Be afraid...be very afraid. More sons of Northern darkness, this time slightly more symphonic than Mayhem or Darkthrone, but still as black and as suffocating. Emperor made big waves with 'Wrath...', their shrill,buzzing and claustrophobic flaming evil layered with keyboards but just as despicable, giving off that completely cold, remote angst that belongs in some distant snowy forest. Norway and its black metal scene became an inhospitable place for a long time during the early '90s, many fearing the arctic noise and corpse painted warriors and their genuine unholy vibe. Many laugh now when they look back on such a scene, but for me this grim wave was a little like discovering metal for the first time, the image and sound very much genuine and fresh, and the temptation to delve into the dark waters all too much to take so simply drown in this kind of stuff because its pure evil metal.
Musically its pretty fast-paced, vocally harsh and nasty, and Emperor were certainly one of those bands quickly able to progress within the scene that soon became saturated in similar, albeit often false acts, but 'Wrath...' certainly remains one of the genre milestones.
7/10
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