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Today’s initial prospect of heading to Baltimore early and venturing through the city was altered due to the near-100° temperature. We set off around 3 and it took a full three hours to arrive: quite frustrating as the city is a mere 82 miles away.

The streets were crawling with Ghost fans: some donning face-paint, several with nun costumes and more same-band-as-the-show t-shirts than I’ve ever witnessed. We parked on the fifth floor, knowing full well that the exit would be a lengthy departure. As doors opened at 6:30, we hung out in the AC before joining a couple who was pre-gaming. We all walked in together just as the skies opened, reminding us why we appreciated purchasing attached-to-the-building parking in advance. The long line to enter was due to the usual ticket and security checks, but also so phones could be stored in specialized pouches. This regulation meant we got no pictures whatsoever but also resulted in fans being more engaged, chatty and connected. Fast forwarding a bit, a guy beside us filmed a few clips of the band before being escorted out for doing so. Good! While I love to snap a few pics, living and breathing the moment hearkened back to concerts of my youth where, sometimes lamentably, no footage exists outside of my ever-fading memory. I digress.

Kairi and I waited in the merch line, got beverages and I chatted with some folks while waiting before proceeding to our seats, promptly for the 8pm start time. The stage was surrounded by tall curtains and our seats, in section 123, offered about as good a view as possible for our budget. Religious choral music echoed and we eyeballed the staff preparing to drop said curtain but as the lights dimmed, Ghost started with Peacefield via live video. When it did drop, the vantage of the large stage impressed and Papa skipped around with his usual jovial energy. The five-piece band is now joined by a trio of singers, two playing keyboards, but the stage backdrop felt subdued: a pair of monitors flanking the octet and not much else.

Banging out back-to-back new songs was unsurprising, with Lachryma following, each offering catchy choruses and pristine production. Spirit succeeded and Per Aspera Ad Inferi was an older one that Kai and I were less familiar with. What followed this, however, was a run of pure magic, mixing old, new, poppy, dark and altogether riotous fun. Faith and Majesty sounded utterly phenomenal: catchy breakdowns, spot-on drumming and Papa’s voice leading through the darkness. He spoke briefly afterwards about the state of the world and shocked my progeny with The Future Is A Foreign Land, one of her favorite songs. After a quick instrumental interlude, Cirice began, the single that truly started my fascination with the band. We were both in awe of the song choices and that sentiment did not diminish as the night continued.

Though I wasn’t familiar with the lone song from the debut LP, the next seven songs were absolute perfection, weaving the middle records with banger after banger. Highlighted moments include thrusting arms in the air, chanting, “Hail Satan” while pyrotechnics melted our faces off. The chanting chorus of Rats. The soothing beauty of He Is. Then there’s the progression of the stage show: while fire is necessary, the evolution of the large screen behind was remarkable. Changing from religious iconography to animated videos, exploding graphics – the entire presentation felt like it was worth the extra bucks the tickets cost. Massive bursts of shredded money (confetti) filling the air, Papa levitating in full uniform for an entire song – all were bombastic and thrilling.

Concluding with Monstrance Clock, one of my favorites, the crowd felt a bit weaker than I’d have hoped, but since encores are no more reliant upon crowd participation (and to be fair, Baltimore was indeed excited) a trio of songs would wrap up the night. Kairi’s face lit up upon Dance Macabre and the performance’s finale, Square Hammer turned all stage screens into video of the crowd. By this point, Ghost had accomplished it all and it was just bonus joy, icing on the delectable cake. The driving chorus evoked unbridled zeal: “Are you on the square? Are you on the level? Are you ready to swear right here, right now, before the devil?” The screen displayed devil horns jabbed skyward everywhere. The huge screens projected make-up laden faces, Papa plush dolls that were sold out front, joy gushing in all forms. A large Ghost logo descended behind the band and sparks spewed out around it. Smoke bellowed across the stage. And among the thousands, Kairi and I were jumping up and down to the beat – with our neighbor joining in. As it all concluded, sparks were raining down, Papa, arms outstretched, looking up, donning his purple jacket – absorbing the energy, represending the ultimate showman. An altogether brilliant show on all levels.

Superlative adjectives and a killer setlist aside, the best moment of the night was easy to pinpoint. Darkness At The Heart Of My Love. A song I almost dismissively enjoy, and one whose lyrics I don’t particularly retain, a certain phrase stuck with me while plucking at those chords of my heart: I’m with you…always. Looking left, I could see an enormous smile on Kairi’s face. Far less concerned with the overarching scheme of life and this concert’s place in it – she was having a great time. As the evening progressed, I secretly spied similar innocent emotions: wonder, anticipation, shock and surprise! The quieter moments produced poignant appreciation, exuberant enthusiasm during more explosive ones. This show was superb, one whose excellence was compounded by her excitement. Despite decades of age separation, the result is the same – an experience neither of us will ever forget.

