Yes, The Adversary does sound like Emperor. And, yes, it is good. There. This is all you really wanted to know, right?
But there is so much more to this for those who want to explore. After reviewing Zyklon's DisIntegrate in this same issue, once again we are reminded who the real creative force behind Emperor was. And this could easily be an Emperor album even when it is trying NOT to sound like Emperor – after all, Emperor have always been known for their will to progress and this one is not an exception – even more elements that you wouldn't think of being suitable for a black metal album – but they work.
Emperor's last work, Prometheus: the Discipline of Fire and Demise, was a brilliant album. But, while it did engage you (and then some) on an intellectual level it was lacking something purely on a physical, gut-level. Simply, it didn't crush all that much. Ihsahn himself has later admitted that, while paying all the possible attention to the detail, he was losing sight of the general picture. Deciding not to repeat that mistake, this time he has willfully restricted himself to having only three to four guitars (Hey, on Prometheus there were twice as many!) and less complicated (which still doesn't mean simple) song structures. However, one restriction has gone – this time he didn't have to write the songs strictly and purposefully for Emperor and it made him free to do whateved he wanted – which was to make a metal abum incorporating all of his influences as a music fan and experiences as a member of Emperor.
You might argue that Ihsahn's been doing that while he was in Emperor anyway, and you'd be right to an extent, but, remember, there was a frame within which he had to work. This time around, the frame didn't – and doesn't – exist.
"Invocation" starts with a riff that could easily have been on IX Equilibrium: one of those riffs that you will like while you are listening to it, but it will somehow re-appear in your head while you'll be doing something else. Ihsahn's voice and signature guitar leads are as strong as ever and when you hear him screaming "Come suffering, Apocalypse, release the fires of Hell, I call upon destruction and despair..." you realise that the wings he's wearing on the cover aren't there without a reason. A blastbeat follows and you can also notice that his screams have never been longer. Then the song calms down into a clean part with clean vocals and strings, but atmosphere-wise reminding you of the outro to "Twilight of the Gods" by Bathory, only to return to the initial riff with a King Diamond-esque falsetto. Yes, he does use those again, and quite often at that, but if you have problems with that – listen to the album VERY LOUD and you'll hear the reason why.
"Called by the Fire" begins with a Judas Priest riff that apparently doesn't have anything to do with black metal, but... the next time it appears, it makes sense. Then The Adversary takes a turn to progressive metal with melodic vocals and wailing solos with a nice clean part that actually reminds you of fire flickering.
"Citizen" brings us back to extreme territory with a poisonous riff made out of chords and natural harmonics competing against a strong, symphonic, double bass drum part. A false ending with a silent piano brings some relief – only to scare you with even more fury in the end. Lyrically, the song is about the halfhearted majority of society "crucifying those whose voices burn..." Clear enough.
On "Homecoming," Garm (Arcturus/Ulver) takes over the vocal duties. Surprisingly, it sets out with one of those "Dream Theater" parts you thought only they can think of. Wrong. It's then interwoven with pieces of yearning atmosphere, airy solos and Garm's voice floating over them into a soundtrack for the "...return to the Heart and Self," disappointed, but with a new perspective.
"Astera Ton Proinon" ("Morning Star") is, shortly, a small Gothic Luciferian symphony. A combination of strings, piano and Ihsahn taking the role of Lucifer (or: Prometheus, himself) gently leads you to a crushingly slow riff, Ihsahn's screaming above it and a choir accentuating him. Impressive and poignant at the same time.
"Panem Et Circences" (Bread and Games) will have you half-expecting Charlton Heston to appear on a chariot before you, ready for the final race, and includes a ludicrous, battling blastbeat that Bal-Sagoth would kill for. Lyrically, it is just a reminder that things haven't really changed that much since ancient Rome.
The blastbeat and a whirlwind of who-knows-how-many guitars opening "And He Shall Walk in Empty Places" will blast you right back to the old church-burning, fire-breathing days (ah, memories) and then for a while, the marching guitars will be thrashing you into submission until... well, if at 03:55 your eyes are still dry, just forget it. You don't deserve to be listening to this.
"Will You Love Me Now?" Yes, really, that's the title. But don't worry, it's just Ihsahn mocking your conceptions of what "true" is. "Will you love me now / you, who cling to a heart so fragile even your gods must suffer for you / could you love truth?" Musically, it's the most typical latter-day Emperor song on the album.
Ten minutes long, but "The Pain is Still Mine" still seems too short. Another symphony of contrasts, piano, strings, staccato riffing, powerful themes and clean singing brings this CD to a dignified end... with a falsetto.
All songs have been written, performed and produced by Ihsahn himself except for the drums – played by Asgeir Mickelson (Borknagar / Spiral Architect) who did a stellar job. From simple beats to hyperprogressive fooling around with cymbals and toms, from stuttering to fluidity – everything is here and in the right places. And you just have to love the typical "true Norwegian" parts with crashes where you didn't expect them and no crashes where you DID expect them. The drums have a somewhat dry sound, especially the kick drum, where you can hear the low component of the sound only during clean parts, but after the sound grows on you, you realize that any other drum sound wouldn't have done them justice. The sound as a whole is clear and sharp with some power sacrificed for the sake of hearing all the details and instruments.
The Adversary proves that you can take Ihsahn out of Emperor – but you can't take Emperor out of Ihsahn. What else do you need? (9.9/10)
