Born from the ashes of Thou Shalt Suffer, the Samoth-led Emperor (name inspired by Celtic Frost's The Emperor's Return) was formed in the autumn of 1991. The band had evolved from Embryonic which had issued a demo in 1990 called The Land Of The Lost Souls. Thou Shalt Suffer issued one 7" EP and a demo in 1991. 1992 brought the Wrath Of The Tyrant demo (re-released through Wild Rags) following which Faust joined on drums. Hellhammer was part of the band too, but things didn't work out. Following a recommendation by Euronymous of Mayhem Emperor signs to Candlelight and quickly releases a MLP (and a split CD of the same) with fellow Norwegians Enslaved. The MLP showcased a Norwegian black metal band with keyboards and the works. This MCD was the beginning of Century Media's side-label called Century Black.
Just prior to the release of split composer Mortiis was asked to leave the band. In The Nightside Eclipse featured five new songs and three older songs. My Empires Doom was now called Beyond The Great Vast Forest. Shortly afterwards drummer Faust was arrested and jailed for eight years (initially sentenced for thirteen) for a gruesome murder of a homosexual man. Then came the arrest of replacement Tchort and the arrest of Samoth for burning of the Skjold church. Samoth spent two years incarcerated. The media frenzy was on and the band sold more albums than ever. With Samoth out of prison the band was active again and The Wrath... demo was given the CD treatment.
Anthems... featured former Enslaved member Torson. Torson had replaced Mefisto. The latter had departed because of "personal problems within the band." Emperor opened for Deicide, Morbid Angel, etc. before becoming a very popular headliner. 2001 brought a new album and a surprise announcement that Emperor will call it a day to concentrate on respective other projects. The announcement was greeted with the full expectation that the band will 'reform' in a couple of years.
Haugen runs his own label called Nocturnal Art. During the summer of 2002 drummer Faust announced a plan to play on a forthcoming Dissection album once the Swedish band is reformed. The participation was rescinded when it became clear that Faust and Dissection's Jon did not see eye to eye.
Candlelight issued a video of the band called Emperial Live Ceremony. As predicted Emperor 'reunited' in 2005 for a Scream Magazine anniversary show in the autumn of 2005. The band also announced an appearance at the Inferno Festival in Oslo and at Wacken for 2006. An album was not far behind.

EMPEROR - EMPERIAL LIVE CEREMONY - CANDLELIGHT
What is there to say about Emperor that will ring new to the readers? Love them or hate them Emperor have transformed themselves into one of the bigger independent bands and managed to break out in several different ways. It is no secret that this reviewer has had a loathing for the Norwegian band since its inception. The combination of the idiotic actions of the band, muffled chaos of a sound and abundance of childish keyboards have relegated Emperor to the rank of a bona fide commercial boy band in these eyes. On this disc, Emperor manage a relatively good sound, capturing their live stamina and most of their bigger tracks make an apperance. It's all drowned in pop synthesizers still, and the hoarse shouts of the front man regarding whether the crowd wants to hear more do ring of an arena rock band waiting to come out of the closet, but there clearly is a market for these lads. Worth noting is the video on track one which might confuse you with its muted status on your audio CD player. - Ali "The Metallian"