| Ulver 'Bergtatt' Head Not Found, 1994 Lord Pale: Ulvers debut EP Bergtatt is a soothing epic of darkmetal with slight folk overtones and blackmetal influences. Melodic thought prevoking riffs intertwine with clean harmonic vocals blending effortlessly, taking you into the music and its lyrical fantasy realms. Delicate acoustics and inviting flutes lull you into a false sense of security before a surging Nordic blackmetal riff blasts into the speakers with the traditional rasping vocals before slowing again into the rhythmic strumming guitars and clean vocal delivery before grinding back again. Bergtatt was unique in its time and still rules the darkmetal throne as a beautiful engagingly mystical masterpiece. With five tracks clocking in at roughly 6-7 minutes a piece that all retain individual identity yet very similar in feel and emotive persuasion. Featuring Garm (Arcturus/Borknagar) on vocals and a list of talented musicians who went on to become legends of the scene, a must have. Favourite Tracks - Led Astray in the Forest of Darke, Betwixt Cragges a Descending Sunne Mark - 8.5/10 Ulver 'Kveldssanger' Head Not Found, 1996 Lord Pale: Ulver return with a neo-folk acoustic album. No drums, no bass, no blackmetal! Utilizing only Garm's deep clean vocals, acoustic guitars and a cello to create relaxing gentle 'Twilight Songs' as the title sugguests. Kvelssanger is an attempt to convey the feelings and emotions Norway's ancient folklore and landscapes conjure in Ulver, thus presenting intonations of varying lengths to capture the various elements in sound. Songs vary from mostly peaceful and calming to occasionally more upbeat and happy like 'The Mountainetops' to more deep and reflective 'The Heart's Woe'. Not all songs have vocals in them and many are merely short musicals but the album flows well as a whole and is best played as such. I find I can only really listen to this album when I am in the mood but it certainly does sound great when you want to hear it. Most people into folk metal or those who enjoyed the lighter moments in Bergtatt should find themselves liking Kveldssinger and I recommend it those people. It is an interesting concept by a band obviously very confident with what they are doing (this is only their second release remember) and hopefully it will pay off for them. Favourite Tracks - (Irrelevant - play as an album) Mark - 7/10 Ulver 'Nattens Madrigal' Century Media, 1997 Lord Pale: If Kveldssinger was the lighter folk side of Bergtatt then Nattens Madrigal is it's straight forward blackmetal side. Ulver have produced a fine slab of cult styled crusty blackmetal. Not happy with being consistent in their stylings, Ulver at least do a descent job of everything they attempt and Nattens Madrigal is no exception. Whinning blackmetal riffs howl over blastbeat drumming providing a surprisingly soothing sound through the screeching fuzzy production. Short keyboard ambient pieces fade out and introduce most of the tracks but only briefly before the hail of nordic riffery and wails grind forth again. Garm does no clean singing at all here, its all growls and rasps to fit in with this new theme of theirs. Claiming this is 'Eight Hymnes to the Wolf in Man' all the song titles are merely Hymne 1, Hymne 2, Hymne 3 etc. which is a little dissapointing as the songs lose a certain sense of identity when presented in such a fashion. Regardless, Nattens .. is an interesting stab into the realms of blackmetal for Ulver proving that they are indeed a very hard band to classify . Favourite Tracks - Hymne 6, Hymne 5, Hymne 2 Mark - 7/10 Ulver 'Themes From William Blake's - The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell' Jester Records, 1998 Lord Pale: Yet another Ulver album and yet another direction change, this being the most radical one so far. Spread over the course of 2 cds and lasting a massive 101 minutes (20 minutes of which is dead time) Themes.. is certainly Ulver's most ambitious undertaking yet . I'm not sure how you would describe Ulver's new direction, ambient/trip hop/metal maybe? Most of the music's central theme revolves around a beat box pulsing out various drum rhythms with either rumbling bass, grooving guitar riffs, keyboard and sample ambience or a combination of the three supporting it. Garm quotes sections of 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell' or sings parts of it throughout the album from start to finish with some occasional female support vocals. Themes.. is at its best when the guitars are playing which is too infrequently for my liking as some of the more abient tracks have a tendency to sound a little hollow and overdrawn . Like Kvelssinger this is best played through as an album although you could get away with a few tracks now and then on their own, and it's another album I find I need to be in the mood to listen to, to enjoy. Ulver has garnered Ihshan and Samoth (Emperor) and Fenriz (Darkthrone) to be guest vocalists although you'd have trouble spotting the pieces that they read. This new album will either entertain or disdain depending on the open-mindedness of the listener. Personally I think this is a step in an interesting direction. If Ulver can refine and add more guitars to this new style than their next album is sure to be excellent. Favourite Tracks - Cd 2 Track 6, Cd 1 Track 4, Cd 2 Track 1 Mark - 7.5/10 Ulver 'Metamorphosis' Jester Records, 1999 Lord Pale: Ulver's new mini cd Metamorphosis takes a further step into the progressive direction of 'Themes from Willam Blakes - The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'. A small passage in the cd insert states Ulver's intentions of disassociating themselves from blackmetal and the scene saying that it was good at the time but only used as a 'stepping stone' for what they are doing now. As for what they are doing now, Metamorphosis is a 4-track disc, the first of which sounds like something you would hear in a rave club. Samples and techno beats abound and it seems that perhaps this isn't Ulver anymore at all rather Garm on his new synthesiser. The second track and the only actual song with any singing in it is Gnosis. This has more of a ambient feel with samples and a beat box and synth setting the atmosphere before eluding into a nice out take with some of Garm's clean vocals. The third track 'Limbo Central' is another upbeat club piece that offers a little more variety than the first track and sounds a little more professional. The last track is a long overdrawn hollow mess of samples that fade in and out and can't even be classed as a piece of music and really shouldn't be on here as it is a waste of time. Old Ulver fans are advised to steer clear, those intrigued by the direction taken on 'Themes ...' may get something out of this though . Favourite Tracks - Gnosis, Limbo Central Mark - 6/10 Ulver 'Perdition City' Jester Records, 2000 Lord Pale: "This is music for the stations before and after sleep. Headphones and darkness recommended". So say Ulver about their latest release Perdition City. I think that perhaps their recommendation is highly appropriate as Perdition City contains very little to grab the listeners attention, instead it is a modern piece of experimental music with familiar city sounds and clean crooning vocals that serve to relax rather than to excite. Similar in theme to their last two releases, Ulver this time incorporate saxophones, female vocals, and cityscape samples such as car horns etc into their repertoire as well as less synth instead being replaced by a more clean piano sound. The whole album has a very vague feel to it, however as usual it has a tendency to drag the listener into its unique soundscapes and I guess if that was Ulver's intention then they have been successful again. There are some quality moments of atmospherics on here, but their isn't a pinch of 'metal' on this album at all which is disappointing. The fact that this is Ulver's third album of 'mood music' in their career of six actual releases all of which create different moods and consequently seem to make Ulver a directionless frustrating band to listen to, though I would find it interesting if they ever released a best of album mind you. Favourite Tracks - Irrelevant (Play as an Album) Mark - 5/10 |
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