Ulver - s/d

"nattens madrigal" is their most black metal release (almost a noise record), "bergtatt" is epic black metal stuff with folk melodies and clean vocals blended in and is really something i have to be in the mood for.

the recently issued cd which compiled the "silence teaches/silencing the singing" EPs would probably resonate with anyone who likes later labradford albums - it's ambience with a kind of mellowed out glitchiness to it and occasional beats; i think it's really pretty good (if not absolutely original). "lyckantropen themes" is similar, but more streamlined and electronic sounding and less developed (it's a soundtrack, thus kind of background).

"Themes from William Blake's The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell" is a double CD filled with overdramatic recitings of the book, Depeche Mode-style synthpop with some distorted guitars here and there. Not totally rubbish, but way too long and unintentionally funny. The later releases (basically Christopher Rygg solo) go into glitch-y Coil soundtrack-ish territory. Lots of people seem to love this material, I'm not really feeling it.

---

This caught my ear in the record store because I liked the paradoxical singing -- both forceful and wispy, also the peculiar sampling going on behind it -- the textures. And while it hasn't quite held up to my initial expectations, it is a very intriguing album and worth listening to again and again just to hear new things in it each time. It has metal's pretention, but shoegaze's texture. It's also got a huge dose of goth -- especially in the lyrics, but the keyboard player was obviously stolen from some defunct prog rock band. And then there's that lovely little gamelan interlude that tickles my ears at the beginning of the third song. Steve's probably thinking Talk Talk because there's a vibraphone in the fourth song, and where there is vibraphone, there will inevitably be Bark Psychosis comparisons. But to be honest, besides some of the pacing and a bit of the percussion, I can't here any Talk Talk here. The 80s band that I _am_ hearing loud and clear though is Ultravox. I think that's because of all the pomp and the bluster and the lyrics that feel like they need dry ice and an eastern bloc country as a backdrop.. But it's also in one of the voices : a sort of heavy-metal Midge Ure. Take a song like "Vienna" and add a bunch of prog keyboards and a bit of feedback and some Loop loops, then put the voice a bit lower in the mix so it sounds more whisper-y, but still confident. There, see what I mean?

Like most metal albums, the lyrics are both specific and broadly archetypal. And it's obvious to me that these folks are Tool/Perfect Circle fans, because they use the same sort of ironic wordplay that Maynard favors. Right down to some of the same themes :

"truth is a hospital
please be patient"

or, my personal favorite :

"is the vampire
in the mirror
eternal
like Hell"

(good use of line breaks there -- it adds layers of meanings)

ONe last thing I wanted to mention, the genius sampling and editing in the seventh song -- it starts out with an oppressive goth string arrangement that's also got a tiny bubble of vibraphone (?) beneath it for relief, and the lyrics are all about blood and death and ambulences and hospitals, which add to the tension. And then, just as the lyrics are winding up for the final punch, the tune suddenly morphs seamlessly into a 1930s style Big Band brass extravaganze (a la Mercury Rev). It's a brilliant musical shift, but it doesn't make "sense" lyrically, so that the listener's mind -- or at least my mind -- is left reeling from the disjoin. Wait a minute, we were in an ambulence rushing to the hospital -- how did we end up in a Busby Berkley film?! I think it's the first time I've ever felt that something was both SO RIGHT, and SO WRONG for a song simultaneously. I wonder if others felt this way too?

Also, hearing it all together accentuates the WTF-ness that Stripey wrote about. There are so many shifts in the pacing and musical style. Also, there's definitely a cabaret element happening here.

Ulver - Blood Inside [featured album]

http://www.metal-invader.com/db/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=1914

http://decibelmagazine.com/0905_ulver_bloo.aspx

(and i totally did the ...ON ACID! trick, but i don't care cuz you have to smack people around in order to make them buy something weird. or at least i do cuz i'm no good at being subtle. i heart hyperbole.)

look...

