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Ulver (у́лвер, норв. волки) — норвежский музыкальный ансамбль, образовавшийся в 1993 году. С каждым выпуском музыка Ulver менялась в стиле; разные альбомы причислялись к жанрам блэк-метал, неофолк, трип-хоп и авангардный метал.
Создание
Группа была образована в 1993 году Кристофером Рюггом, выбравшим псевдоним Гарм — в честь персонажа скандинавской мифологии, и барабанщиком Карлом-Михаэлем Эйде (Exhurtum). Вместе с клавишником Ховардом Йоргенсеном, двумя гитаристами и сессионным бас-гитаристом Робином Мальмбергом из Mysticum они записали демозапись Vargnatt (Ночь волков). В следующем году Эйде покинул группу, а позиции басиста и ударника заняли соответственно Хью Мингей (Skoll) и Эрик Ланселот (AiwarikiaR). Позже к Ulver присоединился клавишник Торбьорн Педерсен (Aismal).
Трилогия
Первые три альбома Ulver часто называют «трилогией», поскольку их объединяет тематика — очарование северной природой и язычеством — и музыкальная направленность. Дебютный альбом Bergtatt — Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler вышел в 1994 году. На Bergtatt группа рассказала историю о девушке, которую похищают сверхъестественные существа из норвежских легенд. Музыка представляла собой необычное для того времени сочетание традиционного блэк-метала (скоростной темп, дисторшн, скриминг) с вставками акустических проигрышей и чистого вокала. Ulver, наряду с Satyricon, стали одними из первых, кто добавил в блэк-метал элементы фолка, а их дебютный альбом считается знаковым и в дискографии группы, и в истории всего жанра.
Вторым альбомом стал Kveldssanger (1996), полностью исполненный на акустических инструментах (гитара, скрипка, флейта). Некоторые песни Гарм исполнил а капелла.
В 1997 году на крупном немецком лейбле Century Media вышел записанный ещё до Kveldssanger альбом Nattens Madrigal, который стал для Ulver прорывом и принесший ей международную известность. В группу к этому времени входили Рюгг, Йоргенсен, Педерсен, Мингей и Ланселот. Как и Bergtatt, Nattens Madrigal — это концептуальный альбом, его главные темы — волки и тёмная сторона человека. Несмотря на исключительно «сырое» и «грязное» звучание мелодии и игра отдельных инструментов хорошо различимы, что выделяло Ulver среди большинства блэк-металических групп. В конце того же года покончил с собой гитарист Grellmund из первого состава.
Электронная музыка
В 1999 году Ulver положили на музыку поэму Уильяма Блейка «Бракосочетание Рая и Ада» и на только что созданном Гармом лейбле Jester Records выпустили новый альбом Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, состоявший из экспериментов с индастриалом и трип-хопом. Новая работа ознаменовала окончание «блэк-металического периода», с этого момента группа развивалась в сторону электронной музыки. В следующем году вышел техно-эмбиентный мини-альбом Metamorphosis, а через год пятый студийный альбом Perdition City. На нём преобладали мягкие клавишные мелодии и электронные эффекты с сильным привкусом джаза (так, в первом треке «Lost in moments» звучит соло на саксофоне).
В 2001 году группа записала два мини-альбома: Silence Teaches You How to Sing и Silencing the Singing. Первый из них — это двадцатиминутная инструментальная электронная композиция, записанная в ходе работы над Perdition City и вышедшая ограниченным тиражом в 2000 копий. На втором мини-альбоме были три инструментальных трека, выдержанных в том же стиле. Позже обе записи были переизданы на сборнике Teachings in Silence. В следующие годы Ulver записали саундтреки к коротким фильмам Lyckantropen и Svidd neger и мини-альбом A Quick Fix of Melancholy, а кроме того вышел сборник 1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines, состоявший из ремиксов, выполненных другими музыкантами (в том числе Merzbow).
Очередной альбом Blood Inside (2005) был спродюсирован Ронаном Крисом Мёрфи, ранее работавшим с Yes и King Crimson. Музыка эволюционировала в сторону арт-рокового звучания с симфоническими аранжировками и электронными эффектами. В 2007 году группа издала Shadows of the Sun — мягкую, мелодичную и гораздо более цельную, чем предыдущий альбом, работу.
