Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse

I don't know if I have to lose a lot of words about this release, if you are into Black Metal, you know it and surely own it and I guess you like it.
This album was I think the first "real" Black Metal album I got after having heard Dimmu Borgir and that stuff. Now don't get me wrong, I don't wanna say that Dimmu Borgir sucks...
This album has 10 tracks (on the rerelease version of 1998). It starts with the very long "Into the Infinity of thoughts" which lasts for about 9 minutes. It is a great track, a good way to start an album with the intro of that song. The intro takes one minute then all becomes very heavy and when Ihsahn starts screaming, you know where you are. The second song called "The Burning Shadows of Silence" is not as good as all the others IMO. For me it's the "worst" of the album so I'm not gonna say a lot about it. The third one again is a real killer. "Cosmic Keys to my Creations and Times". The fourth and the fifth song are also really great. The sixth one, "The Majesty of the Nightsky" starts really fast, but has a good break with keyboards and wind. The 2 last songs are real classics, "I am the Black Wizards" and "Inno a Satana". "I am the Black Wizards" has become my favourite song, I don't know it has something special. I could listen to that one a hundred times a day, it's so great. The keyboards fit really well in that song and create the usual dark athmosphere. "Inno a Satana" is the only song where you hear "clean" vocals mixed with Ihsahn's screams. The end of that song is simply superb.
On the re-released version, there are 2 bonus tracks, "A fine Day to die" which is a Bathory cover. It lasts for about 9 minutes, I like it very much as at the beginning it's very slow and has clean vocals. There is also "Gypsy" which is a King Diamond cover. The vocals are a bit unusual, I guess some people would call them gay but if you get used to themm aybe you like them.
All in all this is an album that I can strongly recommend to everybody who likes Black Metal. The music is very good, the production is ok too and the lyrics are very evil, which is really great.

Lyrics to this album

9.5/10		Svafnir (2000)

1998 (originally 1994)
Candlelight Records
10 tracks (re-release)
59:52 minutes

01 Into the Infinity of Thoughts
02 The Burning Shadows of Silence
03 Cosmic Keys to my Creations & Times
04 Beyond the Great Vast Forest
05 Towards the Pantheon
06 The Majesty of the Nightsky
07 I am the Black Wizards
08 Inno a Satana
09 A Fine Day to Die *
10 Gypsy *

* Bonus Tracks