ULVER To Release 'Shadows Of The Sun' In The Fall
http://tinyurl.com/395fyp

the most recent ulver record i own is the marriage of heaven and hell thingie. i remember feeling a little cut that they'd turned their back completely on black metal. it's an entertaining release nonetheless, though i never felt compelled to listen to anything that came after it.

nattens madrigal is about as pure and glorious as black metal gets.

omg NEW ULVER

thanks, dj martian!

didn't know you were a fan, actually :)

This is exciting news. Anyone know if it's getting released on "The End" this time around?

i only have 'blood inside' but it's one of my very favourite records. when i decided to introduce my music-collection to my brother, it was the first album i urged him to play. he put it in the disc-drive without pressing it down and scratched it. :-/

i would think that it's the same, i.e Jester Records for Europe and The End Records for North America

i remember an ex-girlfriend did something similar with my copy of 'tea for the tillerman'. in fact, it was one of those players that you open and close with a button and it slides in and out. she didn't put the record in the slot properly and it got stuck when she pressed the button. scratched it so badly it wouldn't play...

but back to ulver,

i think...i think i should purchase 'blood inside'

LJ, you would probably like Teachings in Silence etc. although it's much darker/emptier. Might want to work your way into the earlier albums, they aren't likely to appeal to your sensibilities (as I understand them) right off the bat. Try to track down the quick fix of melancholy EP also, which you are almost certain to like if you like blood inside.

Of course, you don't like "Nail", so I'm not entirely sure what to think about you. Perhaps this will improve your score overall :)

xposts

hey dude, I LIKE nail, but i prefer the last two for some unfathomable reason! 'kreibabe' is one of the finest, most awesomely warped pieces of music i've ever heard, and the rest ain't far behind. i'm also a fan of more than a little metal, so i'd probably really enjoy the early stuff. would you say 'bergtatt' or 'nattens madrigal' would be a wiser foray?

also, cheers for the EP leads! :-D

i'd say bergtatt, because you get a cool hybrid of nordic folk and black metal with that one and it's a good intro to their black metal dynamic. nattens madrigal is an onslaught from start to finish. though honey to these ears

let's see what john says

i tend to prefer onslaughts too, mind

Well, if part of what you enjoy about Blood Inside is the lush production, nattens is going to be a bit of a shock. It's a fantastic by harshly recorded album (w/intent). I think I'd go with bergtatt. If you're like me, though, eventually you'll end up buying everything you can find.

i would suggest that the organic and primal production (or lack of production as it were) on nattens lends the record a really ambient quality. the playing is extremely tight as well. no one can doubt that it's an extremely focused record, despite its harsh sound.

great artwork in the sleeves too with some really artistic shots of the band

does it sound anything like (this will sound heretic but bear with me) Primal Scream's 'Accelerator'? that's the kind of harsh, distorted guitar kerfuffle i go crazy for.

the guitar in the ulver is not as loose and is more melodic than the primal scream.

accelerator is a cool track.

oh wait, i've just thought of a possible comparison. does it sound anything like serena-maneesh's 'beehiver II', 'don't come down here' or 'your blood in mine'?

I don't know that Primal Scream song.

xpost:Nor do I know those songs.

oh wait, I've got it. opening track off Sleater-Kinney's last album ('The Fox'). Do Ulver's guitars achieve that sort of lo-fi distorted glory?

hahah, the idea of comparing sleater-kinney to nattens-era ulver is hilarious :)

but in practice, there just may be something there. i'd need to hear the track in question again...so watch this space.

i've never even heard of serena-maneesh.

according to jester records the new Ulver album will be released October 1st

http://www.monkeyhouse-recordings.co.uk/Other/Tattoo/Wrist001.jpg

not me. tempting though. or at least the old logo.

You have to seek ulver (wolves) in Norway as they are almost completely eradicated from nature. On the other hand, destroying them is against the law, so I would advise you to let them live.

YOU'RE BLOWING MY MIND HERE DUDE.

briefly, while i have the time, breaking my self-imposed ilx exile to note that the new album is lovely. very dreamy. beautiful. late-night mood. even the sabbath cover fits in nicely. though it was a lovely song to begin with. so, nothing strange about that. nowhere near as jarring or as fanciful as the last album, but just as deep and wild in its way.

don't even know where to begin...

this impresses me. as always, i guess. i'm looking forward to hearing how other people respond to this.