Первое в истории Ulver концертное выступление состоялось 30 мая 2009 года в Лиллехамере. В течение года прошло ещё несколько выступлений, а в 2010 году — европейский тур. 15 апреля 2011 года на лейбле Kscope вышел альбом Wars of the Roses. 5 декабря того же года Ulver издали на DVD запись концерта в Норвежской национальной опере, который состоялся 31 июля 2010 года.
Текущий состав:
Кристофер Рюгг — Вокал, программирование (1993-настоящее время)
Туре Илвисакер — Клавишные, программирование(1998-настоящее время)
Йёрн Сверен — Различные инструменты (2000-настоящее время)
Дэниэл О' Салливан — Гитары, бас, клавишные(2009-настоящее время)
Студийные альбомы:
Bergtatt — Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler (1994)
Kveldssanger (1995)
Nattens Madrigal — Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden (1996)
Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998)
Perdition City (2000)
Blood Inside (2005)
Shadows of the Sun (2007)
Wars of the Roses (2011)
Мини-альбомы:
Metamorphosis (1999)
Silence Teaches You How to Sing (2001)
Silencing the Singing (2001)
A Quick Fix of Melancholy (2003)
Демо:
Rehearsal (1993)
Vargnatt (1993)
Сборники:
Teachings in Silence (2002)
1993—2003: 1st Decade in the Machines (2003)
Музыка к фильмам:
Lyckantropen Themes (2002)
Svidd Neger (2003)
Участия в компиляциях, гостевые треки, ремиксы:
Feuersturm – Century Media Records compilation (1997) – "Soelen gaaer bag aase need"
Souvenirs from Hell – compilation (1997) – "Synen"
Ablaze Compilation – Ablaze Magazine compilation (1998) – "Hymn VIII"
Lords of Chaos: The History of the Occult – Lords of Chaos compilation (2002) – often called "(untitled exclusive track)", but in fact it is a rehearsal of "Hymn VI" from Nattens madrigal
Frog Remixed and Revisited – Merzbow remix compilation (2003) – "Denki No Numa (Frog Voice mix)"
The Lotus Eaters – Dead Can Dance tribute compilation (2004) – "In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed Are Kings"
Uno – soundtrack (2004) – "Uno", "Avhør", "Brødre", "Brødre Rev.", "Flukt", "Gravferd", "David til ulvene"
Salto, salmiakk og kaffe – soundtrack (2004) – unreleased
Gods of Thunder – Kiss tribute compilation (2005) – "Strange Ways"
Sunn O))) – WHITEbox (2006) – "CUTWOODeD"
Shockadelica – Prince tribute compilation (2008) – "Thieves in the Temple" (feat. Siri Stranger)
Agony & Irony – Alkaline Trio (2008) – strings, programming, vocals on "Lost & Rendered" and "In My Stomach"
Pay For It (Single) – Mindless Self Indulgence – "Pay For It [RMX]"
Genghis Tron – Board Up The House Remixes Volume 3 – "I Won't Come Back Alive" (Ulver remix)
The Wall Re-Built! – Pink Floyd – Mojo (December 2009, issue 193) tribute compilation – "Another Brick in the Wall Pt.1"
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Создание
Группа была образована в 1993 году Кристофером Рюггом, выбравшим псевдоним Гарм — в честь персонажа скандинавской мифологии, и барабанщиком Карлом-Михаэлем Эйде (Exhurtum). Вместе с клавишником Ховардом Йоргенсеном, двумя гитаристами и сессионным бас-гитаристом Робином Мальмбергом из Mysticum они записали демозапись Vargnatt (Ночь волков). В следующем году Эйде покинул группу, а позиции басиста и ударника заняли соответственно Хью Мингей (Skoll) и Эрик Ланселот (AiwarikiaR). Позже к Ulver присоединился клавишник Торбьорн Педерсен (Aismal).