Full Setlist:

1. Peacefield
2. Lachryma
3. Spirit
4. Per Aspera ad Inferi
5. Faith
6. Majesty
7. The Future Is a Foreign Land
8. Devil Church
9. Cirice
10. Darkness at the Heart of My Love
11. Satanized
12. Satan Prayer
13. Umbra
14. Year Zero
15. He Is
16. Rats
17. Kiss the Go-Goat
18. Mummy Dust
19. Monstrance Clock
20. E: Mary on a Cross
21. E: Dance Macabre
22. E: Square Hammer

Concert Reviews Main Page

I remember hearing In The Nightside Eclipse in my freshman year of college. It truly was beyond my comprehension at the time and while it grew on me, it was Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk that was the moment of my tr00 conversion to black-metal fanaticism. Still, the band’s debut album always held some sense of mysticism: the raw production, legendary album art and airy allure kept it almost at an unreachable level of appreciation. Until tonight, that is.

I was fortunate enough to see the band in 2006 (sans Samoth) in New York and then again in 2017 in Norway where they played all of my top-10-favorite album Anthems in its entirety. When the mini-tour in the spring of 2025 was announced, imagine my surprise that this small Maryland town would be privy to host the mighty Emperor’s presence. Tickets were secured without a moment of hesitation. The fact that Nightside would be celebrated on this night was merely icing on the proverbial cake.

Google took me straight through DC for my trip this evening and the stop lights aplenty were enough to diminish spirits. Arriving in time to catch a glimpse of Wolves In The Throne Room was fortunate, and I enjoyed their droning sounds as I waited in the lengthy merch line. A quick trip to the bar and the head, not in that order, led me to meeting up with Tim, Erin’s former colleague, whom I’ve seen almost annually, after last years Mother’s Day Wayfarer concert and At The Gates’ revisit of Slaughter Of The Soul in 2022. The conversation was heavy on AI and the inevitable demise of the future, but I respect his vantage point and his words I revisited in the coming days.

Unfortunately, such distracted banter and my less-than-two-week-old surgery meant that we didn’t get very close for tonight’s festivities. I was quite disappointed in that, but while my desires to be close are never far from my thoughts, being anywhere near was impractical. Far away I resided for the night, as evident by some of my photos.

The album’s intro began with members emerging one by one into view. Ihsahn arrived last, just as the opening blast beats began and Into The Infinity Of Thoughts issued forth, its memorable-yet-simple riff accompanying Trym’s consistent rhythm. Shoulder injury may have relegated me to the detached realms of the venue, but my enthusiasm was not affected by said distance. I was immediately immersed into one of the less-known but most-influential recordings in history. They sounded fucking fantastic. Almost unrealistically so. The draw of the original LP is its sound and production, but it’s not the most approachable. Tonight, I could hear it all: Secthdamon’s booming bass, appropriately-mixed keyboards, Trym’s clocklike perfection and the one-two punch of Samoth and Ihsahn – it was fucking perfect.

That this was all written as teenagers isn’t lost on me. The Burning Shadows Of Silence, Cosmic Keys To My Creations & Times – it’s all such nonsense. But it sounded simply incredible. With each subsequent song, my appreciation grew. Emperor has always been my favorite black-metal band and despite having seen them twice before, tonight cemented this forever, with Nightside magically moving up my favorite-albums-ever list despite being three decades old.

And thus, as the night continued on, I realized that black metal – now three decades old – is all grey. Neither Ihsahn nor I have yet to hit 50, but Samoth certainly has. Tim mentioned how he resembled Father Time. The band’s balance between the extreme and the melodic – few have done it as well as they did on this record and this evening’s performance sounded as good as I could’ve hoped.

The final two songs from Nightside are legendary in their own right and they were both, almost dismissively, just as expected: phenomenal. This alone would’ve constituted a perfect evening but of course, there was more. While other shows (Europe, mainly) had some early-era material, they instead moved along with newer songs: one of my least-favorite IX Equilibrium songs, the requisite Prometheus entry and four from Anthems. You can guess which from each appeared, but predictability does not diminish quality and as Ye Entrancemperium concluded, my enthusiasm was exhausted. I often revisit my introduction to this song way back in 1997. The moody vastness of Alsvartr leading into the mind-boggling speed of this track was indubitably my introduction to their claim: “Emperor plays Sophisticated Black Metal Art exclusively”. Holy shit, it exceeded even my lofty expectations.

The night’s outro, The Wanderer, felt apt. An epic finale to a journey decades in the making. Having seen them several times over numerous years and in different states and countries – the voyage from teenage angst to mature adult – it all felt both perpetual and fleeting. I’d certainly see the band again, but I couldn’t ask for anything more after such a tremendous night. Simply amazing.

Setlist

1. Into the Infinity of Thoughts
2. The Burning Shadows of Silence
3. Cosmic Keys to My Creations & Times
4. Towards the Pantheon
5. The Majesty of the Nightsky
6. I Am the Black Wizards
7. Inno a Satana
8. Tape: Opus a Satana
9. Curse You All Men!
10. Thus Spake the Nightspirit
11. The Loss and Curse of Reverence
12. With Strength I Burn
13. In the Wordless Chamber
14. Ye Entrancemperium