Burzum ~ Dauthi Baldrs (album review) ... Join Hermothr on a journey to hell!

Style: instrumental, symphonic metal, dark ambient, Norwegian
Label: Dead Ringer
Year: 1997
Home: Norway

Members: Varg Vikernes ~ synthesizers


1996's Filosofem is a fascinating Burzum album. It was composed over time but recorded in one final sweep before it's composer, Varg Vikernes aka Count Grishnackh, went to prison for fifteen years & was banned from using real instruments, though not released until after his incarceration. The album was a big unpredictable step forward from Burzum's roots. It was not a harsh listen with heavily distorted guitars & rough vocals but a droning quasi-symphonic landscape more in common with industrial than black metal. What was recorded next would be a bigger surprise, yet at the same time picked up what was put into place with Filosofem. The resulting Dauthi Baldrs ranks up there with Filosofem as two of the most fascinating albums under the name Burzum & maybe in the early black metal world as a whole. Dauthi Baldrs might even be just as influential to later bands as the early Burzum albums considering the amount of later black metal that sounds like this. If it wasn't influential in a strict timeline sense it certainly helped to build bridges between death metal, industrial & dark ambient genres. Vikernes recorded & released two albums in prison that utilized only a synthesizer dubbed into a standard tape recorder, the only equipment he was allowed. This meant a complete facelift of the Burzum sound with the result being symphonic death metal before the genre existed & industrial & dark ambient when the genres were still more underground than not. It's the best of the droning emotive notes of Filosofem but now with a heavy melodic development that moves like gentle waves painting lonely landscapes with simple minimalist lines. Perhaps early Burzum included all of this, but it was lost under the distorted guitars. While the instrumental approach means the focus, or distraction depending on what you hear, of the vocals now gives way to the melody which is far more developed out. It's such a hypnotic outcome I was disappointed when Vikernes got out the jail & went back to the jagged distorted guitars. "Dauthi Baldrs" or "The Death Of Baldr" includes crashing percussion with sounds emulating violins. Vikernes pulls a lot out of his limited palette & the percussion aspect is particularly exciting. "Hermothr A Helferth" ("Hermothr An A Journey to Hel") feels like a harpsichord, whereas both "Balferth Baldrs" ("Baldr's Balefire") & "Moti Ragnarokum" ("Towards Ragnarok") feel like symphonic ensenbles with the later having piano interludes. "I Heimr Heljar" ("In Hel's Home") has an interesting percussive aspect. "Illa Tithandi" ("Ill Tidings") is a ten minute meditation that feels like classical composer John Adams or industrial a la early Nine Inch Nails. One could talk about the classical strains, the folk motifs, the connection to traditional music forms contained here. One could even discuss the psychological aspects of the music given how far away this is from early Burzum. But, for this blog, that might be missing the point of how enjoyable this is. What could be a strange experimental album sacrificing enjoyment for the art, this straddles both worlds pleasurably. There is a simplicity here in the simple lines, but at the same time complex arrangements that are anything but haphazardly thrown together. The album tells the story of Baldr, the son of Odin in Norse mythology, but without lyrics or English liner notes, most will neither hear nor perceive the story. "Hermothr A Helferth" ("Hermothr An A Journey to Hel") feels like a harpsichord, whereas both ("Baldr's Balefire") & "Moti Ragnarokum" ("Towards Ragnarok") feel like symphonic ensenbles with the later having piano interludes. "I Heimr Heljar" ("In Hel's Home") has an interesting percussive aspect. "Illa Tithandi" is an alternative version of "Decrepitude I" & "Balferth Baldrs" is an ambiant version of the main riff from "Jesu Dod", which both appeared on Filosofem. The title track would be remade as "Belus Dod" on 2010's Belus, the first post-prison album.

Burzum ~ Filosofem (album review) ... Gebrechlichkeit I & other thoughts!

