Ulver is a group with quite an interesting progression. Formed by vocalist (and now programmer) Kristoffer Rygg in 1993, Ulver was one of the bands associated with the second wave of black metal, and Rygg has worked with many of the other groups in this scene over the years, including Emperor, Darkthrone, and the fabled Mayhem. However, pretty early on in their career, they changed their sound to incorporate electronic elements, and over the course of the years, they have embraced elements of dark ambient, folk, avant-garde as well as their original metal influences to form a unique and experimental catalog of music.
This new album, an anagram for the 12 Zodiac signs, is based on the series of 12 concerts in Norway from 2014, which were based largely on improvisation. Highlights were then culled from these performances and assembled and overdubbed in the studio. This process reminds me a lot of the Grayfolded project John Oswald assembled using the Grateful Dead's large collection of 'Darkstar' live recordings. I find it really interesting how cohesive both these projects are, and yet how far each go in every direction.
Starting with an ambient opener ringing with looped bells and dark synth tones, 'England's Hidden' is a richly layered track that seamlessly segues into the more driving tracks, that experiment with many different forms of percussion and rhythmic approaches. One of these more percussive tracks, 'Cromagnosis', is one of the noisier tracks here, with prominent guitars and both world percussion and traditional drumming, and, along with being one of my favorite tracks here, illustrates the vast range Ulver can cover in only one track.
The noise begins to recede, with soundscapes and more progressive rock sounds being explored near the albums middle. This section is complete with complexly structured atmospheres and slowly building instrumental climaxes, reaching almost post-rock levels of catharsis, but with a bit more of a sinister quality.
Near the end of the album, the vocals take center stage. While the tracks for the majority of the album were entirely instrumental (excluding some taped monologues or wordless chants), this section allows Rygg to show his vocal and lyrical talents. Kristoffer Rygg has quite emotive and powerful clean vocals for a singer who originally sang black metal. I couldn't imagine many other black metal vocalists being able to accomplish what Rygg can.
I quite enjoyed this project. It was very well assembled, covered a vast range of sounds and genres, but never felt like it was trying to do too much as to become disjointed. While I feel like the vocal parts might have been interspersed throughout the album, as I thought it might be all instrumental until the back end, I don't feel like it hurt the flow, and I enjoyed the vocals. Ulver has proved that their experimental streak is far from over, and that despite their humble beginnings, they have become one of the more unpredictable acts in Norwegian music.
Out of a total of five stars, I give this:
What did you think of the album? What projects are you currently excited about? Feel free to let me know. I'll be taking a look at Tortoise's new record, The Catastrophist, as well as the collaborative album by Jesu and Sun-Kil Moon in the near future.
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