:-) You should know, Scott, that your EMP presentation *still* gets people talking about Ulver.

Does someone have "Bergtatt" handy and could send it to me?

http://blackmetalownsyou.blogspot.com/2007/08/ulver-bergtatt-et-eeventyr-i-5-capitler.html

OMG this thread revive is such a ridiculius coincidence! I've JUST (in the past half-hour) copied to my computer Ulver's ENTIRE album discography (alongside a LOT of other metal)! I shall be reporting to this thread with observations.

Themes From WB's MOHAH is unhinged, catchy awesomeness, yet also completely "what were they thinking?" at the same time. You want to look away, you want to hear more.

Thanks, GOTT!!

'bergtatt' is really something special
fantastic vocals, extremely melodic, sparsely brutal, and i'd imagine pretty influential (i'm hearing similar melodies in dissection and agalloch)
1994 could be THE year for black metal

listening to 'perdition city' right now. well it's good and all, but i think they've really evolved and found their true element outside of the metal realm since then. grazie

the series of EPs they put out (and the soundtrack work they did) after perdition city are also a good taste of what was to come. although the progression from marriage of heaven and hell to perdition city is likewise a pretty major stepping stone to the current stuff. i would say that the sham mirrors was, in all its lunacy, a harbinger of things to come as well. especially lyrically and vocally.

ulver - evolution from day one.

(that's their new motto)

hahah 'marriage of heaven and hell' is wack! some great ideas and sounds in there, and guest appearances, but i can only listen to it rarely

I love everything this band has been compared to. Maybe I need to get some when I have money...

you'd be well advised

It's only just sunk in during the past couple of days just how brilliant Shadows Of The Sun actually is. Arguably even more intricate (in its subtle way) than Blood Inside, although I still prefer the 2005 record, because I'm more a thrill-junkie than a contemplative sad-sack. ;-)

(Also because it's got slightly better songs and more of a sense of flow)

i've been listening to the last two albums a lot again recently and only now hearing something similar to six finger satellite's law of ruins. maybe i'm crazy

i must now hear six finger satellite

You may find it hard to divine the thread.

?

check them out, just got offed, i think you might like them

I've found myself deeply drawn to Bergtatt lately. It's becoming an obsessive, regular spin. There's something about the churning, hyper-melodic tunes with the pseudo-Gregorian chant vocals that rivets me.

And there's that irresistible contrary element to Ulver. The way they identified with the spirit of black metal as it was developing, but they refused to be confined to it. I like that.

So far, Enslaved is the only other BM outfit that capture my imagination in the same manner.

Ulver rule, cant stop listening to them lately.

Bergtatt is amazing, a total classic - if anyone can recommend anything on similar lines, I'd love to hear it. Borknagar didn't do it for me, Blut Aus Nord's 'Ultima Thulee' is as close as I've got.

Well Alcest's sound is heavily based upon "Bergtatt". Also, Forgotten Woods were contemporaries along the same lines.

Alcest, I know and like. Forgotten Woods' take on Baudelaire angers me deeply, sad and nerdy as that may seem.

Fancy hearing some live Ulver? Maihaugsalen Live 2009 bootleg

If mods dont want links to live bootlegs feel free to delete it and anyone can PM me for the link.

earth calling LJ

Fancy SEEING some live Ulver: http://www.terrorizer.com/content/ulver-announce-historic-uk-performance

yes

just booked tickets, am in back row of rear stalls but I DON'T CARE

there were only like 12 tickets left, I hate to say it but thank FUCK for Facebook's sponsored ads, and their creepy reading of my profile details

fwiw ILX's favourite metal-lovin' sometime-nursin' occasionally-songwritin' nascently-novelisin' dude is playing the same venue a week later and I as a former employee of the Southbank complex am fucked if I'm giving 'em any more money so pretty please try to get me in gratis and we're talking OUTLAY on yr album(s) at the stall I COULD HAVE BEEN MANNING if they hadn't fired me and forced me to take up a Masters degree instead XD

An Ulver gig from Greece this November has just gone up on D1m3adoz3n if anyone is interested.

