Happy birthday, Ihsahn!
I didn’t follow the music scene very closely in the 1990s. I went to few shows and didn’t like much of the new music I was hearing on the radio. Also, I was busy with a new career and family. However, I do remember that one night, while searching for something different in the 90s music world, I stumbled upon an internet radio station out of the UK that was playing Emperor. That may have been the first time I heard true, black metal. “I Am the Black Wizards” became one of the few black metal songs that I listened to regularly before becoming much more devoted to the genre in the past 10-15 years.
Finally seeing Emperor live this past summer at Brutal Assault was very special. There was one moment, a few hours before they hit the stage, where I was sitting on a leather couch, in the fortress where Brutal Assault is held, and the members of Destruction were conducting an interview 10 feet in front of me, Ihsahn was signing autographs 20 feet in the other direction, and Au-Dessus was playing the Octagon stage just 100 feet away. Also, the creator of the Emperor logo, Christophe Szpajdel, was giving tours of his art nearby. I thought I was dreaming.