ALBUMS WE WISH HAD MADE THE LIST: PROMETHEUS – THE DISCIPLINE OF FIRE & DEMISE
Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Satan Rosenbloom
Emperor, Prometheus – The Discipline of Fire & Demise (Candlelight, 2001)
Ihsahn – Vocals/Guitars/Synths/Bass/Programming
Samoth – Guitars
Trym – Drums
Produced by Ihsahn
Screw you guys. Emperor don’t need your stupid list of the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century. They probably don’t give a fuck about how they’re remembered, and not just because they’ve had convicted arsonists, murderers and flying elves in their ranks. Emperor had achieved legendary status long before Prometheus – The Discipline of Fire & Demise was conceived by main man Ihsahn, so perhaps the only place to go was bigger, grander, more complex. Lucky for Ihsahn that his bandmates Samoth and Trym were busy getting their blackened death metal project Zyklon off the ground – there are very few checks to Ihsahn’s grandiose ambitions on Prometheus. The album is the sound of a master metal craftsman, lost in his own imagination, polishing and tweaking and overdubbing until every last detail gleams like obsidian.
It ain’t just the synthesized orchestral parts that give Prometheus the feel of an electric classical symphony. There’s also Ihsahn’s ornate arrangements. Gothic guitar melodies criss-cross, harsh screams and soaring baritone vocals overlap, torrential blastbeats cease just long enough for a massive hook to be unleashed before the thunder begins again. Prometheus is dense, even impenetrable. Hell, I had to buy it three times before I began to figure it out. And yet for those willing to put in the effort, there are few records as simultaneously majestic and steamrolling as Prometheus. While it wasn’t as groundbreaking as Emperor’s early masterpieces, Prometheus was the logical extreme of the band’s symphonic black metal progression. Apparently, they saw it that way too, and broke up shortly after the album’s release. And given the album’s final lyric, “Now that I am gone/ Lay thorns on my grave,” it would seem that Emperor saw it coming.
-SR
Holy shit !?!?
Do I get one of those first post things !? Ace
Anyways, when this album came out, me and my buddy lay in the front room, turned all the lights out and listened to the whole album from start to finish, through a Bang & Olufsen set up, in the dark….
It was frightening… basically the best blackened death metal album ever. Its untouchable, and amazing how much Abigail Williams want to be this record.
My Favorite Emperor album. The Eruption and Empty are flawless
Complex and challenging. Be sure to pick up Emperor’s Live Inferno swansong.
This is a great album, although ‘Anthems’ still gets more play from me. And yes, I know, ‘Anthems’ didn’t come out in this decade.
Wait, how can I be sure this is actually metal? And the first few posts sure seem to imply that this is a (dare I say) *popular* choice. Doesn’t that, you know, disqualify it?
Anyway…
of course. if more than 3 people like a band their too hip to be true
I’ll agree with this. This should definitely have made the list.
Holy Hell I fucking love this CD
It’s all like doo-doo-doo-acoustic-There was nothing-DUNNUHNUHNUHNUHNUHNUH-RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRR
Seriously though, Emperor slays and this album is a masterpiece.
i see what you are doing metalsucks and I am very disappointed, don’t try to redeem yourself by pandering, if there isn’t any real news you should just make some up, this is not the way
It’s no Andrew W.K.’s I GET WET.
I want some Go-Go’s or B-52’s
Good album, not their best…but I guess its wins by default by being the only one released this decade. I dig it, but it doesn’t really sound much like Emperor….more like one of Ihsahn’s solo albums. The only songs I find myself still throwing on occasionally are “The Eruption” “The Wordless Chamber” and “Thorns on my Grave”. ….. “The Wordless Chamber” could have been on “Anthems..” and not seemed out of place. Gotta love the french horn in that song!!!
The heavy part after the quiet part of “In the Wordless Chamber” is the heaviest thing that has ever been. Ever. It’s a black hole. So good.
This album, as well as ANGL should have made the list.
+1
Agree 100% Mancubus
Wow. That review was absolutely spot-on. Great job. This is an absolutely amazing album. I feel it’s just as good as any other Emperor album. Ihsahn can do no wrong in my book. I even found myself enjoying Peccatum.
I don’t even like black metal, but I admit this album was great.
Great pick, this was one of the first black metal records I ever listened, it has a unique atmosphere and even though it doesn’t come close to the masterpiece that was Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, it’s definitely one of the greatest black metal albums of the new century.
this album is pure magic, could have been out two days ago or even in ten years, just a masterpiece!