AMPLIFIED ALPINE PRESENTS
THE EMPERIAL WRATH TOUR

Emperor

with Blood Incantation

About Emperor

Eventually there comes a time when the hype about a band becomes superfluous, and their status alone speaks volumes. Such is the case with Emperor, the black metal gods hailing from Telemark, Norway. Emperor has become known as one of the originators of symphonic Black Metal that Norway is internationally renowned for. Their cult album “In the Nightside Eclipse” has been ranked among albums like Slayer’s “Reign in Blood” and Venom’s “Black Metal” as a definitive masterpiece of our time.

Beginning life as a trio in the spring of ’91 with Samoth (drums), Ihsahn (guitar/vocals) and Mortiis (bass), the band quickly recorded and circulated the now legendary “Wrath of the Tyrant” demo. It was this demo that brought them to the attention of the then still-fledgling Candlelight record label. A deal was inked, Samoth moved to guitar and Bard Faust was recruited for the now vacant drum stool. By the end of 1992, the band had recorded their half of the “Emperor / Enslaved” split CD which surfaced early the following year. Mortiis departed, and was later replaced by Tchort.

The press response was justifiably excellent and by the summer of ’93 Emperor were...

The press response was justifiably excellent and by the summer of ’93 Emperor were recording once more, this time working on their debut full-length album “In the Nightside Eclipse”. By the time of the albums release in 1994 they had become without a doubt one of the most important bands in the genre, gathering worldwide critical acclaim and a rabid fan base to match.

In autumn of ’93 a series of headline-grabbing events took place, which lead to turbulence within the scene, causing Emperor to suffer some instability within the band’s line-up. Despite these events, the entity of Emperor would come out even stronger in the end. Eventually a new permanent line-up was announced. Alver had replaced Tchort on bass, and Trym (ex. Enslaved) had replaced Faust on drums. The bones of what would become their most epic and majestic material to date were taking shape.

By the end of ’96, now fully prepared and rehearsed, they went back into the studio. First the “Reverence” EP announced their return to the fold, followed up in early ’97 with what is without doubt one of the most ambitious and important black metal releases to date…”Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk,” an album of epic savagery! Not only beautiful, but bestial in it’s wide ranging scope. The press agreed. Not only was “Anthems..” featured in almost every “album of the year poll” across the globe, but actually won the album of the year in both Terrorizer (UK) and Metal Maniacs (USA).

Since the release of the genre defining “Anthems…. ” album, things were active in the Emperor camp. Following a couple of tours in 1997, and appearances at Dynamo and Milwaukee Metalfest in1998, the band announced that bass player Alver would be leaving. As a result of this, Ihsahn handled all bass duties on the upcoming “IX Equilibrium” album.

“IX Equilibrium” was their single most breathtaking vision to date. Surpassing even the mighty “Anthems…” for its sheer scope of diversity, the album utilized elements from their traditional metal roots, operatic vocals and of course their trademark symphonic soundscape.

With the success of “IX Equilibrium,” Emperor set out to conquer new territories as a touring band. They toured Europe as special guests for Morbid Angel, headlined the US on their 1999’s “Kings of Terror” tour, and also appeared at various festivals. During this period Emperor recorded the live album and full-length DVD, “Emperial Live Ceremony”, which to this day stand as a strong testimony to Emperor’s mighty live performance. In 2001 Emperor released what was to become their swansong, “Prometheus – the Discipline of Fire & Demise.”

An epic and progressive metal album that once and for all marked Emperor as one of the most adventurous and gifted Black Metal band of all times. With the release of “Prometheus…” the band also announced their departure as an active band. “The Emperor is dead, long live the Emperor” roamed the metal world. However, the legacy of Emperor was held high by their loyal fan base, and since the bands departure, their credibility has only grown stronger. In 2003, the “best-of” double album “Scattered Ashes – A Decade of Emperial Wrath” was released, and celebrated many of the fine moments of Emperor’s career.

In 2005, Emperor took the metal world by storm at a surprise show in Oslo when they announced that they were reforming for a few selected reunion shows in Europe and USA. In 2006 and 2007, they played select festivals and headline shows in USA, Norway, France, United Kingdom, Germany and Finland. Some of these shows were filmed and recorded, and were released as the “Live Inferno”
live album and DVD in 2009.

In 2014, the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of “In The Nightside Eclipse”, with a few exclusive performances in Sweden, France, Finland, Japan, Germany and United Kingdom. They played sold out shows in Japan, and headlined several of the biggest festivals, including Wacken Open Air and Hellfest. In 2016, the Finnish label Blood Music released the result of a massive undertaking, the mastodon vinyl box with every bit of music Emperor ever recorded, with “Emperor: The Complete Works”. The 700 Euro boxset was released in three different colors, and all copies were sold out immediately.

The band performed select headline-shows and festival appearances in the years 2017-2019, including Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium), Tons Of Rock (Norway), Rock Fest Barcelona (Spain), Loudpark (Japan), Metal Mania Festival (Poland), Heavy MTL (Canada) and Summer Breeze Open Air (Gernany). The band was also invited back to headline performances at Hellfest (France), Wacken Open Air (Germany). Headlining tours of Australia and Japan was also performed.

