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Guitar Songs, Tabs & Lessons

Emperor

4 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Black Metal

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Band Overview

Emperor emerged from Oslo, Norway in the early 1990s as one of the defining forces in symphonic Black Metal, a subgenre that demands technical precision and compositional ambition far beyond standard metal frameworks. Guitarist Ihsahn (Vegard Sverre Torgersen) is the primary architect behind Emperor's sound, crafting intricate arrangements that layer tremolo-picked riffs with orchestral synth, blast-beat drumming, and lead passages that require serious finger dexterity and understanding of harmonic movement. What makes Emperor essential for guitarists isn't just their raw speed, though their tremolo picking is relentless, but their refusal to let the guitar sit in a single role. Ihsahn treats the guitar as both a rhythmic foundation and a melodic lead instrument simultaneously, often playing complementary counterpoint to the synth rather than fighting it. This compositional maturity, combined with Samoth's (Tomas Haugen) role as a secondary guitarist on some recordings and live performances, creates a band where guitar technique serves the song rather than showcasing chops. The overall difficulty is high for intermediate players but absolutely manageable with dedicated practice on tremolo picking, chromatic runs, and understanding key signatures that favor minor and natural harmonic minor scales.

What Makes Emperor Essential for Guitar Players

  • Tremolo picking is Emperor's backbone: fast alternate picking on single notes or double-picked string patterns, sustained for entire song sections. This requires loose wrist movement and endurance; start at 120 BPM and build speed gradually. The attack comes from letting the pick graze the string rather than dig in hard.
  • Chromatic lead passages between tremolo sections break up the monotony and showcase legato technique. Ihsahn uses hammer-ons and pull-offs to connect distant fret positions smoothly, especially in 'Cosmic Keys To My Creations And Times', where the solo moves across the fretboard in serpentine patterns.
  • Counterpoint with synth lines means your riff often plays against, not with, the keyboard melody. This requires strong ear training and understanding of harmonic intervals. Listen to 'Into The Infinity Of Thoughts' to hear how the guitar and synth weave in and out without colliding.
  • Distortion tone is thick and compressed but retains clarity through tremolo picking. Emperor uses high-gain settings (around 10-11 on most metal amp models) but keeps the mids pushed and lows controlled so individual notes stay articulate during fast passages. This prevents the wall of sound from becoming a muddy blur.
  • Open tuning and standard tuning shifts across songs; Emperor often drops to Drop D or lower depending on the song's key center. This allows for heavier riffing while maintaining harmonic flexibility. Check the tuning before each song to avoid sloppy playback.

Did You Know?

Ihsahn recorded much of Emperor's early material on a humble setup: a Jackson guitar (often a Kelly or similar angular body) into a relatively standard high-gain amplifier, proving that compositional talent matters more than expensive gear. The clarity in the tremolo picking comes from pick technique and string action, not boutique equipment.

Emperor layered guitars and synth so densely on their first album (1997) that it was nearly impossible to separate where one instrument ended and another began. This forced Ihsahn to rethink his approach for live shows, leading to a more streamlined, guitar-focused arrangement on later recordings.

The band tuned down aggressively but not to the extreme lows favored by deathcore; they typically stopped at Drop C or Drop D, maintaining harmonic clarity and allowing the guitar's natural resonance to cut through the orchestral elements rather than compete with them.

Ihsahn's approach to lead guitar was heavily influenced by neoclassical metal shredders and classical composition, not traditional black metal. You'll hear shades of Yngwie Malmsteen's harmonic minor phrasing mixed with Scandinavian folk tonality, a unique combination that defines Emperor's melodic identity.

Emperor rarely used effects pedals beyond basic distortion; the texture and movement came from synth arrangements and layered guitar recording, not from reverb, delay, or modulation effects. This philosophy keeps the guitar tone direct and aggressive, essential for cutting through symphonic arrangements.

The album 'In The Nightside Eclipse' (1997) was recorded in a short studio window, forcing the band to nail takes quickly. This raw energy is audible in the slightly rougher tremolo picking and less perfectly quantized rhythmic sections, giving it a human feel that later, more polished recordings sometimes lost.

Samoth's involvement as a second guitarist was primarily live and on specific studio arrangements; Ihsahn remained the primary riff writer and lead voice. Understanding this helps when learning Emperor songs; the primary parts are always guitarable by one player, though the layering in the mix suggests overdubs or synth complexity.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

In The Nightside Eclipse album cover
In The Nightside Eclipse 1997

Emperor's debut is the essential starting point for mastering symphonic black metal technique. 'Cosmic Keys To My Creations And Times' teaches tremolo picking endurance and chromatic navigation; 'I Am The Black Wizards' combines blast-beat coordination with legato lead passages. The raw production means you can hear every pick strike, making it the clearest reference for learning Ihsahn's actual hand technique rather than relying on studio polish.

Spotify Apple Music
The Emperors Return album cover
The Emperors Return 2007

A live album that strips away synth layering and forces the guitars to stand alone. This is where you hear exactly how much work the tremolo picking and lead lines carry without orchestral support. Ihsahn's live approach is slightly more aggressive and less perfect than studio versions, showing you how to adapt the material for real-time performance and maintain timing with blast beats.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Jackson Kelly or similar angular body design, typically with active electronics for consistent output across different playing dynamics. Jackson's higher output pickups and aggressive aesthetics align with symphonic black metal's visual and sonic brutality. Ihsahn used both original Jackson models and custom builds throughout his career, favoring the superstrat-style ergonomics for rapid lead passage navigation.

Amp

High-gain tube amplifiers in the 50-100W range, likely an Engl, Peavey JSX, or similar professional metal amp. Settings: gain pushed hard (8-9 out of 10), midrange scooped slightly for clarity in dense mixes, presence boosted to cut through synth layers, master volume cranked into power-tube saturation for natural compression. Emperor prioritizes loudness and sustain over pristine cleans.

Pickups

High-output humbuckers, typically in the 10-12k range for aggressive attack and sustain. The warmth of a humbucker prevents the tone from becoming too thin during fast tremolo picking, while the output ensures the amp's gain stage responds decisively to pick dynamics. Think Seymour Duncan Invader or EMG 81 territory: hot, aggressive, and full-bodied.

Effects & Chain

Minimal effects chain: guitar straight into the amp or through a basic distortion pedal (often redundant given the amp's gain). No chorus, no reverb, no delay in the main rig. Emperor's texture comes from layered recordings and synth arrangements, not from individual guitar effects. The focus is on raw tone, pick control, and how the guitar sits in a dense mix without relying on post-processing.

Recommended Gear

EMG 81
Pickup

EMG 81

Ihsahn's EMG 81 delivers the aggressive, high-output punch needed for Emperor's symphonic black metal tremolo picking to cut through dense synth layers. The pickup's tight, compressed response ensures consistent attack across rapid lead passages while maintaining the full-bodied warmth that prevents thin, brittle tones in heavy gain settings.

How to Practice Emperor on GuitarZone

Every Emperor song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice I Am the Black Wizards - Guitar TabPractice Inno A Satana - Guitar TabPractice Into The Infinity Of Thoughts - Guitar Tab