BERGTATT - ET EEVENTYR I 5 CAPITLER

Black Metal meets shoe gazer Britpop. The opening track of this album won me over in no time. Though the music is fairly average, the beautiful melodies of the clean dreamy vocals are a treat. The song is quite extended but doesn't have classic Prog features. It's closer to the repetitive drone of kraut and electronic music, even though it's all guitars, bass and drums. Also folksy themes crop up, making this track quite an interesting blend of styles.

The second piece starts as an instrumental folk tune with acoustic guitars and flutes. It quickly changes into a fast-paced Black Metal attack with both sharp snarls and melodic vocals. For many listeners, the change Ulver did towards ambient music may have come as a surprise but even their black metal already has the approach to sonic texture that is typical for ambient music. This is even more prominent on the third track, featuring the typical black metal primal blast beats that create the same effect as aggressive nihilistic techno beats. Soundscape and primal rhythm, the pillars of both black metal and techno, though few fans of either genre will like to hear it, the similarities of their music are obvious. Ok, admitted, techno fans don't burn churches.

Track 4 is entirely acoustic and atmospheric, an obvious inspiration for Agalloch. The last track returns to the mix of tribal rhythm, black metal nihilism, folk influences and dreamy pop vocals.

Ulver's debut is not an easy listen but it is most intriguing, captivating and highly influential.