I want ULVER reviews!

T

The_Accolade

A Heart of Gold
Aug 2, 2002
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here and there ;)
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i on a maniacal cd buying spree....and ulver is to be one of my victims

does anybody know a site that has some reviews of ulver cd's? i found one so far..for lykantropen. and also Ulverytteren's quick descriptions on the cd ratings thread
if not...can someone please write me some quick reviews here?

i am not asking a lot in the reviews because i suppose their music is really hard to describe. i would mainly like to warned away from any cd's that are really bad or poorly produced and not worth buying. i gather that they have gone through a lot of different styles..what are the styles of each cd? also what you think about them, what kind of material they contain anything to help me choose one

i've only listened to the short disc called "Silence teaches you to sing" and was quite captivated. it was about a half hour long, ambient with a few melodies surfacing now and then. i got deep into it and really felt incredible listening to it. it gave me goosebumps a few times. i am the type of person who is easily absorbed into music, and so i am a good audience for ulver. as an aspiring producer i like how they have used samples of natural and non musical sounds, and tweaked them (with a computer) into something different, and put it all together. i have great respect for the work into it, and for them creating something that is different from music. it is really interesting to listen to.

i would like to find more cd's like "silence teaches you to sing", but i'm also interested in what their actual music is like too.

also post some songs i should download to get the hang of what some of their stuff is like.



thanks!!
 
The_Accolade said:
i would like to find more cd's like "silence teaches you to sing", but i'm also interested in what their actual music is like too.

also post some songs i should download to get the hang of what some of their stuff is like.



thanks!!
Click to expand...

If you're a fan of silence teaches you how to sing, def try and track down silencing the singing as it goes hand in hand with it, though it was limited and may be hard to find now
 
that would be great iceman!!

Blackwinged, i like your website!! i'll have to look at it some more later.

i'm going to the cd store tommorow hopefully, at this moment it seems like i'll buy perdition city or kveldsanger. but i might just hold on a while longer...i bet cd's are a lot cheaper at theendrecords.com than the cd's here...especially since theend charges dollars and the record store in euros. theend always has cd's for like...12 dollars...its a steal!

though i also have to buy the "enemies of reality" from nevermore (yes, its out...but only for me, not for you ;)) maybe the new gathering cd also...
and if i don't find anything good.."damnation" the mellow opeth cd. not that its not good..but that cd will always be around.....this new stuff is exciting.
 
Ulver - Themes From William Blake's the Marriage of Heaven and Hell

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Most diverse and unique album i've ever heard. July 17, 2003
I will do my best to describe this. First of all, the songs don't really have names, they just call them "Plate 1" through "Plate 27" even though there's only 19 tracks. The way they name tracks on this CD is the most confusing ever. No, those names on the back aren't the song titles, although they are part of some of them. And the songs aren't just the "plate numbers" either. Rather, the songs are the red text in the lyrics, like "Voice of the Devil Plate 4" and "Proverbs of Hell Plates 7-10". As you can see more than one "plate" is in a track sometimes. ANYWAYS...

There are certainly a LOT of lyrics, based on themes from William Blake's "The Marraige of Heaven and Hell," obviously. They are very interesting. Try to read them while listening, at least on a few songs. Sometimes it's hard to find where they are because you have no idea what track number is which song. Or you might get a headache because they're all in capital letters in huge blocks of text. I don't understand the lyrics that well but I think they are contradicting the bible or whatever, and some are quite thought-provoking.

There are so many genre's mixed, that they are all mixed together within one song, right on top of each other. For instance, Track 4 has a very peaceful, catchy acoustic guitar tune with garm's vocals and some female vocals (just talking) with a semi-electronic beat, then at the end it suddenly does a backflip into this wild Industrial/Metal/Electronic instrumental. It is easily one of my favorites.

There are so many kinds of vocals. Several songs are mainly carried by vocals with a nice tune in the background, usually a dark acoustic tune with a pulsing electronic beat sometimes. There are the many voices of Garm and there are some female vocalists. Sometimes there is just talking, sometimes it is whispering, sometimes normal singing, sometimes more harsh singing, sometimes a mix between talking and singing, sometimes electronically distorted or echoed vocals.