I dont torrent really but if anyone made a mediafire or something i'd be interested.

I'd be happy to grab it for anyone.

that would be great, thanks!

Okay, well it came down the tubes pretty quick, PM me Herman or anyone else and I'll mail a CD.

Another London show coming up at the Scala in february

oops missed your post. will pm you now

this time i'll book early! hopefully they'll play, like, 'christmas' this time :p

Anyone else want this before I take it off my hard drive?

FINE, you always knew I'd say yes eventually

I ought to sound more enthusiastic than that. This sounds pretty dope! Wahey! You know my address! That's better.

Actually, I have a little backlog of things to send you, if you have changed address recently PM me and check the Cardiacs thread laterz.

My address is still the same! My craving for whacked-out semi-progressive sonic mayhem is undimmed.

Just got tickets to see them in Vienna, looking forward to it.

oh, I would def. like to hear this!

PM me Alan and I'll sort you one.

cool. just sent you a email via the webmail thing. that's the same thing as PM'ing, right? (have actually never done this before,)

and thanks man!

i have also sent an email, let me know if you dont get it

john you are free to talk about them again!

http://soundcloud.com/booking-26-1/february-mmx - new song

Album is called War Of The Roses

I really like this song

I'll be at Ulver's gig in Oslo next week if any ILXrs are heading over for By:Larm...

ooooooh

interesting. that song sounds like it's splitting the difference between circle and mew. i would love it if the new album's a little more like "synen," the old demo they contributed to last year's amazing whom the moon a nightsong sings comp -- dark, sort of militaristic, acid folk

ULVER – WARS OF THE ROSES (K Scope)
Release Date – May 16th

New studio album from Norwegian dark music legends

www.myspace.com/ulver1

Ulver are the latest band to join the Kscope roster. Early pioneers of Norwegian black metal, the band have continually evolved throughout their career and now stand as living legends of the dark music industry, blending rock, electronica, symphonic and chamber traditions along with noise and experimental music to create ground-breaking material.

Until this point the band have remained uncompromisingly independent, operating without marketing, advertising or any backing from a label (except their own imprint, Jester Records). Despite this stance the band are revered around the world, have sold in excess of half a million records, have well over 11,000,000 plays on Last FM and the interest does not seem to be fading; indeed the band are now preparing to make another step with a bigger label and new management.

The last two years have also seen Ulver emerge as a live band. Following their first live performance in May 2009, at the Norwegian Festival of Literature, the band toured Europe in 2010 selling out prestigious venues such as the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Volksbühne in Berlin and Casa da Música in Porto, to great acclaim.

Wars Of The Roses was mixed by producer extraordinaire John Fryer (Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, Swans etc.), following a chance meeting outside Crystal Canyon studios during the latter stages of recording. Sounds like fate.

1. February MMX
2. Norwegian Gothic
3. Providence
4. September IV
5. England
6. Island
7. Stone Angels

have well over 11,000,000 plays on Last FM

Is this really a "thing" in press releases now?

Regardless, so very excited for this!

fuck yes, album of the year contender

*slavers*

"providence" is blowing my mind

"stone angels" is the best album closer since "good thoughts, bad thoughts"

oh someone revived it already, just listening to it now

wait shit this is out?

leaked.

the quality of the leak i got to hear sucked, but even so, this album kicked my ass

I've been slowly warming to this album. At first, it seems to lack a bit the consistency of theme and focus of "Shadows of the Sun", but I'm glad they're not resting on their laurels. Probably would make for a good headphones album, since there's lots of sonic detail that is easy to miss if not listening closely.

still need to hear this; i pulled out Blood Inside the other day and that still sounds overwhelmingly good

great record; sort of what blood inside would be like with a more consistent field of vision? by which i mean, there are the jazz and ambient elements, they're just more organically integrated.

which, the abrupt collage of blood inside is so instrumental in that record's overall effect—each track causes a specific vertigo. here the lateral moves are smooth, graceful.

