Although 90s Emperor and Mayhem were both Norwegian black metal bands, they pushed the “core” of black metal in different directions. Mayhem stripped away the number of notes, tonal color, and mercilessness of the playing, moving toward an extreme purification of ritualism and menace. Emperor preserved that darkness while expanding black metal into large-scale, progressive music through symphonic keyboards, complex structures, and grand developments. It is easiest to understand this as Mayhem demonstrating the intimidating power of the archetype, while Emperor demonstrated the style’s potential for development.
PERIOD CONTEXT
Mayhem’s DE MYSTERIIS DOM SATHANAS is discussed as a reference point for 1990s black metal: by combining incantatory vocals, cold riffs, and furious blasts, it became a work with a sense of isolation that went beyond being merely a collection of elements. What mattered was not refinement or ornamentation, but the way even the instability of the playing and the desolation of the sound established black metal as a dangerous, antihuman form of expression. Mayhem left later bands with the axis of “how dark, cold, and ritualistic can it become?” On the other hand, the development from Emperor’s IN THE NIGHTSIDE ECLIPSE to ANTHEMS TO THE WELKIN AT DUSK transformed black metal into something atmospheric, symphonic, and dramatic. Especially on ANTHEMS, the keyboards and clean vocals became more prominent; at the time, this expansiveness also drew criticism, but the band prioritized creative possibilities over preserving existing forms. By the latter half of the 90s, Emperor had become an example of how black metal could branch out into symphonic, progressive, and experimental directions rather than remain a single underground style. Therefore, the difference between the two is not simply a contrast between “raw” and “grand.” Mayhem fixed black metal’s mythic, primordial authority, while Emperor expanded its composition, sound, and scale from that point. In later Japanese-language evaluations as well, Mayhem and Emperor have been positioned in contrast as a monumental point of origin and an innovative, experimental collective, respectively.
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EVIDENCE
- BURRN! 2022年5月号・A monumental evaluation of Mayhem’s work
- BURRN! 2022年6月号・Black metal’s danger and expansion
- BURRN! 2020年1月号・Evaluation of the expansion of keyboards and vocals
- BURRN! 2018年1月号・The formation and mythologization of early Mayhem
CONFIDENCE
High
NOTES
Because continuous scoring of both bands by Japanese magazines of the 90s and comparisons based on the same standards are limited, this has been organized around later evaluations of representative works and their musical characteristics. A work’s historical importance does not mean the same thing as its general popularity or sales at the time.