the album is the best produced offering they have released and it is also their most technical. if you are a fan of the new style black metal (good production and heavy keyboards) then you will surery love this disc.

i was dissappointed to learn that Vortex would not be handling the vocal duties this time around, but Vintersorg is a great successor. his clean vocals are a real treat and his growl is strong as well.

one reason that i like Borknagar so much is that their lyrics are not typical black-metal lyrics. it is refreshing to hear about something other than Satan. actually, their is not much about this band that is typical at all.

overall, i would say that this cd doesn't immediately have as many stand-out tracks as Quintesence, but it is a more consistent album all the way through. i jope this line-up lasts because they are making a really great sound together.

i sometimes feel silly describing metal as being beautiful, but i will go ahead and label this disc as such. Borknagar is a awesome band. Empericism is really great.


Immaculate Post Black Metal Album   October 20, 2002
Chernobog (South Africa)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This cd sees the appearence of Vintersorg on vocals instead of the vocal genius Vortex who did vocals on the last 3 Borknagar albums. This puts off many of the hardcore fans of the band and I am also a great fan of Vortex but i must say that the vocals on this album are excellent. Vintersorg has a strong clean voice and a good black metal rasp, and these both are blended to good effect on some of the tracks. Overall the music is a extreme hybrid of traditional black metal with ambient overtones especially on the keyboards. The drumming by Asgeir Mickelson who is also from Spiral Architect is flawless and his blasting is also very good. The guitar work is amazing, Oystein brun who is also the mastermind behind the band weaving some complex riffs and song structures. The bass work is very professional and adds to the overall atmosphere on the album, it is done by Tyr who is session bass player for the now split up Emperor and Satyricon. The production is fairly standard black metal production with a slight bit of fuzz but not overbearing and a mix which fades out the guitars a little bit but just enough so the vocals can stand out. The whole album is pretty much outstanding and there are no filler tracks but my favourites are tracks 1,2,6 and 7. Highly recommended to black metal fans and also fans of intelligent music.


Great Symphonic Black Metal   December 22, 2005
Fred Rayworth (Las Vegas, NV United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I bought this album when it first came out and still listen to it. The first time I heard them I was on their web site and got a sample of Genuine Pulse. It impressed me enough to buy the CD. The best way I can describe it is symphonic black metal. Somewhere someone may have broken it down to something a little different, but that is MY description.

The music is heavy on keyboards with strong guitar background. The lyrics seem mystical, dark, and beautiful. I guess they are lyric poetry set to very heavy music. I don't really know the deep meanings of any of the songs but I like them all. The album rocks right through to the last cut, which is kind of mellow.

These guys may be black metal but they go beyond that. They're a great introduction to black metal without all the pseudo "Satanic" overtones. Highly recommended.



\m/ BLACK METAL-genius style \m/   February 25, 2005
Jonathon Mcphetres (Texas, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

A brilliant avante garde approach to black metal. Beautiful and melodic, yet cruel, and eloquently dark. Flawlessly executed guitar parts combined with both Vintersorg's beautiful and gruesome vocals; handsomely written organ and choir parts all surrounded by a wave of ambience seamlessly carrying you through the song. This album is one of the greatest contributions to the Norwiegan metal scene. Shifting smoothly between soft flowing melodies to crushing, yet still elegant brutality. Empiricism is a big step from Quintessence, and I think the addition of Vintersorg had alot to do with that. Although Borknagar is like no other band, you can tell the similarities between Vintersorg and Borknagar in the lyrics, though the music still carries Oystein's and Lars' trademark sounds. This album, not unlike Vintersorg, explores the depth and reach of humanity through it's theology, history, and philosophy in a very avid and complete manner. "The tellar dome" and "Gods of my world" are my two favorite tracks. I can listen to them over and over and never get tired of them. The flowing shifts in each between the hard parts and the soft parts, intricate harmonies, and the gentle use of choirs and calm soothing vocals just draws you in and paints a picture of what the song is about. This band is one of my favorite bands because of their avante garde style- it still contains the elements of black metal, but yet not really. It holds the potential to be grim and evil, but never fully crosses over. It's so technical and precise. Borknagar is one of the bands that confirmed my belief that metal is THE best music out there. Metal is the most-experienced, complicated, technical and expressive genres of music period. In addition to "Empiricism", I reccomend their latest, "Epic", which really continues many of the thoughts and philosophy's started in "Quintessence" and "Empiricism".