"september iv" is so so gorgeous.

I'm leaning toward this new record being a dud. I love the last two, but this hasn't grabbed me nor given me much desire to grapple with it further to see if it ever will. as o. nate says, it lacks focus. Likely it is merely that I don't like the direction they've taken away from Shadows which I truly love.

I haven't given it many thorough listens, but I really love the opening track and the aforementioned "September IV."

I listened to it again this morning after not playing it for a while, and it was better than I remembered. I think maybe it just wasn't what I was hoping for after Shadows of the Sun (i.e., more of the same). It's starting to hang together a bit better in my mind.

"providence" was the first 'holy shit!' listen i had with the new one

i love this band more and more every day.

Childhood's End is pretty fucking superb, eh

another complete left-turn in their sinuous progress through modern musical history; the song-choices are uniformly excellent; the sound is cavernous, swirling, liquid; Ulver have an amazing sense of the psychedelic that comes across as their own even when covering psych classics relatively straight

one of the all-time cover albums, love love love love....

The first track on Bergtatt: I CANNOT stop listening to it.

great interview: http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured/kristoffer-rygg-ulver-interviewed/

didn't even know a new record was coming out, though i had heard of the commissioned piece

http://www.decibelmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ulver_messe_decibel_2013.jpg

psyched

they had turned fucking 20 for the Blake album

Were they all, what, 15 when they made Bergtatt? Holy motherfuck

Brilliant interview, of course. Rygg is wonderfully eloquent and subtle. I can't wait for the new record. :)

I still listen to many songs from the blake / perdition city albums. a shock back then...

what the fuck is this thing and where does it come from?

THIS IS INCREDIBLE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EtSWs9729s

fuqqq

just read their piece on the record industry: http://www.metalsucks.net/2012/12/10/ulver-are-raging-against-the-record-label-machine/

think i'll buy this

turns out the opening track is the best thing on this, but it's still pretty cool

'son of man' has a beautiful build-up and then goes all fucken emmerich soundtrack on us :(

I picked up Childhood's End recently, and I'm really digging it.

ULVER "Trolsk Sortmetall 1993 - 1997" North American Pre-order starts today!

http://www.metalstorm.net/images/news/big/24653-1.jpg

The North American pre-order of ULVER's box set "Trolsk Sortmetall 1993 - 1997" has started. Check out the CM Distro shop and order a copy of the box: http://smarturl.it/ulverCMDISTRO

"Trolsk Sortmetall 1993 - 1997" will be released in the following two formats:

Format 1: 5CD box
Format 2: 4LP+tape box set

We went to the manufacturer of the LP box today to have an eye on how the print will turn out. Here is an impression of the production process of the LP box cover:

Contents of the CD box:

Hardcover 5CD box with
16-page booklet
CD 1: Vargnatt
CD 2: Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler
CD 3: Kveldssanger
CD 4: Nattens Madrigal - Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden
CD 5: Nattens Madrigal - 4 track rehearsal, summer 1995

Hardcover book with 104 pages of unpublished photos and paraphernalia, original Norwegian lyrics, presentations and their English translations, comments by the band as well as liner notes by Jon 'Metalion' Kristiansen (founder of Head Not Found Records and the man behind Slayer Mag), Chris Bruni (Profound Lore Records), Michael Moynihan (author of Lords of Chaos) and Mark Pilkington (Strange Attractor Press).

The 5cd box will be limited to 3000 copies worldwide.

