"1992, THE WORLD WAS WATCHING Norway as the nation prepared for the prestigious honor of hosting the 1994 Olympic games in Lillehammer. Inside the country, however, a rash of church burnings and murders were terrifying the populace and threatening to overshadow Norway’s reputation as one of the most peaceful and politically progressive countries in the world.
"The instigators, as the police soon discovered, belonged to an inner circle of extreme black metallers. Among them were several members of Emperor, at the time a relatively new entry among Oslo’s burgeoning extreme music scene.
" 'We were all very psyched about the whole thing,” Emperor’s guitarist/vocalist Ihsahn says of that early period in the band’s history. “I had long black nails and wore makeup and inverted crosses to keep people away. I realized when people hate you for being extreme, you might as well drive the point home.' "
Click the links below to read the rest of the feature, which originally ran in Guitar World magazine's October 2007 issue.
Emperor Feature, GW October 2007, Part 1
Emperor Feature, GW October 2007, Part 2
