Track Listing
1. I troldskog faren vild 2. Solen gaaer bag aase ned 3. Graablick blev hun vaer 4. Een stemme locker 5. Bergtatt - Ind i fjeldkamrene Year: 1994 Label: Head not found - Official Site |
Ulver - 'Bergtatt' - By C. Diamantis
The early 90�s was a great period for black metal since some of the most important albums of the genre were released at that time. Norway was probably the main force in this new genre and almost every new band formed in that country chose to follow that particular style of music. Among the countless other bands formed back then were Ulver. After releasing a demo entitled �Vargnatt�, Ulver decided to release the first album of their glorious career. From the first moments of this album the listener can easily understand that this is no ordinary black metal band. And there are two factors that set Ulver aside from the rest black metal genre... The Music�When most of the black metal bands chose a primitve sound with very fast guitars and drums, most of the time because they didn�t really know how to use their instruments, Ulver decided to follow a different path. All the musicians participating in this album are very good at their field and this guaranties that the quality of the music will be high. Ulver in this record decide to mix the black metal of the time with many folk elements from their countries musical tradition. Next to the traditional black metal vocals, fast drums and riffing we find acoustic guitars, clean vocals, piano and other �classical� instruments. Their ability to create beautiful melodies makes the folk part of their music even more impressive and shows that this band has really involved itself with folk music and not just copied some old tunes. In the metal part of the music we find very good solos (something rarely found in a black metal band) and very good work on the drums and bass. And, of course the last part that makes them different is that they chose to have a very good production for their album and that helps the melodies become more apparent and mesmerizing. The Lyrics�When almost every black metal band adopted a satanic and evil lyrical background, Ulver decided to create a concept album using traditional Norwegian folktale. The tale, which from what I understand is very well known in Norway, is about a girl wandering in the mountains and finally being captured by some trolls. Of course this is an over-simplified description of the story, but unfortunately I haven�t managed to find the complete story anywhere. The point is that the band did something original and dared to stray from the easy path of the usual �image�. This is also apparent in the photos that we can find in the album sleeve where the band doesn�t use the usual corpse-paint as everyone did back then but choose a different style of appearance. I think that this album is essential for every black metal fan, since in there we can find the perfect combination of black metal and folk music, after that many tried to do the same thing and failed. And the most important fact is that this is just the first album of Ulver... Metal Obsessive Grade: 90% |