Contents of the LP box:

LP I: Vargnatt
LP II: Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler
LP III: Kveldssanger
LP IV: Nattens Madrigal - Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden
MC: 4 track rehearsal, summer 1995
Poster (size 60 x 30 cm)
32-page booklet in LP size (carrying same content as the CD box booklets)

The LP box is limited to 2000 copies worldwide and the pressings will be broken down as follows:

• 1500 copies on black vinyl
• 400 copies on silver vinyl
• 100 copies on clear vinyl including art print (SOLD OUT)

Stocks are very limited and availability is based on a first come, first serve basis!

http://www.cmdistro.com/images/xlarge/48182.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8jRTrv8etw

House of Mythology proudly presents the new Ulver gatefold double album ATGCLVLSSCAP, with over 80 minutes worth of material. This album consists of multitracked and studio-enhanced live, mostly improvisational, rock and electronic soundscapes, 2/3 of which has never been heard before.

oh my fucking god

Yes, and very much so.

that clip sounds awesome, what 1/3 of this is previously released?

http://www.factmag.com/2015/12/18/ulver-new-album-atgclvlsscap-moody-stix/

hmm

I fear they were the right level of pretentious ten years ago

Almost at the end of listening to this new one now, some of it's pretty good but a lot of it feels unnecessarily longwinded. The improvisation isn't really as interesting as they seem to think. It's not bad but they're capable of much more. Then again I think they were pretty poor between Nattens and Blood Inside so I can't discount them ever doing something truly great again.

this is going to sound awful but they need to ditch daniel o'sullivan, he has ruined them

i guess his narration on 'stone angels' wasn't too bad, but that aside he has brought nothing but pretentious disappointment

I agree entirely.

Childhood's End was awesome.

i finally got around to ATGCLVLSSCAP and tbh a lot of it rules

the "glammer hammer"/"moody stix"/"cromagnosis" section especially

Everything Ulver does feels like a bad imitation of something they don't really "get." That goes for their black metal era too

ah

hyperbolic review here:
http://decibelmagazine.com/0905_ulver_bloo.aspx

(and i totally did the ...ON ACID! trick, but i don't care cuz you have to smack people around in order to make them buy something weird. or at least i do cuz i'm no good at being subtle. i heart hyperbole.)

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, August 29, 2005 1:56 AM (eleven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and i totally got the "end of everything" thing from that ILM MBV thread from a while back.
― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, August 29, 2005 1:58 AM (eleven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

four months pass...
Blood Inside is something special - something else entirely!! My metal pals claim it isn't even metal, but it is. It's metal that's had all the metal "bits" taken out and replaced with everything else under the sun.
― Wogan Lenin (dog latin), Monday, January 9, 2006 2:21 PM (ten years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

one month passes...
It still ended up making a bunch of the metal polls, and a lot of metal people did like it a lot.
― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, February 11, 2006 3:24 AM (ten years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

of course it's metal. i dunno, i really appreciate it. i find that with all hard rock/metal/punk there seems to be a lot of people scared to deviate fromt he original flow.
― Vintage Latin (dog latin), Saturday, February 11, 2006 3:28 AM (ten years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

s/o good posts era, s/o no caps mafia

Everything Ulver does feels like a bad imitation of something they don't really "get." That goes for their black metal era too

I... kinda agree. About the more recent albums, anyway. I like the black metal stuff and the Silence/Singing EPs, but I've come to the realization that the proggy era just doesn't engage me like I wish it would, and there's this creeping feeling that it's because they just don't sound comfortable doing it. I want to like them! But even when they meet me halfway by doing a bunch of psych covers I'm just not feeling it.

it's really not true though. they take a lot of chances and they aren't afraid to fail. but they know what they're doing. the stuff that has worked has REALLY worked and they were totally inside it and made it tick. in troo black metal fashion, i honestly think don't think they give a fuck. there are definitely some past releases where it feels like you are listening to someone learn how to do something. but in a good way.

i haven't heard new stuff in a while though. i can't believe i wrote that blood inside review 11 years ago! we must all be really old now.

but i've also kinda always liked how fucked up and awkward they could be. they make a band like radiohead sound like rebecca of sunnybrook farm. that art opera blake thing they did is completely demented and really doesn't work in some ways at all and sounds like people in a gulag somewhere who had only read about art music and then approximated it in DIY fashion but who the hell else would make something like that? on the other hand, blood inside is near perfection if you ask me as an art-prog statement and still sounds great and stands completely apart and not at all awkward. i think that was their most successful work of art. but i've missed stuff.

i would buy the new one. didn't have much interest in the snooz-0)))) collaboration. kinda wish ulver had made an album with scott walker instead of those doofuses for maximum mindfuck.

