In the Nightside Eclipse

The album was co-produced by Pytten, who produced Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas and Burzum's debut album, as well as albums by Immortal and Enslaved. Faust partially credits Pytten with the sound of In the Nightside Eclipse. Most of the music was written and rehearsed before the band entered the studio. However, much of the symphonic keyboard sections were composed in the studio at the time of recording as the band did not then have a permanent keyboard player. Ihsahn was 17 years old at the time of the album's recording, and because he was unable to join the rest of the band members in festivities at the local "rock pubs" in Bergen after the album's recording sessions, he spent large amounts of time in the studio working with audio engineer Pytten. Ihsahn had a preexisting interest in audio engineering and took instruction on recording technology from Pytten. ==Artwork==

|thumb|right The album cover was drawn by Kristian Wåhlin, also known as "Necrolord", depicting a host of orcs en route to Minas Morgul. The part below the band logo is based upon a section of a larger engraving called Death on the Pale Horse by Gustave Doré. That section itself was also used as the album cover for the Emperor (EP). The interior artwork features a photograph of the Trascau Fortress in Transylvania. ==Music and lyrics==

In the Nightside Eclipse has often been referred to as a pioneering influence in symphonic black metal. Although all the key elements of black metal are present, such as fast tremolo-picked guitar passages, harsh screams, and raw, lo-fi production, the use of symphonic keyboard sections is a key part of the album's distinctive sound. According to Steve Huey of AllMusic, "Even if the keyboards mostly just outline basic chord changes, they add a melancholy air to all the furious extreme sounds, turning the one-note ugliness of black metal into something emotionally complex." Ihsahn said: "We had no commercial ambitions; there were none to have. It sounds romantic, but all this music was made purely with artistic motivations, this total, introverted, Norwegian 'keep it to ourselves' attitude is what enabled us to create something that no one else had done." Some of the lyrics on the final version of the album were partially written by Mortiis, before he left the band. Samoth has suggested that the frequent use of the word "emperor" in the lyrics became a kind of metaphor, "for our own entity, for the dark lord, for the devil, for the strong and mighty." Samoth has cited the power of Norwegian nature as a key inspiration on Emperor's music and this album in particular. They also expressed a fascination with the Viking age, Tolkien's literature, story of Dracula, as well as "everything related to Transylvania, the Carpathian Mountains, the dark corners of Eastern Europe, and folklore." Ihsahn, however, has explained that he never read much of Tolkien's work, although he consciously made use of the language and imagery of fantasy. == Critical reception ==

In his review, Steve Huey of AllMusic gave the album five stars out of five, writing, "In the Nightside Eclipse resoundingly demonstrated that there was real musical substance and ambition in the world of black metal. [...] [it] somehow managed to capture the essence of the genre while completely rewriting its rule book", stating that it was also "the first [album] to fuse black metal with progressive and symphonic elements, setting the stage for a bevy of future experimentation in the genre, [...] As such, it certainly possesses the farthest-reaching legacy of anything from Norway's bloody first wave, and ranks as one of the most important heavy metal albums of the '90s." == Legacy and impact ==

{{Quote box The album is widely considered one of the most important releases in black metal, particularly for the second wave of black metal, and has been frequently described as a classic by music critics. The album has gone on to influence countless bands, with many considering it the first true symphonic black metal album. That same year, the album was ranked number 292 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. In 2009, Loudwire named it the 18th best debut album of all time. In 2009, IGN included In the Nightside Eclipse in their "10 Great Black Metal Albums" list; according to IGN, "Emperor inspired the wave of overtly-technical black-metal bands that would rule the underground in the early 2000s. Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth owe a huge debt to this album." In February 2014, Matt Heafy of Trivium wrote that "Emperor had crafted a unique sound in its combination of the classical with modern metal conventions that had not been executed with such precision before." In July of that same year, In the Nightside Eclipse was listed at number three in Guitar World magazine's list of "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". In 2018, the staff of Revolver included the album in their list of the "25 Essential Black-Metal Albums". In 2019, Ihsahn was quoted as follows regarding his perception of the album 25 years following its release: "I always look back at albums and think, 'Ah, I could have changed that', but then you go beyond that, it becomes so old that you just appreciate it for being a representation of where you were at that point. And this wasn’t just 25 years ago, it’s almost like another life, being basically a kid. [...] That whole time formed the basis of me being able to do this for 25 years. What a stroke of luck! It’s almost paradoxical to be so thankful for black metal, given the evilness of it all." In 2021, the album was elected by Metal Hammer as the best symphonic metal album of all time. ==Reissues==

In 1999, the album was remastered and reissued, with two cover songs as bonus tracks: "A Fine Day to Die" by Bathory, and "Gypsy" by Mercyful Fate. For the reissue, the opening tracks "Intro" and "Into the Infinity of Thoughts" were combined, whilst the album was packaged in a paper slipcase covering the traditional jewel case, with both featuring the same artwork. A second reissue followed in 2004, which included videos of live performances from 1997. In 2014, in celebration of the album's 20th anniversary, the band reissued a remastered deluxe version of the album. It also featured the bonus tracks from the As the Shadows Rise 1994 EP, as well as a previously unreleased alternative mix of the album and pre-production rehearsal tracks from 1993. The album was remastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in 2014. ==Track listing==

;Emperor • Ihsahn – vocals, lead guitar, keyboards • Samoth – rhythm guitar • Tchort – bass guitar • Faust – drums ;Additional musicians • Alver – bass (tracks 9, 10 on 1999 edition) • Trym – drums (tracks 9, 10 on 1999 edition) • Charmand Grimloch – keyboard (track 10 on 1999 edition) ;Production • Pytten – producer, engineer • Tim Turan – mastering with Emperor • Christophe Szpajdel – logo ==References==