Emperor — Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire & Demise

You've probably all heard it. Emperor decided to call it quits.I don't know why -but a possible reason might well be that they thinkthey can't possibly top this here album. If that is the case, I canonly agree it would be near impossible to do so.

You know, it's not that often you get an album and instantly know this'll bethe best album that's released (and will be released) in the entire year. Thistime however, there was no doubt at all in my mind that this is the masterpiece thelikes of which we have not seen this year. Now, that's quite a bold statement, sonaturally you are going to demand some sort of justification for that.

Let me begin by saying that for those who've not purchased any previous albums, such asthe classic 'Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk' or 'In the Nightside Eclipse'... or possiblyeven the previous one 'IX Equilibrium' (which didn't rank too high in my opinion), do notneed fear they'll still not have the best Emperor CD if they purchase only this one.'Prometheus' wipes the floor with all previous Emperor albums, both in songwriting andmusical performance as well as sheer brilliance...

The very first time I heard this album I almost was in tears... didn't think I'd hearsuch a great album this year. All the aspects that made Ihsahn & co. interesting over thepast albums are incorporated into this album. The more brutal parts of 'IX...', themore bombastic, epic and black metal parts of 'Anthems...' and 'Into...' -it's all here.Combine that with more complex material than they've released before, but put togetherin such a way it makes more sense than many another CD and we're on our way to have awinner.

To top it all off, the way the more classical elements are incorporated put bands likeDimmu Borgir to shame -and Emperor didn't even use a real orchestra. It sounds morenatural, and it entirely incorporated and worked into the songs, instead of layered inbetween drums and guitars.

Combine with the fact that this CD has a next to perfect sound (the production and mixtruly are great), that the lads have decided that this last CD needn't be filled withperpetual blast beats but instead opted to have more dynamics in the songs themselves,and of course Ihsahn's lyrical adventures, and it makes me wonder why you are stillreading this review, and not rushing out to the CD store.

I wouldn't be me however, if I hadn't found at least a very minor point to nitpick about.The clear vocals could be slightly improved in track 5 ("The Tongue of Fire"). That's it.Really.

You want any highlights? The entire CD is a highlight. From the semi-classical start of"The Eruption" to the final tones of "Thorns on my Grave", every song is great. The onlyCD I can remember that had such an impact on me was the the last Limbonic Art CD. Andeven that one is less of a masterpiece than 'Prometheus...'.

Emperor may have upped n died... but boy did they leave one hell of a final statement.This is the sort of CD that makes bands quit in disgust, since they know they'll neverbe able to top it.