Track Listing
- The argument - The voice of the devil - A memorable fancy - Proverbs of hell - A memorable fancy - A memorable fancy - A memorable fancy - A memorable fancy - A song of liberty Year: 1998 Label: Jester - Official Site |
Ulver - 'Themes from William Blake's the marriage of heaven and hell' - By C. Diamantis
Having completed the trilogy that Garm had on his mind with their first three records, Ulver decided that it was again time for a profound change. The fact that this band couldn�t limit itself to just one musical style had already become apparent and this album just confirms it. In this album Ulver, or rather Garm since he is the main person behind this band, chose to try to set to music a poem written by one of the most important English poets. The poet is William Blake and the poem is �The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell�. As everyone can understand it�s very difficult to create music for lyrics that have been written already. However, Ulver not only were not intimidated by that fact but also managed to give us the best album of their career. Staying faithful to the spirit of Blake�s art, Ulver destroy all the musical boundaries in this album. I must note here that the music of this record has little to do with metal. There are some parts that remind us of the metal roots of the band, but they are just that, a reminder. It�s very difficult to describe the music of this album, because many different styles of music are mixed together in order to compose this result. Trip-hop, rock, pop, ambient and I don�t know what else constantly change places. In the more than 80 minutes of music of this record you�ll listen to almost everything. The only thing that connects all those different styles are Garm�s vocals. Sometimes singing, sometimes reciting, he always manages to give life to this astonishing example of poetry. The newest addition in Ulver, Tore Ylwizaker, does exceptional work with all the programming that exists in this album and truly makes the electronic part of the record excellent. All the other guest musicians do their best and have also played their part in the creation of this masterpiece. I think that special mention should be made to the second singer that participates in the album, Stine Grytoyr, who takes part in some of the tracks and gives a very good performance. I must also mention the fact that in �A Song Of Liberty� participate with their recitations three of the most famous members of the Norwegian black metal scene, Ihsahn, Samoth (both from Emperor) and Fenriz (from Darkthrone). The production, made this time by Garm (or Trickster G.) himself, is once again very good and helps the music show its quality. There�s not really anything else to say about this album. I have loved it from the first time I listen to it and I believe that everyone else who keeps their horizons wide and broad will also love it. This is definitely not an album for those who make categorizations like metal = good, everything else = crap. It�s an album for people who love listening to music and don�t bother with useless labelling. Ulver are as revolutionary as Blake was when he lived and that�s what makes their combination so magnificent. And for those who criticize the band for leaving metal behind them and don�t bother to listen to the music before passing out judgements I�ll let the words of Blake answer: �Listen to the fool�s reproach! It is a kingly title!�... Metal Obsessive Grade: 100% |