Late last year, the infamous Norwegian black-metal band announced it was extending its tour, a thirtieth-anniversary celebration of its seminal 1994 debut, In the Nightside Eclipse, and Denver was one of just seven additional stops. And the city showed up: A palpable buzz began to grow at Mission, as the line snaked around the outside corridor more than an hour before doors even opened, with everyone echoing reverence for Emperor’s impact on metal and their fandom.
The concrete concert hall steadily filled with anticipation and spectators as opener Wayfarer took the stage. Bathed in a blood-red glow, amps adorned with cattle skulls and bull horns, the hometown heroes blasted into an hour-long set, during which vocalist-guitarist Shane McCarthy, bassist-vocalist Jamie Hansen, guitarist Joe Strong-Truscelli and drummer Isaac Faulk pulled from their impressive catalog, including the latest album, American Gothic (2023).
McCarthy first spoke to pose a rhetorical question: “Do you know what's fucking happening tonight here in Denver, Colorado?”
In case there was any doubt, the immediate swell of applause indicated everyone in attendance was well aware of the ensuing significance. “Until it does, you’re stuck with us,” he finished.
But Wayfarer is far from a typical local opener. The Mile High riff barons are a leading example of how black metal has evolved since the 1990s second-wave groundswell that Emperor helped popularize, cementing Wayfarer as one of the most unique extreme acts currently doing it over the past decade-plus. Armed with an unheard-of assault of blackened Americana-metal and Wild West grit, the band confirmed the expansive subgenre is in a good place, while paying homage to the old guard.
Wayfarer dedicated song the “Iron Horse (Gallows Frontier, Act II),” from 2020’s A Romance with Violence, to Emperor, or as McCarthy put it, “one of the best bands across any fucking genre.”
As the dust settled on the axe-slinging set, Wayfarer had properly warmed up the crowd.
“We’ve waited our whole lives to say this,” McCarthy concluded. “…Emperor is up next.”
It took 34 years for Emepror to play Denver, but Tuesday night's show was well worth the wait.
Courtesy Justin Criado
The set, like the album, kicked off with “Into the Infinity of Thoughts,” as guitarist-vocalist Ihsahn immediately jumped and jolted around the stage as if possessed, effortlessly shredding on a custom purple Telecaster and vomiting forth those well-known growls, sounding just as frost-bitten and fierce as he did three decades ago.
Blasting through Eclipse staples, “The Burning Shadows of Silence,” “Cosmic Keys to My Creation & Times,” “Toward the Pantheon,” “The Majesty of the Nightsky” and “I Am the Black Wizards,” the commanding Ihsahn undoubtably stole the show with his mesmerizing musicianship and operatic range. He stoked the crowd in all the right ways, including drumming up loud participation for Eclipse closer, “Inno a Santana” (that’s Italian for the “Hymn to Satan”).
The intricacy and originality of Emperor’s sound, which includes symphonic choruses and dungeon-crawling synths, make it equally beautiful and terrifying, particularly on In the Nightside Eclipse. That’s why, when the band initially broke up in 2001 after ten years and four stone-cold classic albums, fans were shocked and saddened. At the time, no one expected Emperor to return. But after reactivating in 2016, Emperor is arguably bigger than ever before, and Tuesday night's performance showed why the group — which now includes original guitarist Samoth, longtime drummer Trym Toson, veteran bassist Secthdamon and keys lord Jørgen Munkeby — is widely credited with shaping the black-metal soundscape.
The six-song encore showcased Emperor’s distinctive discography with offerings from each — including “Curse You All Men!” from 1999’s IX Equilibrium and “In the Wordless Chamber” off Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise (2001) — but especially the four from beloved 1997 sophomore release Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk — “The Loss and Curse of Reverence,” “Thus Spake the Nightspirit,” “With Strength I Burn” and “Ye Entrancemperium.”
Naturally, a circle pit broiled and brewed the entirety of Emperor’s sermon. At one point, through the traditional regalia of black band shirts and patch-littered battle vests, a pink phantom pierced through the viscera. Stevie Pink, aka the Pink Wizard (his IG handle is an Emperor reference, fittingly enough), is a familiar face to those in the scene, as he frequents shows of all alternative genres, while always promoting friendship and fun. On this evening, the wizard, complete with spire-like hat and full-length cape sporting a Cloak backpatch, was in his natural element.
He approved of all the smiles emitting from both sides of the stage and confidently proclaimed that the show was one of, if not the, best of the year — “A night filled with magical riffs,” as he described it.
In summing up the spirit of the night, the Pink Wizard declared, “We’re lucky to be here.”
Find more concerts on our Denver concert calendar.
