Ulver - Bergtatt
|
Our Price: $22.98 Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Bergtatt
Free Music Review: Ulver's best?
Hit: 5 Stars
Arguably one of their best albums, I really can't decide which Ulver album is the best. They create unique music that you either love or hate. And I love it. My only problem with this is the lyrics. I appreciate music more when I understand the message trying to be conveyed. Besides that, there's a dark beautiful atmospheric created. Ulver knows how to chisel sorrow filled melodies with the quick black metal. And the bass harmonies are very noticeable, unlike in some bands where you forget there's even a bass when it's blurred out. The clean singing is top notch (not whiny yet soft) and the black metal screeching is what you'd expect from any other black metal band. Gentle acoustic folk plucking will pop up every now and then. It actually reminds me of Opeth before My Arms Your Hearse. The setting this music takes you is kind of like Opeth's Orchid (one of my all time favorites). This is for fans of Agalloch cause of the folky parts and Dissection cause of the aggressive melodic death influenced black metal parts. Just think of this as Opeth being a progressive black metal band, and not a progressive death metal band.Free Music Review: The grey skies frown over forests on the mountainside...
Hit: 5 Stars
Ulver, my first real foray into black metal, is probably the most beautiful (dark) metal band I have known since Opeth. Much like their Swedish contemporaries, this Norwegian band largely utilize melodies, acoustic guitars (and other forms of transition between heavier songs and parts thereof), and clean vocals to further differentiate themselves from the annals of heavy metal norms. However, Ulver does more than just sound melodic or have a shining moment here or there; they create (no, EMBRACE) a trait that far surpasses any gimmick, theme, or talent in most other bands: atmosphere.
When you listen to this album's five tracks, you are carried deep into the mountains of Norway. You hear the crickets chirping in the shrubbery nearby. You smell the thick green odours of the trees about you. You feel the wind, cool and fresh, flowing through the trees to gently embrace you in its primal movement. The allure of the mountainside by dusk beckons you deeper into the forest...
...much like the unfortunate protagonist in the story this album narrates. For the whole of this story, read d_didonato's marvelous review. It is a rather eerie story, yet it perfectly fits hand-in-hand with the beautifully archaic atmosphere created by the five amazing musicians that made up the original Ulver lineup.
H?vard "Haavard" J?rgensens is the lead, rhythm, and acoustic guitarist. His heavier riffs, along with fellow guitarist (only for rhythm, however) Aismal, flow with such languid lucidity, it is like the fall of a gentle rain storm or the trickling of a wild river; far from a headbanger's delight. The opening riffs to "Capitel I" are a perfect example of this. As well, H?vard's acoustic guitar (like during the breakdown near the end of "Capitel I," the intro to "Capitel II," (paired with ethereal, beautiful flute, performed by ), and the outro to "V," is supremely beautiful. Finger-picking in a Norse folk style, the acoustic breakdowns are highly reminiscent of Opeth, yet somehow even more archaic and at once lulling and cryptically sinister. Haavard's leads are also very beautiful; again, in "Capitel I," there are not one, but three solos (two during the bridge, and a fantastic one during the outro) that perfectly, PERFECTLY, complement the song's subtle beauty.
Erik Olivier Lancelot, better known as AiwarikiaR, is the drummer on this album, as well as the man responsible for the utterly beautiful flutes (which are highly effective during the pre-outro to "Capitel I," the intro to "Capitel II," and on other parts). His drumming is fast, thunderous, yet hardly threatening or overly heavy. With much usage of double-bass pedals, AiwarikiaR creates the perfect amount of heaviness to not contrast, but to heighten, the melodies that are present in every song. He also makes great use of his snare drums and the crashing of cymbals during the heavier moments. Hugh Steven James Mingray, AKA Skoll, plays the bass, which again is a great addition to the blend of heavy melodies. For the most part, he cannot clearly be heard (the production is purposely foggy, as I shall get into momentarily), but there are moments in which he shines through (like during some of the sweeping shifts in the riffs of "Capitel II," and during a majority of "Capitel III"), and he clearly knows what he's doing; he is far more than the average metal bassist.
And then there's Krisoffer Rygg, AKA Garm, on vocals and the principle songwriter/lyricist and the heart and soul of Ulver. Speaking of heart and soul, Ulver has a great fascination with wolves. "Ulver" literally means "wolf" in Norwegian; as well, a couple of the band member's names are taken directly from Nordic mythology: Garm is the blood-stained wolf which guards the underworld; Skoll is the wolf which eventually devours the sun during Ragnarok, the apocalyptic end of the world (and the marking of the rebirth of mankind). Cool, huh? But back to Garm...
