FLOWERS OF EVIL

'Flowers of Evil' is the twelfth studio album by black metal-turned-synthpop Norwegian band Ulver, a rock act in their essence, but a very unpredictable musical outfit in reality. This 2020 release is a very straightforward synthpop album, a pretty classic-style track list, consisting of just eight tracks spanning across some thirty-eight minutes of playtime, with the average song length being around the 4-minute mark. It is all very accessible but also very interesting and entertaining, as this album sounds quite murky and melancholic, with some moments of strong 'Black Celebration'-era Depeche Mode resemblance. This record, however, is overall less diverse in terms of sounds and moods, as all the songs almost strictly follow the same pattern, if you will, focusing on slow build-ups, lots of layers of synth sounds, warm male vocals, and introspective & introverted lyricism.

The main mastermind behind the music is band leader Kristoffer Rygg, handling all the vocals and some programming on 'Flowers of Evil', also writing the lyrics to the tracks, while there is a cast of other musicians, almost all Norwegians, playing anything from keyboards, electronics, percussions, bass guitars, violins, drums, bagpipes and what have you, to some satisfying and enthralling results. The depth of some of the songs is pretty impressive, as I can firmly state that this album proposes some of the most convincing electronic and art rock-tinted-synthpop compositions of this century; These would, of course, include 'Russian Doll', a more mellow, darker number, with an addictive chorus and some memorable lyrics, 'Machine Guns and Peacock Feathers', a more upbeat one, with its very attractive pulsating soundscapes as well as the great songwriting, 'Apocalypse 1993', an almost EDM-vibe penetrates this pretty decent track, and 'A Thousand Cuts', the album closer and probably the most emotive of all the songs. The rest of the record is more generic and quite forgettable, especially when compared to these highlight tracks mentioned just a smidgeon ago.

'Flowers of Evil' is certainly a very modern-sounding, honest and intelligent collection of songs, all falling under the synthpop (and maybe even darkwave) umbrella, as Ulver take a further step away from their rock and metal roots - the end result: entertaining, occasionally thrilling, sometimes a bit boring, but pretty good when looked at as a whole and when looked at as a two-sided classic format album. However, I cannot help but convince myself that the covert art gives a promise for a much better, far more sinister and deeply-touching LP, and the reality is not necessarily fitting this tiny description.