Ulver

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Cost: $42.00

Their early works, such as Bergtatt, were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal but have since evolved a fluid and increasingly eclectic musical style, blending genres such as rock, electronica, symphonic and chamber traditions, noise and experimental music into their oeuvre. 1997 marked their international debut with the release of their third album Nattens madrigal through German label Century Media. However, following discord with the label,Kristoffer Rygg formed his own imprint Jester Records in 1998.

In 1998, multi-instrumentalist Tore Ylwizaker joined the band marking a drastic change in direction for Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell - a double album incorporating elements from drum and bass,progressive rock, spoken word, industrial music, and black metal, fused into a somewhat ambient new style. Further exploring trip hop, jazz, ambient music, spoken word and electronica on 2000’s Perdition City, before moving into a more experimental, minimalist, ambient direction, and soundtrack work.

2005 marked another change in the band’s sound, returning to standard instrumentation, combined with orchestral instruments and arrangements. British composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan joined the collective in 2009, and the band performed some of their first live concerts in their 15 year lifespan, including the prestigious Norwegian National Opera.

Ulver have sold in excess of half a million records, have well over 18,000,000 plays on Last FM, been twice nominated for the Norwegian Grammy Awards, Spellemannsprisen, in different categories, won Album of the Year at the Oslo Awards for Shadows of the Sun in 2008, won the NATT&DAG award for Best Live Act in 2011, and earned a global reputation for stylistic unpredictability.

Acclaim from the artistic community includes controversial director of films Kids and Gummo, Harmony Korine, who commented, alluding to The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: "There's a real lineage from a composer like Wagner to a band like Ulver." Author and musician Julian Cope has said, "Ulver are cataloguing the death of our culture two decades before anyone else has noticed its inevitable demise."

The Black Metal Trilogy

Debut album, Bergtatt, the first part of what has become know as Ulver’s “Black Metal Trilogie,” was issued in November 1994 through Norwegian label Head Not Found. The album was met with critical acclaim, and was notable for blending together black metal, harsh vocals and blurred, buzzing guitars with quiet, folk-like acoustic passages. It was praised for its unique atmosphere and was described as “mysterious, melancholic, eerie, and oddly tranquil.”

Ulver expanded on the quiet, folk-like acoustic elements present for their second album Kveldssanger, issued March 1996 by Head Not Found. Incorporating classical guitars, cello and choral chamber chants overlaid with subtle orchestral landscapes - eschewing the black metal elements - the album was a drastic contrast to Bergtatt, whilst still retaining the atmospheric and folk themes. Vocalist Rygg has since remarked that Kveldssanger was an "immature attempt at making a classical album", later adding that the performance was immature, yet the content is strong when their youth at the time is taken into account. The album was praised for its atmosphere, evoking a feeling of quiet, eerie solitude.

Following the success of their first two albums, Ulver signed with German label Century Media for their third album Nattens madrigal, issued in March 1997 - marking the band’s international debut. The album showcases a black metal style similar to Bergtatt, abandoning the acoustic and atmospheric elements, with an intentionally underproduced sound. The album has been described as “raw and grim black metal at it's blackest.” A common myth about the album is that band spent the recording budget on Armani suits, cocaine and a Corvette; and recorded the album outdoors in a Norwegian forest on an 8-track recorder. Kristoffer Rygg, however, has stated that this is not true; and possibly a rumour started by Century Media. The album has been described as “so fast and ferocious and the vocals so garbled that it's best just to take the sheer sonic force as reflecting the band's concept, rather than trying to piece it all together.”

The Blake Album

Rygg invited composer and sound architect Tore Ylwizaker into the collective in order to expand their artistic and musical visions; and together they stepped over the boundaries of black metal aesthetics, creating a genre-defying work in Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, released in December 1998. The album was issued through Rygg’s own imprint, Jester Records, a label born out of discord between Ulver and Century Media. Musically, the album blended electronics, industrial music elements, progressive metal and avant-garde rock, adding ambient passages. Lyrically, the album incorporates the entire text of William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, utilising guest vocalists on several songs. The album received widespread acclaim from critics within both the rock/metal and alternative music press - being awarded ‘album of the month’ in several high-profile magazines such as Terrorizer, Metal Hammer, and Rock Hard and ranked very highly in their end of year's best polls. However, the album’s transitional nature perhaps alienated many fans of the band’s first three albums - causing a backlash from the black metal scene.
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