I'll have to give them another shot sometime, I guess. Like I say I want to feel it! Maybe I need to go wild pitch and check out the William Blake thing, which I haven't heard.

i would buy the new one. didn't have much interest in the snooz-0)))) collaboration. kinda wish ulver had made an album with scott walker instead of those doofuses for maximum mindfuck.

― scott seward, Wednesday, September 21, 2016 2:36 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes!!

the new one is definitely worth checking out, but imo their best recording since blood inside really is the psych covers album

also I do like the spoken-word thing on wars of the roses

war of the roses was the last one I bought

plowing through some of their early stuff and holy shit, Nattens Madrigal is going to give me hearing loss

so can we talk about how this new record rocks? depeche mode is the obvious referent but it's coming at it from this weird angle that i love. jury's still out on which side it lands on of pastiche vs. homage, but the tunes are def there

it lands on the side of being awesome. i made a thread about it

found it

Not hearing what you're all hearing. Sounds like computer generated pastiche most of the time, with the distant clinical emptiness of Lansing-Dreisden. Guess I'll just have to try a few more times

https://ulver.bandcamp.com/album/drone-activity

posted elsewhere already?

i had no idea, omg

I've just picked up a few Ulver albums including the Drone Activity. Hadn't realised they'd released a new one

including the Drone Activity

https://thequietus.com/articles/28828-ulver-interview-3

A longish interview in the Quietus for their new album. It seems to be in the vein of "the Assassination...", which is exciting

Cover of new album:

https://www.normanrecords.com/artwork/medium/48/182048-ulver-flowers-of-evil.jpg

And it's out!

Yes, out today here. Looking forward to getting this.

It feels like he's easing into the sound introduced on the last album and letting himself have more fun with it.

Yes. Sounding good so far.

wow didn't know this was coming, sounding great so far.

weird comparison, but the heavy slow-building atmosphere of the first track 'one last dance' reminds me of blick bassy's 'ngwa,' which is one of my fav songs from last year

the singles didn't stand out to me ahead of time but I can already feel this working on me, I think it's the equal of the last one

To me it has fewer immediate hooks than The Assassination..., but I'm enjoying it and it will grow.

"hour of the wolf" confirmed amazing

actually this just keeps getting better as it goes

agreed with simon it's a more playful version of the sound on the last record... to a nigh-danceable degree on "apocalypse 1993"

when's the D. Lissvik rework album coming out

So far this isn't grabbing me, but I'll give it time. See you in a month!

I feel the need to plug the new Greg Puciato single for anyone who digs recent Ulver

https://youtu.be/VgCMGAvurl0

^^ good stuff

Yes, thanks Simon.

I'm enjoying the new one. Short and sweet. But it doesn't reach the highs of its predecessor. It's a more even listen, if that's the right way to put it. "Apocalypse 1993" might be my favourite for now.

Really like his voice. How many other death metallers secretly have voices like polished oak?

So far this isn't grabbing me, but I'll give it time. See you in a month!

― lukas, Friday, August 28, 2020 12:30 PM (ten months ago) bookmarkflaglink

Duke's correct that the highs aren't as high, but it's consistent and it scratches an itch nothing else does. Keep coming back to this.

https://thequietus.com/articles/30754-ulver-reinterpret-john-carpenter-new-album-scary-muzak

New Ulver. Looking forward to this.

https://ulver.bandcamp.com/album/hexahedron-live-at-henie-onstad-kunstsenter

Also this ^

It's really the first time in 15 years that it clicks, but today I was in the mood for relistening to Nattens Madrigal (in two sittings) and I find it actually much closer to Bergtatt than I thought (in composition).
Also had a blast relistening to Blood Inside. Come to think of it, one thing that unites a good part of their discography is how disconcerting and dense and visceral-cerebral and hypnotic their albums are.