Трилогия
Первые три альбома Ulver часто называют «трилогией», поскольку их объединяет тематика — очарование северной природой и язычеством — и музыкальная направленность. Дебютный альбом Bergtatt — Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler вышел в 1994 году. На Bergtatt группа рассказала историю о девушке, которую похищают сверхъестественные существа из норвежских легенд. Музыка представляла собой необычное для того времени сочетание традиционного блэк-метала (скоростной темп, дисторшн, скриминг) с вставками акустических проигрышей и чистого вокала. Ulver, наряду с Satyricon, стали одними из первых, кто добавил в блэк-метал элементы фолка, а их дебютный альбом считается знаковым и в дискографии группы, и в истории всего жанра.
Вторым альбомом стал Kveldssanger (1996), полностью исполненный на акустических инструментах (гитара, скрипка, флейта). Некоторые песни Гарм исполнил а капелла.
В 1997 году на крупном немецком лейбле Century Media вышел записанный ещё до Kveldssanger альбом Nattens Madrigal, который стал для Ulver прорывом и принесший ей международную известность. В группу к этому времени входили Рюгг, Йоргенсен, Педерсен, Мингей и Ланселот. Как и Bergtatt, Nattens Madrigal — это концептуальный альбом, его главные темы — волки и тёмная сторона человека. Несмотря на исключительно «сырое» и «грязное» звучание мелодии и игра отдельных инструментов хорошо различимы, что выделяло Ulver среди большинства блэк-металических групп. В конце того же года покончил с собой гитарист Grellmund из первого состава.
Электронная музыка
В 1999 году Ulver положили на музыку поэму Уильяма Блейка «Бракосочетание Рая и Ада» и на только что созданном Гармом лейбле Jester Records выпустили новый альбом Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, состоявший из экспериментов с индастриалом и трип-хопом. Новая работа ознаменовала окончание «блэк-металического периода», с этого момента группа развивалась в сторону электронной музыки. В следующем году вышел техно-эмбиентный мини-альбом Metamorphosis, а через год пятый студийный альбом Perdition City. На нём преобладали мягкие клавишные мелодии и электронные эффекты с сильным привкусом джаза (так, в первом треке «Lost in moments» звучит соло на саксофоне).
В 2001 году группа записала два мини-альбома: Silence Teaches You How to Sing и Silencing the Singing. Первый из них — это двадцатиминутная инструментальная электронная композиция, записанная в ходе работы над Perdition City и вышедшая ограниченным тиражом в 2000 копий. На втором мини-альбоме были три инструментальных трека, выдержанных в том же стиле. Позже обе записи были переизданы на сборнике Teachings in Silence. В следующие годы Ulver записали саундтреки к коротким фильмам Lyckantropen и Svidd neger и мини-альбом A Quick Fix of Melancholy, а кроме того вышел сборник 1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines, состоявший из ремиксов, выполненных другими музыкантами (в том числе Merzbow).
Очередной альбом Blood Inside (2005) был спродюсирован Ронаном Крисом Мёрфи, ранее работавшим с Yes и King Crimson. Музыка эволюционировала в сторону арт-рокового звучания с симфоническими аранжировками и электронными эффектами. В 2007 году группа издала Shadows of the Sun — мягкую, мелодичную и гораздо более цельную, чем предыдущий альбом, работу.
Первое в истории Ulver концертное выступление состоялось 30 мая 2009 года в Лиллехамере. В течение года прошло ещё несколько выступлений, а в 2010 году — европейский тур. 15 апреля 2011 года на лейбле Kscope вышел альбом Wars of the Roses. 5 декабря того же года Ulver издали на DVD запись концерта в Норвежской национальной опере, который состоялся 31 июля 2010 года.