The first track is a nice industrial/metal feeling song kicked off with deep dark vocals and industrialized percussion. one of the best ones. Track 2 is atmospheric distorted guitars with female singing ending up in a cloud of ambience. Track 6 is a monsterous, agressive, experimental song constantly being mangled and twisted around.

Track 7 is easily my absolute favorite. It is very epic, but in a way you never would have thought you would describe as epic. What makes it is the progression and the amazing vocal melodies. It is somewhat aggressive but you can hardly say anything on this album is "heavy." It starts off quietly with a pulsing beat and soft mechanic voice for a while, then suddenly flips around into the main song with a bunch of industrial sounds. The "Chorus" it's building up to is the best part. I feel on top of the world when this song is playing. Garm's vocal melodies just totally make the song enjoyable, it's just the tone of his voice or the style of the singing -- I really can't explain it. But this song isn't just based on vocals, of course, the parts where he is talking are very upbeat and you will not be able to stop tapping your fingers. That's the best way I can describe it, I'm sure you know this isn't actually catchy pop music.

Throughout the rest of the first disc you'll find more experimental instrumentals and songs with strange mixtures or maybe similar to what I described already. and a LOT of lyrics. There are a lot of ambiant parts too that seem to stop songs when they don't seem to stop and interrupt them with a breath of quiet ambience.

Now for disc 2. I have recently got into Disc 2 a lot more. Before, I usually didn't even play it because my first few impressions weren't very good. Boy was that a mistake. Don't make that mistake. There are only 6 songs, and only the first one is kinda long, 11 minutes. The first 3 or so minutes are kind of monotonous, then Garm starts singing better and the background music gets more interesting and the song really gets some nice rhythm patterns and more shifting changes.

Track 2 is very short but has one of the coolest melodies on the cd. I really don't know how to explain it much more than that. I picture being in some kind of futuristic top-secret facility. Actually, this sounds more like the style of Silencing the Singing, quite ambient but musical. Track 3 and 4 are pretty good but i'm not gonna go in depth with them.

Track 5 is very ambient and probably the most interesting song on disc 2. If you have concentration you will notice so many different things happening in this song and could invision a million different things.

The last song has a really good pulsating beat. It adds some really interesting sounds then a really really cool guitar riff that repeats, and another guitar riff that is rediculously fast and crazy. The vocals here sound like he's some huge strong hulk guy directing an army. Actually, this is probably the most bizarre song on the entire album now that I think of it. Great way to end this masterpiece. It says it's 26 minutes but that's just to fool you, the music lasts only about 5 minutes and there's a very short, pointless bonus thing at the end.

On first listen, this cd will probably leave you in mass confusion. While you are listening the first time you will have no idea what will happen next. The songs don't really seem coherent but it is very fun because there is such a crazy mix of things happening one after another. Don't pass it up and give it a chance. It takes a long time to get used to because it's something you've heard nothing like before. Ulver is just so brilliant.
___________________________________________

Theendrecords.com is an exellant place to get Ulver CDs. they are inexpensive and ship relatively fast, the only thing is sometimes they take a while to restock.
 
Ulver - Metamorphosis

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A few nice little songs. May 16, 2003
This is a pretty good, diverse collection of 4 extra Ulver songs that illustrate a Metamorphosis from "Themes" to "Perdition City."
"Of Wolves and Vibrancy" is the closest sounding to techno that they've ever done, it's upbeat and fun. "Gnosis" is a long, shifting, experimental song, with some ambiant parts, more upbeat parts, some vocals, nice little melodies, distortions, and strange electronic sounds. "Limbo Central" is another upbeat, dark, interesting song with cool rhythm patterns and extra sound effects. It sounds most like Perdition City, the song could be mistaken to be on it, being very similar sounding to the styles and sound of "Perdition City." The last song, "Of Wolves and Withdrawl" is 9 minutes of extreme ambiance. It is so rediculously quiet and monotonous, I usually just end the CD there, or forget the CD is playing. This is a good CD for Ulver fans, not new fans. Don't get it unless you have 1 or 2 electronic Ulver full-lengths already and love them. Be aware this is only like 20 minutes long but it's probably pretty inexpensive to buy.
 
