Emperor

Emperor was one of the pioneers of the second wave of Black Metal in Norway, paving the way alongside bands such as Darkthrone, Mayhem, and Burzum. While many early Black Metal bands had more simplistic song structure, even Emperor's early work was characterized by time changes and great complexity, all amidst Emperor's character synths. Now defunct, Emperor left an imperial legacy of four albums: 1994's In the Nightside Eclipse, 1997's Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, 1999's IX Equillibrium, and 2001's Prometheus- The Discipline of Fire and Demise. The latter, Emperor's farewell album, is an incredibly complex symphonic masterpiece, a testament to Ihsahn's genius. Samoth has changed his stage name to Zamoth and is now in the Death/Black band Zyklon, Ihsahn moved on to make music with his wife Ihriel in Peccatum (now split-up) and at present Ihsahn has his own solo project (see a few posts down for his album).

In the Nightside Eclipse (1994)
Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (1997)
Thorns vs. Emperor Split (1999)
IX Equillibrium (1999)
Prometheus- The Discipline of Fire and Demise (2001)