Текущий состав:
Кристофер Рюгг — Вокал, программирование (1993-настоящее время)
Туре Илвисакер — Клавишные, программирование(1998-настоящее время)
Йёрн Сверен — Различные инструменты (2000-настоящее время)
Дэниэл О' Салливан — Гитары, бас, клавишные(2009-настоящее время)
Студийные альбомы:
Bergtatt — Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler (1994)
Kveldssanger (1995)
Nattens Madrigal — Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden (1996)
Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998)
Perdition City (2000)
Blood Inside (2005)
Shadows of the Sun (2007)
Wars of the Roses (2011)
Мини-альбомы:
Metamorphosis (1999)
Silence Teaches You How to Sing (2001)
Silencing the Singing (2001)
A Quick Fix of Melancholy (2003)
Демо:
Rehearsal (1993)
Vargnatt (1993)
Сборники:
Teachings in Silence (2002)
1993—2003: 1st Decade in the Machines (2003)
Музыка к фильмам:
Lyckantropen Themes (2002)
Svidd Neger (2003)
Участия в компиляциях, гостевые треки, ремиксы:
Feuersturm – Century Media Records compilation (1997) – "Soelen gaaer bag aase need"
Souvenirs from Hell – compilation (1997) – "Synen"
Ablaze Compilation – Ablaze Magazine compilation (1998) – "Hymn VIII"
Lords of Chaos: The History of the Occult – Lords of Chaos compilation (2002) – often called "(untitled exclusive track)", but in fact it is a rehearsal of "Hymn VI" from Nattens madrigal
Frog Remixed and Revisited – Merzbow remix compilation (2003) – "Denki No Numa (Frog Voice mix)"
The Lotus Eaters – Dead Can Dance tribute compilation (2004) – "In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed Are Kings"
Uno – soundtrack (2004) – "Uno", "Avhør", "Brødre", "Brødre Rev.", "Flukt", "Gravferd", "David til ulvene"
Salto, salmiakk og kaffe – soundtrack (2004) – unreleased
Gods of Thunder – Kiss tribute compilation (2005) – "Strange Ways"
Sunn O))) – WHITEbox (2006) – "CUTWOODeD"
Shockadelica – Prince tribute compilation (2008) – "Thieves in the Temple" (feat. Siri Stranger)
Agony & Irony – Alkaline Trio (2008) – strings, programming, vocals on "Lost & Rendered" and "In My Stomach"
Pay For It (Single) – Mindless Self Indulgence – "Pay For It [RMX]"
Genghis Tron – Board Up The House Remixes Volume 3 – "I Won't Come Back Alive" (Ulver remix)
The Wall Re-Built! – Pink Floyd – Mojo (December 2009, issue 193) tribute compilation – "Another Brick in the Wall Pt.1"
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Ulver (Norwegian for “wolves”) is a multi-disciplinary musical group founded in Oslo, Norway and currently based in London, England. The band was formed by Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg in 1993, and the current line-up includes Rygg (vocal, programming), Jørn H. Sværen (misc.), Tore Ylwizaker (programming, piano) and Daniel O'Sullivan (guitar, piano, various). Since their first black metal releases in 1993, Ulver’s style has ever been changing by combining elements of experimental, electronic and ambient music, avant-garde, rock, trip-hop, and their own innovations.
Following the 1993 demo releases the demos Rehearsal 1993 and Vargnatt, which have a similar (albeit somewhat rawer) style, the band's first album, 1994's Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler, is a folk-themed black metal album. The title Bergtatt literally translates as “mountain-taken”, but is more commonly used to describe someone who is stricken with awe. In Norwegian folk tales the word refers to people who wander off into mountains, lured by trolls or other mythical beings. The narrative of the album’s lyrics follows a woman as she becomes so mountain-taken. The subtitle means “An Adventure in 5 Chapters”. Bergtatt features a melancholic, fully acoustical song “Een Stemme Locker” (“A Voice Beckons”).
1995's Kveldssanger, Ulver’s second album, contrasts with Bergtatt as it uses classical guitars, cello and chamber chants, and completely eschews the black-metal elements of Bergtatt, while still having a folk theme. Garm has since remarked that Kveldssanger was an “immature attempt at making a classical album.” He later clarified this by saying that the performance was immature, yet the content is strong when their youth is taken into account.
