Ulver - s/d

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

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.

RIP Tore Ylvisaker

https://metalinjection.net/this-is-just-a-tribute/longtime-ulver-keyboardist-tore-ylvisaker-has-died

Okay the new album Neverland is already a classic in my eyes. What do you call this? Dark balearic? I love it

Thanks for the heads up. I kind of let the last couple albums slip by, but this is really great.

I think the lack of vocals really helps it be less "metal-coded" and come into its own. I know Ulver have long experimented with other genres but the vocals always seem to root the music in some sort of metal continuum, whereas this really does sound like a unique thing