New Ulver album to be released April 24th, 2011

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Press Release from Jester Records website:

RELEASED VIA KSCOPE APRIL 2011 | www.kscopemusic.com

Kscope are very proud to announce that Ulver are the latest band to join
 their 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.

The last two years have also seen Ulver manifest into 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:

"Ulver's presentation is surreal and stark. A psychedelic excursion, an 
immersive experience, fuelled by haunting, progressive art. After such a
 night, you don't want to see another band for a few days. Because 
anything else would pale when put alongside Ulver." (Classic Rock 
Magazine)

2010 culminated in a packed performance in the main theatre of the 
Norwegian National Opera. Ulver were the first band outside the 
established Norwegian music scene to be invited to play at the opera 
house and a DVD of this landmark performance will be released on Kscope 
later this year.

Such an invitation is quite an accomplishment for a band that has always
 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 add another bookmark to their 
chameleonic legacy.

A bigger label, management, touring – all this is new and unchartered 
territory for the band, and one in which they are not necessarily 
savoir-faire. During the last two years they have shifted from the 
safety zone of the studio towards a more traditional route, facing the 
music rather than hiding in the shadows. Everything can happen, and has.
 The new album, Wars Of The Roses, clearly reflects this.

With a long standing reputation for being unpredictable and unafraid of 
radical departures, the most subversive aspect this time is perhaps the 
band's increased accessibility; even touching on the polished 
sensibilities of pop and rock. The opening track "February MMX" is a 
striking example.

But naturally with Ulver comes ambivalence. Fringe figures appear: 
horror connoisseur Stephen Thrower of Coil and Cyclobe, experimental 
guitar-guru Stian Westerhus along with British free improvisation 
legends Steve Noble and Alex Ward. They all play important parts on the 
album, their instant instincts perfectly aligned with Ulver's composed 
compassion. The familiar baroque menagerie of piano, wood and wind sit 
alongside the machines and the ghosts within.

The album ends with "Stone Angels", a long and winding dreamland 
narrated by Daniel O'Sullivan (who became a core member of the group in 
2009). The text is written by acclaimed American poet and translator 
Keith Waldrop, an acquaintance of Jørn H. Sværen, the author in the 
band. It is, quite frankly, beautiful.

Thematically, the same is at stake as always with Ulver: the human 
condition and a world in fall. But this time the landscape is viewed 
from a bird's eye perspective, exposing culture and tradition rather 
than the personal vulnerability expressed on previous albums. In the 
words of Julian Cope:

"Ulver are cataloguing the death of our culture two decades before anyone else has noticed its inevitable demise."

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.

Link: http://www.jester-records.com/ulver/ulver.html

Edited by Evolutionary Sleeper - March 07 2011 at 13:34