The third album, 1997's Nattens madrigal - Aatte hymne til ulven i manden, was a return to black metal, more ferocious than Bergtatt was, with only one mellow acoustic interlude in the first track. The album is intentionally under-produced, akin to Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, with buzzing guitars and rather muffled drums. There are rumours surrounding this album and its recording, the most famous being that the band recorded this album in a forest. The band has dismissed this as impossible, although When Bitter Spring Sleeps later would record their albums in a forest. Another and less-known rumor is that the band purposely recorded the album on a four-track cassette recorder and used the money that Century Media gave them for other things, for example Armani suits, haircuts, cocaine, beer, and/or a new car. When questioned about this, Garm said the band did have rather expensive tastes, though he has denied buying a new car, saying there wasn't enough money.
Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, released in 1998, was different from what Ulver, or even any other band, had made before. Tore Ylwizaker, a new composer and sound architect, paired up with Garm's expanding artistic visions and together they stepped over the boundaries of black metal aesthetics, creating a genre-defying work. In this album, the musicians blended electronics, industrial music elements, progressive metal and avant-garde rock, adding ambient passages. Lyrically, the album incorporates the entire text of the William Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and features guest vocals. Despite confounding and perhaps alienating many fans of the band's first three albums, the album received widespread acclaim from critics within both the rock/metal and alternative music press. For instance, it was reviewed as 'album of the month' in several high-profile magazines such as Terrorizer, Metal Hammer, and Rock Hard. It also ranked very high at many year's best polls that same year.
Ulver's next two releases, the EP Metamorphosis and full-length album Perdition City: Music to an Interior Film, were even more experimental than the “Blake Album”, and a lot more pensive. The Metamorphosis disclaimer reads: “We are as unknown to you as we always were”. The band had moved further away from rock and metal and into a more ethereal style, much like that of Coil. The use of programmed sound and atmospheric style is dominant here, unlike the previous albums. Neo-classical composer and film scorer Craig Armstrong may have been an influence on Ulver as his use of electronics and hip-hop beats over strings and pianos is somewhat reminiscent of Ulver's later works.
The band followed up these two releases with two minimalist/ambient/glitch works, Silence Teaches You How to Sing and Silencing the Singing. These works featured minimal melodies and often had subtle weird and unnatural noises throughout the song structures; the band also stretched out at length, with "Silence Teaches You How to Sing" being the band's longest composition to date at over twenty-four minutes in length. Due to their individual rarity, they were later released together as Teachings in Silence.
Having proved their proficiency at making atmospheric electronic music, Ulver were hired to make music for cinema films Lyckantropen (whose soundtrack was released as Lyckantropen Themes), Svidd neger, and Uno.
In 2003, Ulver began making more symphonic music. They released A Quick Fix of Melancholy, which kept the minimalist, sparse stylings of their previous albums, while adding a much more expressive, dramatic, symphonic element, with various string sounds (most likely sampled) and various operatic singing styles.
In July 2004, the band finished recording their next album, Blood Inside, which was released on June 6th, 2005. With Blood Inside, the band stepped away from the more minimal styles they had been experimenting with previously. Bringing back more traditional rock instruments like guitar and acoustic drums (since 1998 the band had used primarily digital drums and/or sampled beats), and combining them with real and synthetic classical instruments, brass horns and sound samples, the band created something they had never done before. Managing to fuse genres ranging from rock, classical, minimalism, electronica and vintage progressive rock music with Garm's broad vocal range, Ulver created an album that was far beyond anything anyone has heard in the avant-garde scene.
Ulver have recently collaborated with drone band Sunn O))) on a 15-minute track which appears on Sunn O)))'s WHITEbox box set, released in July of 2006. Additionally, Ulver had announced back in 2002 that they had been working on a string remake of Nattens madrigal, but Garm has stated on the message board of his alternative rock band, Head Control System, that the project "is in a state of total dormancy".
The band's seventh album, Shadows of the Sun, was released on October 1, 2007. Garm called it “our most personal record to date. Low key, dark, and tragic”. The album mostly consists of dark ambient music, with lush symphonic orchestrations backing up the band's mellow material.
