Emperor's final album, Prometheus: The Discipline Of Fire And Demise, happened in 2001. It was an album that was written entirely, and performed mostly, by Ihsahn, and the group's demise came shortly after. The band has played festivals since then, and as we've seen with groups like At The Gates, sometimes that'll result in a new record.
That being said, a new Emperor record is really not likely to happen. Recent comments by Ihsahn to Metal Wani seem to make that abundantly clear, and for good reason.
"At this point, I think it just would be absolutely pointless, because regardless of what route we would take and what would feel natural, if we were to do that, it would be… I think either way it would be a disappointment, because it's kind of just part of an illusion. And I see absolutely no point in doing that."
Ihsahn adds that Emperor was written largely when the band were teenagers, and that since the final album was all him, the new stuff might end up sounding like his solo work. While Samoth doesn't entirely rule the idea of a new album out, he does say that it could feel forced and unnatural in a interview with Friedhof Magazine.
"I think maybe I have a little more nuanced view to it. Yes, the sound of Ihsahn and The Wretched End and Zyklon and Peccatum previously are for sure different as I am more in the extreme metal genre while he is more on the progressive side, but we are still somehow in the same metal music landscape. I wouldn't say we are totally different in that sense, but definitely different approaches to how we execute our musical expressions within the metal genre.
"The thing is, the way Ihsahn makes music with his solo project is how he would make metal music, and for him to go back and compromise his progressive nature with a more back-to-basic black/extreme metal focus would feel like a step backwards for him as an artist, I think. I also agree that it would be very hard and 'forced' for us to sit down and try to make that compromise happen to try to make a new Emperor album. I'm not sure it would feel natural.
Samoth doesn't outright say "no" at least, whereas Ihsahn isn't really into it. Crazier things have happened, though if the band isn't on the same page, the there's really not a point of the band crafting a new one.