Ulver - Silencing the Singing

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Ekstrem Atmosfære April 5, 2003
This EP is good if you like Ulver moments of very soft, slow atmosphere, with not that much melody. These three songs are very repetitive overall with small subtle changes and sounds. This is what makes atmospheric music. The best example is the 3rd track, where the same short melody is basically repeated over and over for 10 minutes, with different little sounds happening each time. It's much better with headphones. The first 2 tracks are a little more varied but still similar. There are a few really great melodies too such as the end of track 2 there is a very nice soft violin played.

This is not similar to Perdition City at all. There are no groovy rhythms to be found, and nothing remotely upbeat at all. Some of the sounds sound like skipping records, distant grim bells, and just... ambient stuff. If you liked Perdition City... well, I can't tell you if you'd like this or not, that's up to you. I know I love them both. This CD definately is not for everyone, even Ulver fans. I easily see why people would hate it: too boring, too repetitve, not much melody, not much rhythm... but I personally find it to be another Ulver masterpiece.
 
Ulver - Perdition City

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Music To An Interior Film January 27, 2003
This is probably the best electronic based album I've heard. No cheesy steady beats and barely-changing extremely repetitive tones present in so much techno/trance stuff today. But if you're reading this chances are you aren't one who's into that. While this certainly isn't Ulver's most experimental, (That goes to "Themes from William Blake's...") it remains their most solid work to date. This is much different from "Themes" Very melodic and calm songs, but not too calm to be labeled "Ambiant" like some of their other releases. Even though some parts are ambiant. There is a lot of electonic rhythms but they are never repetitive.

The CD kicks off with "Lost in Moments" a nice beat which suddenly turns into a soft piano and saxophone harmony and keeps switching and mixing back and forth. When you hear the word Saxophone you might think it is incredibly cheesy, but Ulver know how to make it anything except that. This song also has some vocals, most of them near the end. They aren't very common, probably half the songs have vocals.

Most songs have piano, a lot of electronic beats and a significant amount of real drumming, and a lot of melodic and not-so-melodic electronic sounds that drift in and out and in between the songs. Sometimes real guitars are used too. Some parts are just so groovy you cant help but tap your fingers... especially the last minute or so of "Porn Piece or the Scars of Cold Kisses." Songs change a lot and keep flowing brilliantly and most songs have an awesome climax somewhere.

Some songs are a bit different. "We are the Dead" is a very eerie and slow with Garm whispering into your ear overlapping the subtle distorted radio frequencies. Following that is "Dead City Centres," the first part is the most ambiant on the CD with high frequency beeps and distant sounds. The second half is a freaky narration of some sort with crazy saxophones... kind of hard to explain, then fades out into a beautiful uplifting piano melody for a few seconds. The last song, "Nowhere/Catastrophe" is where the most vocals are found.

While listening to this I always picture walking around in a big city with lots of neon lights at night. I should actually try to do that sometime, but I'd probably look like a moron and start taking steps in synch with the rhythm. I think of going into subways, glass buildings, all sorts of things. The photos inside kind of help that imagery along.

This album probably makes the best introduction to Ulver's electronic works. It is experimental in its own way but not compared to a lot of their other stuff, and shouldnt be that hard if you have an open mind...

For my conclusion I will quote the back of the cd case. "This is music for the stations before and after sleep. Headphones and darkness recommended." This is very true, if you listen to it with these two conditions it is more worthwhile.
 
for anyone new to Ulver (interested in the electronic side first), I'd probably suggest Perdition City first, and then Themes. I like Themes better now, but it took a much longer time to sink in. After that, probably Silencing the Singing.
 
Perdition City:
http://www.metalbite.com/tracks.asp?album=1012

Silence Teaches You How To Sing
http://www.metalbite.com/tracks.asp?album=1503

Silencing The Singing
http://www.metalbite.com/tracks.asp?album=1504

Lyckantropen Themes
http://www.metalbite.com/tracks.asp?album=2112

I'll second what Iceman said regarding checking out PC. You really shouldn't call yourself a fan of music if you haven't experienced PC in one form or another. It is one of the quintessential records out there.*

*Apart from the last track, 'Nowhere/Catastrophe' - damn that song ruins the mood of the album. :erk:

Also, I gotta agree with Hellion on Beaten Back to Pure. "The Last Refuge of the Sons of Bitches" is a very worthy record. :headbang:
 
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