The band's eighth album, Wars of the Roses, appeared after nearly four years of silence in April 2011. This time around the band was highly influenced by progressive rock music, also incorporating elements of ambient, post-rock, and spoken word. The same year, the band also released the live album The Norwegian National Opera, a nearly career-spanning performance with the opera cited in the title that featured renditions of material dating from the Blake album to Wars of the Roses.
The band's ninth album, Childhood's End: Lost & Found from the Age of Aquarius, followed in 2012. A long-delayed cover album of material from the '60s psychedelic rock era, the material Ulver chose to cover was mostly quite obscure (with Jefferson Airplane's "Today" being easily the best known track), but further revealed the band's diverse range of influences.
In 2013, Messe I.X-VI.X appeared. A companion piece of sorts to Shadows of the Sun, the music on Messe continues in the same reflective, brooding vein as that album, but contains more influence from post-rock and modern classical music. Most of the tracks were instrumental this time around, and the band stretched out in length, with the longest song exceeding eleven minutes. The same year also saw the release of the live album Live at Roadburn, consisting mainly of live renditions of Childhood's End material (one improvised piece, inspired by and dedicated to the German krautrock band Can, was included as an encore).
2014 found the band's second collaboration with Sunn O))) released, the full-length album Terrestrials. Despite the metal background of the two bands, the material here was mostly subdued drone/dark ambient with little metal influence. The same year also saw the release of the box set Trolsk sortmetall 1993-1997, serving as the definitive retrospective on the band's black metal phase by collecting their 1993 demo Vargnatt, their first three albums, and previously unreleased rehearsal versions of four songs from Nattens madrigal. All material was remastered for this set, with Nattens madrigal seeing substantially more dynamic range and its bass line being clearly audible for the first time.
2016 saw the release of the band's double album ATGCLVLSSCAP, its title an acronym consisting of the signs of the Zodiac. Ulver constructed the material on this album around a series of improvised soundscapes recorded live at twelve different shows, but the studio overdubs create a tightly structured set of compositions, some of which are rearrangements of earlier Ulver songs such as Nowhere/Catastrophe. The material here, which consists of twelve tracks spanning eighty minutes, covers a wide range of genres, including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, dark ambient, avant-garde, and post-rock.
Ulver have established themselves as some of the most remarkable musical chameleons of the twenty-first century, and continue to evolve with each new release.
1993 - Rehearsal 1993 (demo)
1993 - Vargnatt (demo)
1994 - Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
1995 - Kveldssanger
1997 - Nattens madrigal - Aatte hymne til ulven i manden
1997 - The Trilogie: Three Journeyes Through the Norwegian Netherworlde (box set)
1998 - Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
1999 - Metamorphosis (EP)
2000 - Perdition City: Music to an Interior FIlm
2001 - Silence Teaches You How to Sing (EP)
2001 - Silencing the Singing (EP)
2002 - Teachings in Silence (compilation of the above two EPs)
2002 - Lyckantropen Themes (soundtrack)
2003 - 1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines (anthology)
2003 - Svidd neger (soundtrack)
2003 - A Quick Fix of Melancholy (EP)
2005 - Blood Inside
2007 - Shadows of the Sun
2011 - Wars of the Roses
2012 - The Norwegian National Opera (live album/video)
2012 - Childhood's End: Lost and Found from the Age of Aquarius
2013 - Oddities and Rarities #1 (anthology)
2013 - Live at Roadburn (live album)
2013 - Messe I.X-VI.X
2014 - Terrestrials (collaboration with Sunn O))))
2014 - Trolsk sortmetall 1993-1997 (box set)
2016 - ATGCLVLSSCAP Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Following the 1993 demo releases the demos Rehearsal 1993 and Vargnatt, which have a similar (albeit somewhat rawer) style, the band's first album, 1994's Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler, is a folk-themed black metal album. The title Bergtatt literally translates as “mountain-taken”, but is more commonly used to describe someone who is stricken with awe. In Norwegian folk tales the word refers to people who wander off into mountains, lured by trolls or other mythical beings. The narrative of the album’s lyrics follows a woman as she becomes so mountain-taken. The subtitle means “An Adventure in 5 Chapters”. Bergtatt features a melancholic, fully acoustical song “Een Stemme Locker” (“A Voice Beckons”).
