True Kings of Norway

1. Ancient Queen - Emperor

2. Witches Sabbath - Emperor

3. Lord of the Storms - Emperor

4. Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism - Immortal

5. Unholy Forces of Evil - Immortal

6. Cold Winds of Funeral Frost - Immortal

7. Inn I Evighetens Morke (Part 1) - Dimmu Borgir

8. Inn I Evighetens Morke (Part 2) - Dimmu Borgir

9. Raabjorn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde - Dimmu Borgir

10. Det Glemet Riket - Ancient

11. Huldradans - Ancient

12. My Angel - Arcturus

13. Morax - Arcturus

Tracks:

The Ancient Queen-Emperor
Witches Sabbath-Emperor
Lord Of The Storms-Emperor
Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism-Immortal
Unholy Forces Of Evil-Immortal
The Cold Winds Of Funeral Frost-Immortal
Inn I Evighetens Morke (Part 1)-Dimmu Borgir
Inn I Evighetens Morke (Part 2)-Dimmu Borgir
Raabjorn Speiler Draugheimens Skodde
Det Glemet Riket-Ancient
Huldradans-Ancient
My Angel-Arcturus
Morax-Arcturus

Album Description

UK pressing features a total of 13 tracks packaged in a digipak. Spinefarm.

Album Details

Compilation of First and Rare 7" EPs from Emperor, Immortal, Ancient, Dimmu Borgir and Arcturs. 13 Tracks in All. Most of These Songs were Limited to Pressings of 1000. Includes a Norwegian Metal Family Tree. Embossed Cover W/Silver Print.

Customer Reviews:

Essence of Darkness.......2001-09-08

Here we have a Black Metal fanboy's wet dream, a montage of rare 7"EPs from the genre's elite monarchs Ancient, Arcturus, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and Immortal. I must confess, while not being an expert on the Black Metal scene (I haven't even read Lords Of Chaos, "gasp!"), this disc truly captures the original heart and vision of these bands before bigger budgets, labels and scene exploitation diluted their aspirations of purity in darkness. Just looking at the inlay card, which openly displays the incestuous insipid state of the scene, one easily realizes why there is such turmoil and competition within Black Metal circles; it's basic sibling rivalry. But let's not dwell on that, for now, let us explore the inner workings of the compilation. Emperor's tracks from their 1992-recorded As the Shadows Rise EP gives us a taste of the raw, simplistic, wraithlike energy that gave the band notoriety. Unfortunately, this quality was eventually quashed to give way to their current extreme, technical sound. Immortal's contribution, a 7" from 1992, although under-produced and a bit muddy, still gives us a decent taste of their frosty venom, which comes across as sounding like early MORBID ANGEL. The chilling and haunting nature of Dimmu Borgir is presented with their 1994 Inn I Evighetens Morke EP (which is also available as bonus tracks on the Nuclear Blast reissue of For All Tid), and cements my opinion that they possessed a more threatening and soul-scorching tone in their pre-Enthrone Darkness Triumphant days. And what can be said of Ancient, whose last decent work was 1996's Metal Blade-released The Cainian Chronicle? The 1994 Det Glemte Riket EP featured in this compilation, while simplistic, displayed amazing songwriting of epic proportions, which makes me wonder, did money go to Aphazel's head, or did Kimberly Goss suck the talent right out of him? The True Kings Of Norway disc comes to a close with a couple frightening passages from Arcturus' 1991 My Angel EP, which spotlights the band in rare form, freezing your soul with ominous, heavily keyboard-laced psychoses. This disc is a must have for anyone who ever liked Black Metal, for it truly displays each band at its best, so check it out and become awash in sinister splendor.

The Arcturus tracks are worth the price of the CD........2001-06-21

Arcturus is one of the best, most diverse black metal bands out there. I loved Aspera Hiems Symfonia, La Mas., and the remix album. I couldn't find these two tracks anywhere. These two tracks are from their first recording (My Angel 7"). They are the best tracks on the CD. The drumming and the keyboards make the two tracks awesome. Garm does not sing on these recordings, some other guy does the vocals and plays guitar here. The keyboards add a classical, atmosphere sound to the music. This band was probably the first to do this in Black Metal from Norway. The Emperor tracks are awesome, but there are different versions that can be found on the Wrath of the Tyrant album. The third track has really low distorted vocals on it. Most of the Dimmu tracks can be found on their first album "For All Tid". These are awesome tracks, they played more of a Folkish, etheral black metal at the time and does not reflect on how they sound now. The Immortal tracks are on the death metal side except for the vocals which are in black metal style. The material is very similiar sounding to their first album. The best Immortal album is "Battles from the North" (I think thats right). The Ancient tracks can be found on a album of theirs that has their best material on it. This is a good introduction if you want to get into early 90's black metal. Most of the bands on the CD have better material than this. This CD was released so the fans of the bands can find hard to find material. Awesome family tree showcasing most of the bigger bands from Norway.

True Kings.......2000-06-02

obviously missing in this compilation are Burzum and Mayhem, which is a shame considering they were the true kings in the black metal genre. Nevertheless, this compilation is brilliant for anyone who has been there from the start, but di not have the access to these EP's. the sound is a little primitive, but that also is part of the scene. All in all a very valuble addition to my collection

Emperor rules!.......2000-04-11

This recording includes the first 7" ep:s from the five great ones: Ancient, Arcturus, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor and Immortal. For my opinion, Emperor and Ancient was the best of these and Emperor's "ancient queen" is one of the best tracks they ever made. Arcturus is good too, but Dimmu and Immortal weren't their best in this album.

Average customer rating:

True Kings of Norway
Emperor , Immortal , Dimmu Borgir , Ancient , and Arcturus
Manufacturer: Spikefarm
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Death Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00008G4SP
Release Date: 2000-09-19

Tracks: