BIOGRAPHY In the beginning of the 1990's Samoth got his first band together. He had been playing in several bands before that. Ihsahn and Samoth had met on a rock-music seminar for beginners. Since then, they had been playing together. At the very beginning they were called Dark Device, then later called Xerasia. In the end of 1990, the band recorded their first official studio-demo under the band name Embryonic called 'The Land of the Lost Souls'. Embryonic later turned into the more well known Thou Shalt Suffer. At that time the band consisted of Ihsahn (Lead guitar, synth and vocals), Samoth (guitars), IIdjarn (bass) and Thorbjørn (drums). In 1991, the demo 'Into the Woods of Belial' was to be released as a limited edition MLP, but this never happened. In additon to the demo was a 7" EP 'Open the Mysteries of Your Creation' released in a limited edition of 1100 copies by vanished Mexican label Distorted Harmony Records. On this EP there was a line up change with Thorbjørn playing bass and Ronny on drums. During summer of 1991 Samoth started to compose music outside Thou Shalt Suffer and this is when Emperor begun. Ihsahn and Samoth started rehersing on tape. Mortiis has been a friend of Ihsahn and Samoth for a long time, and was a natural person to ask to join the band to play bass. The actual name change to Emperor occured in 1992, now consisting of Ihsahn (Ygg - lead guitar, vocals), Samoth (Samot - drums) and Mortiis (bass, synth). They recorded and released their demo 'Wrath of the Tyrant' in Spring that year. Later in 1992 through contact from the underground network, Faust from Stigma Diabolicum joined the band and replaced Samoth on drums. Samoth now played guitar and Emperor recorded their a split LP during December titled 'Emperor/Hordanes Land' with viking metal band Enslaved. This was released during 1993. After the December recording, additonal tracks were later released through Samoths own label. This was released in 1993 as a 7" EP titled 'As the Shadows Rise', limited to 1000 copies and available only from the bands address for $8. The Nocturnal Art Productions label was started in 1994. In August 1992, while Faust was checking out the newly completed Olympic Park at Lillehammer, a man approached him and suggested they go together in the woods. Faust agreed and followed him. As the man came forward to embrace him Faust sunk a knife into his gut and hanked it up. Two days later Count Grishnackh, Euronymous and Faust drive up to Holmenkollen Chapel and poured gasoline over hymnals and Bibles and lit it with a match. Emperor stopped wearing corpsepaint after the 1993 tour with Cradle of Filth. Emperor claims that it has lost its symbolism and that it was becoming a black metal trend, so they removed it. Samoth had met up with Satyr and offered to join Satyricon for their live performances, as they were just about to release 'Dark Medieval Times'. Samoth ended up being a permanent member for sometime and recorded as a second guitarist and bass-player on 'The Shadowthrone' album in the summer of 1994. He had also become a session bass player with Gorgoroth on the 'Pentagram' album and some live gigs. In August 1993, Euronymous of Mayhem was stabbed 23 times to death (two to the head, five to the next and 16 to the back) by Count Grishnackh of Burzum. Several members of Emperor were arrested and faced trial in January 1994. It was about this time that mixing for 'In the Nightside Eclipse' had been completed and was later eventually released. Faust was found out and arrested for church arson and murder. He is now serving a 16 year prison sentence at Ullersmo Landfengsel. Samoth had to leave Satyricon and Gorgoroth in late March 1995 when he was incarcerated for 16 months for arson. The result of this was the Burzum 'Aske' mini album, pictured the destruction of the Skjold church. Most of the material for 'Anthems to the Welkin At Dusk' he had already written over a period of three years, before being sentenced. Just before Samoth went to prison the Zyklon-B project was recorded. The mini-album 'Blood Must Be Shed' consisting of three tracks was released while Samoth was imprisoned. During that time there was some turbulence within the band. It was decided that it would be best if Mortiis would leave. Mortiis left the band in 1994 and later moved to Sweden. There were no hard feelings, and the members of Emperor still keep in touch with him. He now works on his own projects under the names of Mortiis and Vond, released by Dark Dungeon Records. The style can be best described as dark ambient music. Emperor were left without a bass player for a while. IIdjarn from Thou Shalt Suffer was playing with them for a while, but this was nothing permanent. Tchort later joined the band. He was a guy they had known from the black metal underground in Norway. He played bass on 'In The Nightside Eclipse' in 1995. Tchorts relationship with the band at this point began to fade away, as during this time everything was slow with the band. Tchort lived too far away and often didn't show up for rehersals, in the end leaving the band. He was later sentenced to six months prison for knife assault, burglary and desecration. Tchorts daughter also died because of a 'curse' - according to Tchort himself. Tchort now plays with Satyricon for live appearances. Hellhammer of Mayhem replaced Faust on drums, and Sverd of Arcturus played synth for some time, but nothing creative came out of it. Trym was no longer in Enslaved, after being partly kicked out. He was asked to join Emperor in drums. At that point Trym decided to join the band. Alver, an old friend of Faust has been a permanent member in Emperor since February 1995. The tracks for the 'Reverence' EP were recorded in October 1996 with the new line up, being Ihsahn (guitar, synth, vocals), Samoth (guitar), Trym (drums) and Alver (bass). This EP was released in 1997 and later that year 'Athems to the Welkin at Dusk' followed. In April 1998, Charmand Grimloch from Tartoros has joined Emperor and now plays synth in rehersals and live appearances. It is intended that it will most probably stay this way, although he did participate on a track 'Gypsy' on a Mercyful Fate tribute album. In Autumn 1997 Nocturnal Art Productions released the Thou Shalt Suffer 'In the Woods of Belial' demo and 'Open the Mysteries of Your Creation' EP plus bonus material from 1991 on CD. Ihsahn has taken over Thou Shalt Suffer since Samoth left and has been recording an album, 'Satane Imperio Consecratio'. This style will being in a different vein, as it is an orchestral project. Nocturnal Art Productions now has a web page, and an official Emperor page is being built. During June 1998, Alver has left the band for personal reasons. Emperor have advertised on their website for a new bass player. In Autumn Emperor will be releasing a split album with Thorns. It will be titled 'Thorns vs Emperor' and will be relased on the Moonfog label. The album will feature new songs from both bands. Emperor has also recorded a track for a Darkthrone tribute album. With their 'IX Equilibrium' album, they really sat the standard of a new way of intelligent Black Metal. Candlelight also wanted to earn more money, so they have also released a live video and a CD called 'Emperial Live Ceremony'. A limited edition vinylbox is also out; 'Emperial Vinyl Presentation' |