Style: black metal, experimental
Label: PHD Music
Year: 1996
Home: Norway

Members: Varg Vikernes ~ all instruments

Varg Vikernes has become a death/black metal icon for serving 15 years in prison for murder of a fellow death metal musician, but if history was different he might have become more famous for his one man band Burzum pushing the boundaries of black metal to its limits & beyond then his non-musical efforts. His friends/peers in Mayhem might have been moody, dark & devilish with slashing guitars & screeching vocals but on Filosofem Burzum did it with an approach that is more akin to dark ambient music than death metal. For those who are only familiar with the early Burzum albums, that are in the same vein as Mayhem, only to be surprised by the classical feeling of Vikernes two keyboard-computer albums produced while in prison where he was banned from using real instruments, this collection of earlier unreleased tracks is an important bridge that puts everything into perspective. Recorded in March 1993 it wasn't released until 2 years into the incarceration, when for many Burzum was no longer a music making entity, so it didn't get the recognition it might have received in other circumstances, plus its a partially incomplete album that was released because of the fanfare around Vikernes not because it was ready to hit the shelves. If prison hadn't gotten in the way & if Filosofem can be taken as a sign of of natural progressions, Vikernes probably would have gone the classical direction anyway which very well could have lifted him to a position as a trendsetter in the Norwegian music scene, let alone the scene would be different if the media fanfare & criminal activity had never happened. Filosofem lets us into a alternative reality Norway with progressively hypnotic music that is far more mental than aggressive with 8 minute songs relying heavily on long instrumental parts with guitars so distorted they almost become drones with distant equally heavily distorted vocals. Many have called Filosofem a highlight of the Burzum catalog. With two versions of the same song ("Gebrechlichkeit I") with & without vocals & a 25 minute instrumental ("Rundgang Um Die Transzendentale Saule Der Singularitat") that's only a repeating keyboard bit of 8 simple notes it's a bit of a heavy statement & might misrepresent the album to the casual fan. In terms of being an introduction to Burzum it's nothing like what came before or after or even after prison. But, in terms of progressive thinking it says a lot more than what had come before & in that way is a highlight. Filosofem is a look into one musician's psyche, plain & simple, away from any preconceived notions of what the outcome should sound like. This is desolate, lonely & introspective. Actually, its very reminiscent at times of the Velvet Underground's own 30 minute live moments with "Sister Ray". Today, post-prison, Burzum has returned to a more slash & burn style then continuing along hypnotically mystical laid down with Filosofem & developed out in prison. Being that these are the more difficult albums of the Burzum catalog it is no surprise Vikernes would want to return to territory more comfortable to most listeners. The physical CD includes short stories by Vikernes to frame song meanings, making it more of a concept album than most black metal bands at the time would probably have dared do & showing some far-reaching musical creativity. Though, this is sadly lost in the download age where the booklet doesn't get downloaded.

Sombre Presage ~ Tribute To Burzum (EP) (album review) ... Tribute to darkness!

Style: experimental, black metal, tribute, instrumental, drone
Label: Occultum Productions
Year: 2006
Home: France

Members: Voxum ~ all instruments

 

 

 

Burzum is poor production, guitars thrashing, literally screaming vocals that are more like death cries from a Saw movie & probably what your grandmother calls noise. Sombre Presage is keyboard arpeggios & melodies, guitars that stay on the same note or chord for whole bars then take another to change while making a wall of feedback behind the melodic keyboards, creepy vocals that are heavily chorus laden & a pace as slow as Leonard Cohen & only a hint of drums. But, SP, which is actually just one man named Voxum, gets to the heart of Burzum in a way that one wouldn't expect. Also, you may not even realize Burzum has a heart until you hear it against this album then go & listen to the originals. This might be similar to a classical orchestra or string trio covering rock songs, but this is much more than doing interesting covers with different instrumentation. SP are actually digging into the songs reinterpreting them, proof being new titles for the tracks & showing us the inspiration can be for a band that isn't isn't speed obsessed. You'll never be able to hear Burzum the same again after this. A haunting album featuring "Dunkelheit," the instrumental "Naar Himmelen Klarner" & "Illa Tioandi" which features the sound of rain & thunder. The only thing that could be better is if he'd used a real acoustic piano because you just can't imitate that sound on an electric keyboard with the same authenticity.