremely original/unique mix of thrash, prog, avant-garde, and symphonic BM. You listened to The Eruption from it many years ago (based off my recommendation!). You didn't like it back then, but I wonder if you would've changed your mind at all now after all the other metal you've heard. I do really like the riffs on this one but I don't know if I would've included it in my "favorite riffs" list. The riffs probably were a lot more impactful back when this kind of BM wasn't so common, but after 30 years it's probably the most "cliched" (even though they weren't cliches back then) aspect of the track. It's also worth noting that even though Emperor disbanded over 20 years ago Ihsahn is still going and releasing music that's more in that proggy avant-garde BM style. I don't think any of his solo work has reached the peaks of Emperor's best, but he's still one of the most interesting artists in metal; kinda like a Devin Townsend of BM.

@MMasterDE

4 ай бұрын

I feel like Wrath of the Tyrant was kinda their first album, even though it was an LP. However, it's 32 mins and they didn't really re-release most of those tracks.

The demos are even better

The ending is not the same as the chorus but the same riff as the one starting at "1:15 in your video" but played with single notes and rytm chords instead of tremolo. I have played this song to death on the guitar so this i know. Its also almost the same as the intro riff as another BM anthem "mother North- by Satyricon

This is an amazing song and album btw. One the very finest classics of the second wave. Before I even listen, I just really hope you heard a good quality version, as there's so many bad ones, especially on TouTube. We'll see I guess, but it's definitely MUCH better in CD quality. Yeah... kinda strange, but so much of the "space" is lost in the normal type of compression of songs.

@MMasterDE

4 ай бұрын

Some of the early and most classic Norwegian black metal had the same producer, and they would record in Grieg's Hall (concert hall). The musicians would be placed all around the hall to create that airy, open sound, but I think it also creates some of the "wall". This just doesn't translate good in compressed form, that is optimized to remove such things as not "useful".

@MMasterDE

4 ай бұрын

This KZread version is better than the most viewed one, so that's good! However, it's much better in "lossess" quality, you get much more of the roomy, atmospheric feel, the majestic / epic... idk how else to describe it.

@MMasterDE

4 ай бұрын

I think you actually "got" the riff, I think it's the stuff you really liked. :p I like how you described the progression here. It's cyclical, but it also moves along, with the same melody, just different. haha They go more progressive later on, but this really is their highlight as far as I'm concerned. You say it sounds like third wave, and it's almost cookie cutter so... but it's second wave, and there was no such sound at the time, not even close. This is some of what new waves of bm wants to imitate, just do their own version of.

The Bathory influence is what stands out the most to me, which is good.

@oatmeal710

4 ай бұрын

listen to wrath of the tyrants, pure bathory/celtic frost worship

You several times addressed this as 3rd wave black metal, Emperor is generally consider one of the forerunners of the 2nd wave. First wave are the 'proto-BM' variously-European acts of the early 80s that went evil and/or harsher, Venom MercyfulFate Hellhammer ... 2nd wave is late 80s early 90s focused on northern-Europe and sometimes titularly Norweigian BM. Mayhem Emperor Darkthrone ... ... If there is some division between these times, post it up!

@CriticalReactions

4 ай бұрын

Yup, had that mixed up a little. Thanks for the clarification.

You said something about not entirely knowing the history of Black Metal and I had a thought. You, doing a history of Black Metal series giving your thoughts on a defining song from each wave. Preferably a short series of songs from each wave but that's to my benefit haha I know you're not much of a fan. Maybe detailing the progressions or possibly regressions from wave to wave. Hell, we could even jump into the different sounds of Black metal from region to region if we wanted to get wild. haha

@CriticalReactions

4 ай бұрын

It's a neat idea but I'm already planning something similar with Post-Hardcore that's gonna take a LONG time to get through. I'm not gonna say the Black Metal History Lesson will never happen but it's not in my future plans at the moment.

Just a small thought: This is a pretty popular song being a major Black Metal band on it's (arguably) most well respected release ever. Yet it's flat out just full on distortion, open chord dissonance with drummings marching away as fast as possible. To me that's ironically the legacy of Black Metal (Because lyrically and idelogically, couldn't dislike these bands more) the fact that it's among the most popular metal genres (Yes, even beyond Death Metal imho) And it's *THIS* dissonant and challenging while still having enough elements in there (Ambiance, repetition, etc.) To make songs memorable and the genre pallatable to millions of people. It's no wonder the avant garde scene has been enamored with black metal in recent years.

I think you could connect with riffs that much, it’s just that you haven’t had the amount of experience and time it takes to intuitively “get” a riff on first listen. Especially in extreme forms of metal, it takes a long time to train your ears.

@HawkOfGP

4 ай бұрын

I wonder, because I remember that this was the first black metal song I ever heard (well, the earlier EP version which I prefer to this day) and there was never any doubt over what "the riff" was. I was around thirteen years old at the time with my metal experience limited to a handful of bands like Metallica and Children of Bodom.

@morgue_file

4 ай бұрын

@@HawkOfGP Valid point, kinda reminds me of the Nature vs. Nurture argument. I will say, it definitely comes easier/quicker to some. I also wonder if he delineates the concept of a "riff" the same way most of us metalheads do. When I hear a chord progression, for example, that's not a riff. To me, at least. I've always just assumed other people interpreted metal the same way, but perhaps not! Either way, you have good taste - I also prefer the EP version. That whole EP is so fucking raw.

@HawkOfGP

4 ай бұрын

@@morgue_file I agree that a chord progression is not a riff. Something needs to be done to the chord progression to make it into a riff. But there's more. For example, I don't tend to refer to finger-picking parts as riffs either, even though I guess technically you could do so. Like, the intro to Stairway to Heaven is not a riff to me but the more strummy parts are. I think the general definition of a riff is not necessarily so strict, but the way people tend to use the word is with quite specific types of repeated guitar parts.

They’re all surf rock riffs

Here’s day 1 of asking for a reaction to gorgoroth-gorgoroth every day

You are correct that Black Metal used to be much more than what it is today.

@greggerypeccary

4 ай бұрын

That's when it was black metal, not crap-metal.

You get a black wizards and you get a black wizards and you get a bla…

Pretty much love everything ihsahn is involved in but this album.... its not for me

@progperljungman8218

4 ай бұрын

I'd say though, hearing it live in full 2014, with more modern sound/mixing (and Einar Solberg as guest on keyboards and backing vocals), gave me a whole new appreciation for it.

@tornoutlaw

4 ай бұрын

Same, I enjoy the following releases and Ihsahns solo stuff so much more. Anthems is my favorite BM album to date. But I respect what they achieved with their debut at such a young age. And the songs are solid, as the well produced live performances demonstrate.