I used to be a Black Metal musician like you, then I took a knife to the Euronymous

I was iffy after reading some of the comments on here, but after listening to the album, I'm actually liking it a lot more than his last two, which were pretty decent to me. I guess I'm still going to be ordering this once it comes out.

Sigged!

Sighed

Good lord, those promotional pictures are some of the best things ever.

What the fuck are you and everyone else talking about? There's no fucking tree. It's a goddamn woman, a baby, and a horse. Are you guys blind?


edit: I see I'm late to the party.

I probably won't check it out. Neither Belus or Fallen struck me as something other than completely run of the mill black metal, and I have no reason to believe this is gonna be different. Also I don't really dig this "take random painting and put name and title on it" cover art deal.

On track 3 and so far it's great. I don't see how Belus or Fallen sound run of the mill black metal, they sound like Burzum albums... And from what I can see the cover is very much in line with the album and its aesthetic... love the cover actually.

Really looking forward to this. But I'll wait with the listening until I get my mittens on a physical release.

And you guys know what the cover depicts, right?

Anybody else has the impression that he's dragging away from reality MORE AND MORE?!?
http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/2011_ ... izer.shtml
Holy shit!

I bet you're going to tell me.

It was more as a comment to the people saying it was a "random painting". As it says on the additional notes on the main site, it's a painting of Nótt, the personification of "Night" in norse lore.

I like it. It's all about atmospheres and this album fucking delivers. I also like the vocal delivery and the production. The album flows very well, although I think it works far better heard as a 1 long track than revisiting lone random tracks.

I'll be buying this.

I don't want to worry you guys but this record is *probably* a masterpiece so please don't make the mistake of not listening to it just because you don't like Varg.

When you encounter such apparent "boring albums" made by Varg, you need to accept them as good, and keep listening until you realise that his songwriting is in fact excellent.

I think that attitude became quite pronounced in his songwriting post Det Som Engang Var. He decided that there was no longer need to have that much material to comprise an album of forty minutes. I wonder if even he ever bothered to truly listen to Hviss Lyset Tar Oss in its entirety (and not as ambient music).

Haha I get it!!

I think we can safely say that Burzum is no longer Black Metal. This should come as no surprise, as we have seen a steady shift in sound with the creations of Vikernes over the last three post-prison releases. Belus retained some Black Metal components, while Fallen was a more drastic shift toward a pagan/folk metal act, and this latest installment of Vikernes is undeniably pagan/folk/viking metal.

Gone are any traces of the mystical and dream-like compositions of early Burzum, where the music sounded like an angry, evil troll recording music in a dark cave amidst a rainstorm in the middle of a forgotten forest. This is truly saddening, as Vikernes was unmatched in these early recordings. He channeled energy and emotion into the first four albums that made me explore the forest in the middle of the night, and look beyond what was seen by the naked eye. Umskiptar makes me want to hit the STOP button.

I take comfort knowing that I can always slide any of the first four albums into the CD player and travel back in time, or to another reality for that matter. However, I am disappointed that Burzum has seemingly stopped making this type of music altogether. A talented musician he will always be, but he excelled in his more primitive creations. Here's hoping one day he will return to what once was...

I'm resisting listening to the album properly until it comes out, but from the couple of minutes I've heard of various things, I'm going to enjoy it, although the production seemed a little bit bland.

There is definitely a disconnect in his music before and after his prison stay. I wouldn't say his post-prison music is bad, but I agree that it's not the same as the incredible pre-prison material. It's a shame that he went to prison at all, for fans of his music, anyway. Not that I myself discovered his music until he was in the middle of his sentence.

Considering his attempts to distance himself from "black metal" as much as possible I was surprised that he released anything even remotely close to the genre after he got out of prison. I really liked Belus a lot, and although it wasn't like his older shit it was pretty good. Fallen had its moments.

I naively thought that after he released the cash-in album "From the Depths of Darkness" he'd be making a return to that style with his new material. I guess not. After repeated listens, I like Umskiptar for what it is, but I agree that I'd be hard pressed to call it black metal.


I don't know about other people, but I get the feeling that he plays up the crazy intentionally in interviews and the like. I can't say that I agree with most of his views, and the guy is clearly not all there, but you can't deny that he's a great musician.