1995's Kveldssanger, Ulver’s second album, contrasts with Bergtatt as it uses classical guitars, cello and chamber chants, and completely eschews the black-metal elements of Bergtatt, while still having a folk theme. Garm has since remarked that Kveldssanger was an “immature attempt at making a classical album.” He later clarified this by saying that the performance was immature, yet the content is strong when their youth is taken into account.
The third album, 1997's Nattens madrigal - Aatte hymne til ulven i manden, was a return to black metal, more ferocious than Bergtatt was, with only one mellow acoustic interlude in the first track. The album is intentionally under-produced, akin to Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, with buzzing guitars and rather muffled drums. There are rumours surrounding this album and its recording, the most famous being that the band recorded this album in a forest. The band has dismissed this as impossible, although When Bitter Spring Sleeps later would record their albums in a forest. Another and less-known rumor is that the band purposely recorded the album on a four-track cassette recorder and used the money that Century Media gave them for other things, for example Armani suits, haircuts, cocaine, beer, and/or a new car. When questioned about this, Garm said the band did have rather expensive tastes, though he has denied buying a new car, saying there wasn't enough money.
Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, released in 1998, was different from what Ulver, or even any other band, had made before. Tore Ylwizaker, a new composer and sound architect, paired up with Garm's expanding artistic visions and together they stepped over the boundaries of black metal aesthetics, creating a genre-defying work. In this album, the musicians blended electronics, industrial music elements, progressive metal and avant-garde rock, adding ambient passages. Lyrically, the album incorporates the entire text of the William Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and features guest vocals. Despite confounding and perhaps alienating many fans of the band's first three albums, the album received widespread acclaim from critics within both the rock/metal and alternative music press. For instance, it was reviewed as 'album of the month' in several high-profile magazines such as Terrorizer, Metal Hammer, and Rock Hard. It also ranked very high at many year's best polls that same year.
Ulver's next two releases, the EP Metamorphosis and full-length album Perdition City: Music to an Interior Film, were even more experimental than the “Blake Album”, and a lot more pensive. The Metamorphosis disclaimer reads: “We are as unknown to you as we always were”. The band had moved further away from rock and metal and into a more ethereal style, much like that of Coil. The use of programmed sound and atmospheric style is dominant here, unlike the previous albums. Neo-classical composer and film scorer Craig Armstrong may have been an influence on Ulver as his use of electronics and hip-hop beats over strings and pianos is somewhat reminiscent of Ulver's later works.
The band followed up these two releases with two minimalist/ambient/glitch works, Silence Teaches You How to Sing and Silencing the Singing. These works featured minimal melodies and often had subtle weird and unnatural noises throughout the song structures; the band also stretched out at length, with "Silence Teaches You How to Sing" being the band's longest composition to date at over twenty-four minutes in length. Due to their individual rarity, they were later released together as Teachings in Silence.
Having proved their proficiency at making atmospheric electronic music, Ulver were hired to make music for cinema films Lyckantropen (whose soundtrack was released as Lyckantropen Themes), Svidd neger, and Uno.
In 2003, Ulver began making more symphonic music. They released A Quick Fix of Melancholy, which kept the minimalist, sparse stylings of their previous albums, while adding a much more expressive, dramatic, symphonic element, with various string sounds (most likely sampled) and various operatic singing styles.
In July 2004, the band finished recording their next album, Blood Inside, which was released on June 6th, 2005. With Blood Inside, the band stepped away from the more minimal styles they had been experimenting with previously. Bringing back more traditional rock instruments like guitar and acoustic drums (since 1998 the band had used primarily digital drums and/or sampled beats), and combining them with real and synthetic classical instruments, brass horns and sound samples, the band created something they had never done before. Managing to fuse genres ranging from rock, classical, minimalism, electronica and vintage progressive rock music with Garm's broad vocal range, Ulver created an album that was far beyond anything anyone has heard in the avant-garde scene.
