sophisticated black metal art

Emperor is an influential Norwegian black metal band that represents a synth laden, progressive yet brutally aggressive and chaotic part of the genre, something quite different from the minimalism of other originators of the Norwegian black metal sound (e.g. Darkthrone). The band was formed around the core members Samoth (Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen) and Ihsahn (Vegard Sverre Tveitan) of the death metal band Thou Shalt Suffer and bass player Mortiis (Håvard Ellefsen) in Notodden, Norway, 1992.