On another note, he's married and has 4 children? He must have been busy considering he spent a good portion of his adult life so far in solitary confinement and got out of prison in 2009...

If I remember correctly his oldest child is adult and she attends some kind of university.

I also gave it a spin. First half is indeed enjoyable but the second bore me so I shut it down. Obviously not my style but I can see what he wanted to achieve with this release.

Yup finished the whole thing, it's great. Skaldic Metal is a good choice if you have to label the music on this album, to me it's just Burzum.

I gave this a listen last night and it sounds okay to me though I'll probably just end up skipping it. I've liked post-prison Burzum but it's always felt like something I had to listen to as opposed to something that I was legitimately excited about.

But people just evolves and we must accept it.
It's Ok if you enjoy his later works and it's Ok if you miss the old ones and try to find something similar in other bands.


I'm not really sure about that (think about what some prison years can do to human mind) but I feel that he KNOWS that he can live throught this avatar. Does he really believe in anything he says since he was imprisoned? I'm not sure.

I really enjoyed it too, particularly after giving it multiple listens. I think the Skaldic metal bit is silly though - Varg just wants to separate himself from the black metal name because it doesn't represent what it used to represent. This album is black metal - though I have to admit the direction Burzum is taking is different than just about any other black metal band I've heard recently. Very original and unmistakable if you ask me.

Anyways, I'm curious about his statement saying it's a "return to roots" album for him. For me though, the album is just what I predicted - an evolution of the two preceding albums. We'll never hear another Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, I don't think he could put himself back in that mindset if he tried.

I've been trying to avoid listening to it until the official release date, but like with most albums I ended up listening to the leak...
After one listen I think it is quite an enjoyable album... vocals are... different and kind of silly for Burzum (tho nothing can surprise me anymore after Fallen) aside from that it's a decent realease, that I think will grow on me, like everything from Varg has

He said that it was a return to roots in that it was more of a complete album than a collection of songs. I don't think he meant the music was going to sound like Det Som Engang Var.

Norwegian prison doesn't sound like prison at all, you know, with having computers and instruments in your own private cell. And what's this about solitary confinement someone mentioned? Last I remember, for the last few years of his sentence, he could leave on the weekends.

This thread is a mess. Not to mention, of course the album leaks and everyone starts downloading it. SOPA and PIPA were so close to a reality, but oh no, lets just let protest and not change our poor behavior. Oopsie. I can't wait until I can't buy or download media, and can only stream it online with constant advertisements, oh yeah, and my media is only accessible from one device per purchase!

Damn dude, someone needs to sneak a chill pill into his angry pudding.

I didn't download it, I got an early copy from Varg himself.

Blame the uploader. This got me thinking, why is the label sending promos this early in the first place. Release is two months away. But since its Varg's own label, he probably dont care that much (Burzum's gonna sell either way, leaked or not).

I listened first half of the album from youtube. Its much better than Fallen. Newest interview is brialliant. Its funny, entertaining, intelligent and provocative at the same time. No matter how much i think that most Burzum material is seriously overrated, i still respect Varg a alot.

what new interview? the last one listed on the website is dated 27.11.2011

I didn't download it to listen to it, I just listened to a few of the songs on Youtube. I'll be waiting til its actually released so I can buy it. Calm yourself, bro.

source?

I know a lot of people in the thread are laughing at those promotional photos, but I riddle you this: if Varg ever rocked up at your door and asked you to go LARPing in the forest with him could you really say no?

I guess he also had good laughs at them.

Pre-ordered the limited Bronze LP version which is costing me $50 so settle down.

The album does not sound too different from Fallen, except for the fact that it is slower and even less reminiscent of Black Metal. Too repetitive.

The album is a grower. I actually like it a lot, as weird and different as it is. Varg sometimes makes it embarrassing to identify yourself as a fan, but I have to admit that I've been looking forward to the yearly Burzum album since he was released from prison, anyway.

Varg is such an interesting person, even if I don't agree with some of his extreme views. The idea of a middle-aged Norwegian farmer living on an isolated farm with his family, making a living with black metal is hilariously cool.