Garm has a whole range of voices that he uses highly effectively. To further anchor themselves in black metal, yes, Garm has harsher vocals which sound tortured, tattered, and not from beyond the grave, but rather from forces outside of our known world. However, Garm does SO much more than this! For the most part, you see, he sings with one of the most beautiful voices any male human has ever been gifted with, along with Mikael ?kerfeldt and James LaBrie. Haunting, distant, and with mixed times of sorrow, despair, loneliness, and often lighter emotions (especially a beckoning cry of allure), Garm proves that you don't have to understand a language (Ulver sings completely in Norwegian, a very bold act) in order to FEEL the mood.
Finally, there's the album overall. What can I say that I haven't already? PLENTY! However, I won't spoil it all for you. There are so many moments to moan "Ooh..." and "Ahhh..." to with this album. The atmosphere is so thick, so real, you'll forget that you are not in a forest, but only listening to this album. There are even non-musical touches which further heighten this: the crash of thunder on "Capitel II." A brief brush of rain and wind at the end of "Capitel V." The full minute or so of hearing a woman's hurried breathing as she rushes through the woods, her feet crunching twigs and leaves underfoot, as a twisting, eerie (but of course, beautiful) piano is played in the background (by Steinar Johnsen, AKA Sverd) during the middle section of "Capitel III." And the most powerful aspect of this album, I think, is the slightly dim production, which is PERFECT; it's like the final touch of mist in the audio portrait that BERGTATT paints).
A pure masterpiece in only about half an hour, BERGTATT is one of the most unique, moving, and atmospheric albums you will ever hear. Buy this album, and be lost (and blissfully possessed) in the forests forever.
Free Music Review: Beuatiful, haunting, essential black metal
Hit: 5 Stars
If black metal could ever be described as beautiful, then this is it. Even when they speed things up, Ulver still retain a sense of delicate melody. First off, Garm's vocals are simply wondorful, combining an emotional black metal rasp with haunting clean vocals. That they are sung in an older dialect of Norweigen adds to their mysteriousness. Then there are the lush acoustic guitars that can be found throughout the mix. Those of you who enjoyed the acoustic guitars of other metal bands that don't fall under the black metal label (Agalloch and Opeth are the two I have in mind, though I'm sure there are others), would do well to look into this album. What I can't beleive is that Ulver aren't more popular (though their adventures with pure Nordic folk music and electronic music may be somewhat responsible for that). Make no mistake, when this band want to speed things up and get heavy, they do so. But throughout it all there is still melody, still some acoustic guitars, still some clean vocals and even a flute from time to time.
Of course, those of you looking for a 'true/extreme' black metal release may wish to look into Mayhem or Darkthrone. But those of you looking for an album that still embraces the grim underground sound of black metal but executes it in way far beyond what most other bands were doing at the time would be well advised to buy this incredible album.
Free Music Review: A gem amongst gems
Hit: 5 Stars
This is one of my favorite CDs. It has that cold, grim Norwegian black metal feel, with warm acoustic undertones that capture your mind and send you on a journey to the dark woods of Norway. The musicianship is just simply great and each song is innovative, dark, and.....well....good, good, good!Free Music Review: This is the heart and soul of goth...
Hit: 5 Stars
This is my first Ulver album and I am completely blown away by this bands songwriting skill. This album is so deep. It evokes images of frigid blizzards through mountains under a black Norweigan night. The cover art is also brilliant. It is a concept album that details the old Norse fable of a maiden lost in the forest at night who is abducted by the mysterious denizens of the mountain caves. Dark it is, but there is a deep personal feel to this album. The folkish/classical moods feel sad and lonely yet comforting, yet the metal does not drone on like Tiamat or Theatre of Tragedy. It moves at such a blistering speed, I am remined of bands like Discordance Axis or Dillinger Escape Plan when DEP plays their fastest parts. And Garm's voice! He sings such a gentle, beautiful tenor that echoes far over the blinding metal, adding a much needed atmosphere during metal parts. If you listen closely enough you can hear an accoustic guitar pop up sometimes during all of that white lightning. Don't get me wrong though! This album has mood and atmosphere just dripping of the little plastic jewel case. For such an old folky storyline, the music itself is very very hostile and tragic. If you have been contemplating suicide or are just a mandkind-loathing, black eyeshadow-wearing, introverted, anger-supressed,...going-into-fits-of-rage-at-the-sight-of-MTVing, little gothy nerd geek loser partincle of pimple puss on the rear end of cleancut white-male America who is feeling so alone and unloved but never makes any friends or goes out because everyone is so shallow and self-serving and besides they all hate me and will just laugh at me because I'm different, then this is the music for you!:) [...]