Opinions on this album seem to be somewhat divided, which comes as no surprise I suppose, as it isn't at all similar to Anthems or Dusk. Personally, I stand in the minority and consider this to be a far greater achievement than thoes 2 albums.(great as they are.)

This is the most dense metal album I've ever heard.The first time you listen to it you will probably not remember too much of it. Anyone who is unwilling to listen to this album carefully and repeatedly might as well not bother, as they are unlikely to get too much out of it. Personally, I don't think I fully appreciated it until about my 20th listen. Tempo changes are constant, with some truly ferocious and dense drumming from Trym. There is a near perpetual weaving of multiple guitar parts varying between lead-rhythm interplay, harmonies and competing leads in essentially every song. Fortunately, the guitar is work both tasteful and virtuosic, and is never emotionless or aimless. In fact, despite the abundance of leads, there aren't really any conventional solos to be found here. It all flows beautifully. All this is topped combined with heavy, though never cheesy, synth work, most commonly strings with some piano and harpsichord. This has by far the best synth work on any metal album I've heard.(which admitedly, isn't much of a prize.) I tend not to be too huge a fan of a lot of black metal vocalist, who frequently sound a bit goofy. This album is an exception. Ihsahn's shriek-growling is always filled with genuine emotion, and he never goes overboard. The clean vox are nice too. He obviously hasn't got the greatest voice your gonna here, but he generally rights good melodies to go along with. (which is what really matters.)

It is initially a rather combative and harsh listen, with many parts which are intentionally discordant and actively anti-melodic to go along with the straight metal bludgeoning and melodicism which is found elsewhere. It is in this balance that it finds it strength. The contrast makes each section that much more powerful, and Ihsahn knows just when to change from one tone to another. On top of this, Emperor manages make the songs have varying and distinctive tones.(Unlike some more progressively oriented bands, which have each song have many different sounding parts, but seem to have the same parts in about the same ratio in every song, which makes it repetitive in spite of the many changes.) Depraved is especially harsh and violent, The Prophet more melodic and immediately memorable, Empty combines blistering speed with some powerful melodicism and The Eruption is kinda of mixture of all three etc. It's hard to pick out standout tracks as they are all outstanding, but The Eruption, The Prophet, Grey and In the Wordless Chamber are all especially spectacular.

This is a concept album, and I don't fully understand what it's about so I won't go into it much, though I will say that it boasts unusually intelligent and compelling lyrics, which avoid tediously blunt religious bashing and ridiculous frozen/pagan/winter/forest/wolf garbage. Lyrics are of little concern to me, and I love many albums with the aforementioned lyrical themes(by this band, in particular) but it's always nice to see something different.

The only real notable weakness here is that the closing track, Thorns On My Grave, is the weakest.(though it is still good.) It's always best to go out on a high note, especially when it's a concept album.

Anyone who enjoys dense, progressive heavy metal needs to check this out. Even if you aren't a fan of black metal you need to hear.(Frankly, most traits which nonfans dislike in black metal aren't even found here.) This is truly a unique and powerful work.

I am left floored by this album, from the "There was nothing" at the beginning to the epic end of this majestic CD. And after the album ends, I don't move or anything, don't go and put in a new CD, I just stay where I am, speechless. And I can't listen to anything else, because this album is so great, I can't listen to anything else, even Anthems or Nightside eclipse. Nothing else compares.

First off, this album is the most cerebral music I've heard. It's cerebral, even for Emperor. And the riffs and such are technically stunning. This album, if you give it a chance, will leave you speechless, just like it left me speechless. Why, do I say, then, give it a chance? Well, even though the production is excellent, the main thing is that this is the densest metal I've ever laid my ears on. You won't remember most of it the first time you listen to it, but it will slowly absorb into you the more you listen to it. It has conflicting melodies, interweaving guitar lines, flurrying keyboards, and sometimes three or more completely different lines working together to make something excellent and stunning.

Another thing, nobody gives Ihsahn credit for his voice. It's not Vintersorg (of Borknagar, Vintersorg)'s voice, but hey, it's still above average. And his scream of "THORNS ON MY GRAVE!!!!" at the end of the last song sends chills down my spine.

Tempo changes, fast flurrying drums, slow 6/8 grooves, and unidentifiable drum patterns mark this album, with interesting beats flavoring sections right after the traditional black metal blastbeats have lost their impressiveness. The guitars interact with the drums in rather odd ways, choosing to play on only some of the hits, and the choice of which sub beat to play on makes for some genuinely unusual music.

With this album, Emperor traded "Dark" and "Bleak" to "Psychologically intense." While still being dark in areas, this album's signature is the unending tension that pulls at your soul. Keyboards creating dissonant melodies that human ears are not used to hearing, and guitars overlap in weird ways that tug at our minds, saying "This isn't supposed to be" but oddly enough, it works.

