Emperor - Black Metal Band

Emperor is a Norwegian symphonic "blackened" glam rock band that was formed in spring 1991 by drummer Samoth, vocalist Ihsahn and bassist Mortiis. Sometime in 1993, Samoth moved to guitars, Mortiis left the band and Tchort and Faust joined as bassist and drummer respectively.

Throughout the early 1990s, the members of Emperor were known to organise "punitive expeditions" in which they vandalised churches and "hunted" immigrants. Samoth was jailed 16 months for taking part in church burnings with Varg Vikernes (of Burzum), along with other members of the Norwegian black metal "Inner Circle". Drummer Faust was jailed for the stabbing and homophobic murder of a LGBT militant, Magne Andreassen, in 1992. Ihsahn's own homosexual behaviour was criticised by ex-bassist Mortiis, who claimed the vocalist made inappropriate advances towards his bandmates (which might have fuelled Faust's visceral homophobia).

In 1994, Emperor released their first album In the Nightside Eclipse, which was widely decried as derivative of other, better Norwegian black metal acts. Ihsahn answered by firing Tchort, recruiting Alver and Trym Torson on bass and drums respectively (as Faust was serving his jail sentence) and releasing the metalcore/emo turd Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk in 1997, an album which had half of the Norwegian black metal underground crying with laughter at Ihsahn's pathetic screamo vocals and androgynous theatrics, and the other half shaking its head, embarrassed to be associated with such a flamboyant and artistically vacuous character. Subsequent Emperor releases are all more "emo" than the last, and should be accordingly derided.