In 2020, the band participated in the “70.000 Tons Of Metal” cruise, sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to Cozumel. For 2022, the band confirmed several festival appearances in Europe, in addition to a long due Latin America tour of Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Chile, where the show in Santiago was sold out within hours, and had to be upgraded to a bigger venue. The band also performed at the “Psycho Las Vegas” festival in USA. 2023 saw the band return to Japan, Australia and New Zealand for sold out shows, in addition to festival appearances in Norway, Romania and Finland. A US tour of five dates was also performed, seeing the band performing their first North America tour in 17 years.

In 2024, the band already performed live in Scotland, Ireland, Greece and another Latin America tour, and further summer festivals in Europe. In 2025, the band returned as hadliner of the 70.000 Tons Of Metal cruise, played another US tour, and festival appearances in Norway, Romania, United Kingdom and Belgium are confirmed.

Beyond that, the future, as ever, is a mystery waiting to be unravelled…Emperor is a phenomenon. Almost two decades after their final studio album, the demand for the band is higher than ever, and the band´s music continues to inspire fans and musicians of new generations.

About Blood Incantation

The new Blood Incantation album, Absolute Elsewhere, is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. Yes, that’s an audacious, possibly hyperbolic claim, but few can claim a sonic watershed as readily as this Denver, Colorado quartet. Hovering at nearly 45 minutes, their longest full length recording yet, the album’s two sprawling movements – “The Stargate” and “The Message” – are as confounding as they are engaging, exponentially expanding upon the formulas laid down by their scene-shattering debut Starspawn (2016) and landmark followup Hidden History of the Human Race (2019).

As Blood Incantation’s Paul Riedl tells, “‘Absolute Elsewhere’ is our most potent audial extract/musical trip yet; like the soundtrack to a Herzog-style Sci-Fi epic about the history of/battle for human consciousness itself, via a 70s Prog album played by a 90s Death Metal band from the future.” For inspiration, the group looked to the mid-70’s progressive rock collective, Absolute Elsewhere (best known as a celestial stopover for King Crimson drummer, Bill Bruford) as the album’s namesake. For the uninitiated, Absolute Elsewhere’s obscure 1976 album, In Search of Ancient Gods, was constructed as a musical accompaniment to the works of Chariots of the Gods author, Erich Von Daniken, and his theories of non-terrestrial humanoid prompts towards mankind’s evolution. The subject matter of which should serve as no surprise to anyone familiar with Blood Incantation’s cosmically philosophical leanings. But make no mistake, the four musicians working under the Blood Incantation banner for the past decade – guitarist and vocalist Paul Riedl, drummer Isaac Faulk, guitarist Morris Kolontyrsky and bassist Jeff Barrett – have successfully left the microgravity of genre behind and are re-writing the Rosetta Stone of extreme music with a new language entirely. Demonstrations like their 2022 all-synth show or 2024’s Roadburn Festival headlining appearance where they played back-to-back death metal and ambient made it clear: Blood Incantation have honed their abilities to go boldly where few bands have gone before, and reveal no signs of slowing down.

For Absolute Elsewhere, the band’s first full-length since their cinematic Timewave Zero EP (2022) and epic Luminescent Bridge maxi-single (2023), Blood Incantation decamped to the celebrated Hansa Tonstudios in Berlin, Germany in July 2023 to record with wünderkid producer Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Spectral Voice, Kreator, Wayfarer, Sumerlands, etc). This legendary, pre-Weimar-built recording complex was where many of their most progressive influences including Tangerine Dream, Eloy and Brian Eno created classic albums in the 1970s. Unmistakably, Hansa and Berlin became part of the underlying character of the album, culminating in Tangerine Dream’s own Thorsten Quaeschning contributing lead synths, Mellotron and programming to “The Stargate [Tablet II]”. Other special guests include Nicklas Malmqvist, from Sweden’s star-riding Hällas, on lead synths/keys, piano and Mellotron throughout all tracks, and Malte Gericke, the Sijjin/ex-Necros Christos mainman contributing guest vocals in his native tongue. Underscoring the classic Progressive Rock vibe, the album is adorned with contemporary visionary paintings by the iconic and reclusive 70s Sci-Fi artist Steve R. Dodd. Together, this international all-star team adds to the unearthly atmospherics of Absolute Elsewhere, which defines a new musical epoch for Blood Incantation.

Today they have launched their Stargate Research Society discord and Elsewhere Searcher app – a home for discussions of all things Blood Incantation. Researchers at the society recently unearthed an 80’s era floppy disk containing vintage celestial tracker software. The researchers were able to re-activate the space tracker and through meticulous study of the visible solar system have noticed the appearance of a new red planet in the vicinity of Orion’s Belt. The researchers also claim that the new planet is intermittently emitting signals, although no recordings of these transmissions have been captured yet. The society has made their research available to the public in an effort to warn citizens of the planet’s rapid approach toward Earth, with a possible collision occurring in October 2024. The tracker is open for public use at www.stargateresearchsociety.app.