The album kicks off with Ihsahn speaking with some background thunder, then a keyboard intro begins, rather softly. It builds intensity, with increasing melodic tension, then the guitar goes "BAM." and comes in with crushing intensity. It builds in intensity again, then kicks into high gear and gets fast. Then it goes through odd, original, and downright bizarre permutations of the original melody, before cutting out and making way for "Depraved", where it starts out rather amelodic, with dissonant notes not resolving and building up tension, then heading into more melodic passages, going through slow 6/8 grooves before kicking into high gear, then dropping out all of a sudden and making way for the strikingly similar song after it, Empty, which has more melodicism and emotion, resolving the conflict created by the previous song. It continues into the rather subdued "The prophet" which has slow, pop-ish sections of Ihsahn singing, followed by demonic dissonance that only true satanists like Ihsahn can create. The rest of the album continues in this way, with drawn-out tension and short relief until you reach the last song, Thorns on my Grave, which has some incredibly fast drumming, and goes into a slow 4/4 groove, before cutting out and going in again at full speed, building in intensity with keyboards flurrying around with increasing dissonance, with the guitars hustling underneath and Ihsahn screaming at the top of his lungs: "NOW THAT I AM GONE, LAY THORNS ON MY GRAAAAAAVE!!!!!!" and the song abrubtly ends, along with the rest of the album, and you sit there motionless, not knowing what to do, except start all over again. Then you go through it, hoping you will remember more of it, so you can hum it in your head or something. I'm on my 6th or so listen and there's STILL new stuff in there for me. If you are only going to listen to this in your portable CD player in the breaktime (whatever it is) then you won't like that. You have to devote your entire attention to this, and listen to it several times before appreciating it's full impact. In fact, I think I might have to listen to this the whole way through about 20 times before I fully get it.

As far as favorite songs go, I don't have any, simply because this album is a concept album (about Emperor's career) and you really have to listen to the whole album to get the idea. It's like the whole album is a song, only with occasional breaks in it. So, my reccommendation is, buy this, and listen to it a lot. If you can't listen to it a heck of a lot, don't buy it. You will never appreciate it if you can't listen to it a giant portion of your time.

To the dude the made the review below...

The CD is about the black metal "scene" and Emperor's rise to fame. Read the lyrics more carefully.

Emperor knew this would be their last album, and they 'don't want people to miss them'. The last song says, "Now that I am gone, lay thorns on my grave."

Emperor knew they were the kings, and they quit while they were ahead...at least, that is how I see it.

This is one of the most complex metal albums I've ever heard and one of the best. In any case, Prometheus is Emperor's masterpiece. The neo-classical elements Emperor has always used are fleshed out to a greater degree than before and are mixed very effectively with black metal aggression and meloncholy. The music is progressive, powerful, majestic, awesome and the production is excellent.

The musicianship and writing are very much beyond most other metal out there. Prometheus is an unusual, intense and somewhat difficult album. The contant shifts in melody, riffs and time signatures may be daunting for some and are demanding for the listener. But those with the patience and imagination to truly delve into this masterpiece will be richly rewarded with a journey of epic proportions. The lyrics as one reviewer pointed out may be about Emperor's experiences within the black metal scene and their decision to breakup at the height of their popularity or they could be interpreted as a contemplation of life, the search for knowledge/enlightenment and mortality. Or perhaps they are about Prometheus the titan punished for bringing fire (enlightenment) to mankind. Whatever. Other interpretations may be equally of value. Prometheus' density, intensity and multifaceted nature rewards mutiple listenings and that is the strength of this album. I hear something different every time I listen to it. To get the full effect, listen to it in headphones while reading the lyrics. Its an amazing swan song for these black metal innovators.

Emperor is one of those bands that started out being the forerunners for rebellion. Like other metal bands before them such as Metallica, they brought a new sound to the ears of their listeners. In both cases these bands did not start a genre, yet they defined it. Unfortunately Metallica changed paths and became something far too boring to handle; tired of their (...)metal stylings they opted for a more 'George Thorogood' sound, which has definately been done before. Alas old Metallica, you will be missed. Emperor on the other hand became more experimental, and when this happened many of the 'hard-core' blackmetal fans began to ignore these wizards of the musical world. Emperor traded in their raw thrashy vision for something with a broader scope. Full of strange lead guitar, and 'King Diamond' vocals. Upon hearing word of 'Prometheus...' I was skeptical; though I had enjoyed everything the band had released to date. Throw skepticism out the door; if you're open-minded and enjoy metal in all it's forms 'Prometheus...' sums it up.

Full of absolutley beautiful guitar and keyboard arangments, Emperor's final stab at the world is an epic to be experienced.

The album being a combination of all previous efforts coming together; imagine the haunting keyboards of "Nightside...", the drums of "Anthems...", the complexity of "IX..." and the unfadeable guitarwork of 'Morbid Angel' taken to the next level. Being totally written by the bands artistic head 'Ihsahn' maybe helped this album to be that which their previous effort failed to be. The only problem I can say I have with this album is the rare intergection of 'King Diamond' styled vocals; they work fine on 'Abigale' but not on an Emperor CD. All in all this album is a metal beauty to behold. 'Ihsahn' has proven that he is one of the best and most original songwriters in metal (and music in general) today. I praise Emperor for going outside the spectrum and creating something so emotional, so technical, so original, and so untouchable that the thought of it being the bands last album almost brings me to tears. Hails to the ones called 'Emperor'; the world of metal will be far more obnoxiously boring without you around.

Until Samael gets around to their next...