KVELDSSANGER

Ulver's KVELDSANGER is a left turn into the forest for the black metal group, a move that in 1995 was a bit prescient. Acoustic, wintery meanderings became a direct offshoot of the movement to the point that bands like Agalloch have made a career of trying to combine the two camps. The album is an all acoustic affair with medieval sensibilities, gothic choral vocals, and very pleasant guitar playing. It's not prog in any real sense, but it's a very fun listen. I'm probably rating this higher than it deserves on this site because it combines two of my most favoritest musical elements in the world: interweaving dark acoustic guitarwork and low male harmony vocals.

Those two elements dominate the album, and are competently performed. Neither delve into new territory, and the compositions don't really move much. There is some sense of contrast from section to section, song to song, but not enough that I can actually pick out one song from another. So with all this negative reviewing, why do I like it so much? At a most basic level, it sounds nice. I like these timbres, I like these instruments, I like this mood. And believe it or not, KVELDSANGER is "warmer" than alot of more modern neo-folk outfits like Tenhi where the ice can almost climb up your spine. The mood here is more like a sleepy afternoon after the leaves have all turned brown. It's not quite winter yet. So I guess that means August in Norway.

This is not an early version of Opeth's DAMNATION, which is a little of what I was looking for when I bought it. It is not prog-driven, it's a folk-related mood album. Again, for fans of arpeggiated acoustic guitar, a little acoustic soloing, and male harmony vocals, a nice litle treat. Otherwise, nothing really new. 3/5

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