Emperor "Wrath of the Tyrant/Emperor"

Wrath of the Tyrant is the first demo album by the Norwegian black metal band Emperor. It was recorded in May 1992 and self-released by the band shortly after. Compared to Emperor's later work, the style of the album is much closer to death metal.

Wrath of the Tyrant was originally distributed by the band as a demo shortly after it was recorded. This original demotape had a picture of a chimera on the cover. In 1994 it was re-released through Wild Rag Records with two bonus tracks and different artwork. Tchort, who didn't join the band until 1993, is the person who appears on this cover. In 1998, it was re-mastered and released with the tracks from the Emperor EP. There are two versions of this re-release; the Candlelight Records version has the cover of the Emperor EP and features video footage of live performances from the band, while the Century Black version has a different cover and lacks the video footage.


Most of the songs on Wrath of the Tyrant were later re-recorded by the band. "Wrath of the Tyrant" and "Night of the Graveless Souls" were re-recorded in December 1992 for the Emperor EP. "Ancient Queen", "Witches Sabbath" and "Lord of the Storms" were re-recorded during the same session and released on As the Shadows Rise. "My Empire's Doom" was re-recorded and renamed "Beyond the Great Vast Forest" on the band's debut album, In the Nightside Eclipse. "Moon over Kara-Shehr" was re-recorded with Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg on drums and released on the compilation Nordic Metal - A Tribute to Euronymous in 1995.


All lyrics by Mortiis, 1991-92
All music by Ihsahn & Samoth, 1991-92

Re-release of the Emperor EP and the Wrath of the Tyrant demo with remastered sound and a different introduction.

Later re-released with bonus material that includes very rare, exclusive footage of pre-Nightside rehearsals plus live outtakes from the band's first tour.

Recording information:

"Emperor" (tracks 1 to 4) was recorded December 1992 at Studio S.
"Wrath Of The Tyrant" (tracks 5 to 11) was recorded on a 4-track home studio in May 1992.

Re-mastered at Strype Audio by Tom Kvälsvoll & Samoth.
However, the ''Emperor'' recording has been kept very close to its original sound.
''Wrath of the Tyrant'' has by nature a very ''necro'' sound, and nothing was done

to hide that.