Ulver have recently collaborated with drone band Sunn O))) on a 15-minute track which appears on Sunn O)))'s WHITEbox box set, released in July of 2006. Additionally, Ulver had announced back in 2002 that they had been working on a string remake of Nattens madrigal, but Garm has stated on the message board of his alternative rock band, Head Control System, that the project "is in a state of total dormancy".
The band's seventh album, Shadows of the Sun, was released on October 1, 2007. Garm called it “our most personal record to date. Low key, dark, and tragic”. The album mostly consists of dark ambient music, with lush symphonic orchestrations backing up the band's mellow material.
The band's eighth album, Wars of the Roses, appeared after nearly four years of silence in April 2011. This time around the band was highly influenced by progressive rock music, also incorporating elements of ambient, post-rock, and spoken word. The same year, the band also released the live album The Norwegian National Opera, a nearly career-spanning performance with the opera cited in the title that featured renditions of material dating from the Blake album to Wars of the Roses.
The band's ninth album, Childhood's End: Lost & Found from the Age of Aquarius, followed in 2012. A long-delayed cover album of material from the '60s psychedelic rock era, the material Ulver chose to cover was mostly quite obscure (with Jefferson Airplane's "Today" being easily the best known track), but further revealed the band's diverse range of influences.
In 2013, Messe I.X-VI.X appeared. A companion piece of sorts to Shadows of the Sun, the music on Messe continues in the same reflective, brooding vein as that album, but contains more influence from post-rock and modern classical music. Most of the tracks were instrumental this time around, and the band stretched out in length, with the longest song exceeding eleven minutes. The same year also saw the release of the live album Live at Roadburn, consisting mainly of live renditions of Childhood's End material (one improvised piece, inspired by and dedicated to the German krautrock band Can, was included as an encore).
2014 found the band's second collaboration with Sunn O))) released, the full-length album Terrestrials. Despite the metal background of the two bands, the material here was mostly subdued drone/dark ambient with little metal influence. The same year also saw the release of the box set Trolsk sortmetall 1993-1997, serving as the definitive retrospective on the band's black metal phase by collecting their 1993 demo Vargnatt, their first three albums, and previously unreleased rehearsal versions of four songs from Nattens madrigal. All material was remastered for this set, with Nattens madrigal seeing substantially more dynamic range and its bass line being clearly audible for the first time.
2016 saw the release of the band's double album ATGCLVLSSCAP, its title an acronym consisting of the signs of the Zodiac. Ulver constructed the material on this album around a series of improvised soundscapes recorded live at twelve different shows, but the studio overdubs create a tightly structured set of compositions, some of which are rearrangements of earlier Ulver songs such as Nowhere/Catastrophe. The material here, which consists of twelve tracks spanning eighty minutes, covers a wide range of genres, including psychedelic rock, progressive rock, dark ambient, avant-garde, and post-rock.
Ulver have established themselves as some of the most remarkable musical chameleons of the twenty-first century, and continue to evolve with each new release.
1993 - Rehearsal 1993 (demo)
1993 - Vargnatt (demo)
1994 - Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
1995 - Kveldssanger
1997 - Nattens madrigal - Aatte hymne til ulven i manden
1997 - The Trilogie: Three Journeyes Through the Norwegian Netherworlde (box set)
1998 - Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
1999 - Metamorphosis (EP)
2000 - Perdition City: Music to an Interior FIlm
2001 - Silence Teaches You How to Sing (EP)
2001 - Silencing the Singing (EP)
2002 - Teachings in Silence (compilation of the above two EPs)
2002 - Lyckantropen Themes (soundtrack)
2003 - 1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines (anthology)
2003 - Svidd neger (soundtrack)
2003 - A Quick Fix of Melancholy (EP)
2005 - Blood Inside
2007 - Shadows of the Sun
2011 - Wars of the Roses
2012 - The Norwegian National Opera (live album/video)
2012 - Childhood's End: Lost and Found from the Age of Aquarius
2013 - Oddities and Rarities #1 (anthology)
2013 - Live at Roadburn (live album)
2013 - Messe I.X-VI.X
2014 - Terrestrials (collaboration with Sunn O))))
2014 - Trolsk sortmetall 1993-1997 (box set)
2016 - ATGCLVLSSCAP Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.