Kvelldsanger--Ulver

My Man Mahmoud said:
What "signature sound"? This is a band that changes directions every two years or so.

I don't really feel qualified to closely dissect the later material, simply because I don't have much grounding in the history and development of trip hop - what I've heard leads me to feel Ulver's work in the genre has been pretty middle-of-the-road. I'm not enamoured with the whole direction really: like most of the stuff that has emerged from the dance halls, trip hop seems to function adequately as background mood music. But as a stand alone listening experience? Meh. There's just not much going on.

I have no misgivings whatsoever about being able to properly place their earlier material in its historical context. Bergtatt, like a lot of really bad black metal mid-90s and later black metal, takes the basic technique and production sound established by Darkthrone's classic releases, shortens the phrase lengths, cuts out the ambiguity in favor of nice, hummable resolutions and just generally rocks merrily along under a veneer of darkness. Nattens Madrigal gives much the same saccharine treatment to Ildjarn, mashes in a few extra riffs for longer songs, and then adds some spiffy artwork and a little bullshit about being recorded in the woods. None of this is an improvement - Ulver just dumbed their influences down for popular consumption.

As I mentioned, Kveldssanger emerged out of the mid-90s nordic folk revival. Predictably, Garm's interpretation was both irritatingly literal and easily marketable (faux-nostalgic accoustic noodling). It was, in any event, far less interesting than the treatment that Ulver contemporaries like Enslaved and The 3rd and the Mortal (or 3rd and the Mortal/Darkthrone side project Storm) were giving to similar basic ideas.

Themes... is a jumbled mess. It's all over the map stylistically, and borrows from a lot of different World Serpent and CMI type acts, all without really doing much except putting the pieces together in new combinations, which, to me, isn't the same as actually doing something worth hearing.
Hey bro, even though I disagree with everything you said 100%, I think you do a great job explaining why you don't like Ulver.

Ulver is among my favourite bands of all time, but I'd much rather read why someone likes or hates a band in great detail like your posts than pussies who come here and say "that rulez!!!1" or "that suckzz !!!1!", so kudos to you.
 
NineFeetUnderground said:
first of all, most black metal bands ripped off darkthrone, you expect a 2nd wave norwegian black metal band to be "original"?

Yes, to be worthwhile, I expect bands not to be second-rate imitations of other bands (what a concept!). I know that doesn't matter much to people like you, but for those of us who aren't trying to substitute our album collections for a penis, this is something of a concern.

you could pose the same argument to just about any norwegian act which wasnt part of the black circle from the get go then.

Except it isn't actually true - as Aeternus, Ildjarn, Gorgoth and the even the excreable Dimmu Borgir (who at least suck entirely on their own merits) amply prove.

and no, im not bringing up the grammies in a context of originality...but the validity.

What 'validity'? It's a mainstream awards show - these are, by definition, commercial whore fests.

you think most of those cold meat industry records bands were the first to do those sounds anyway

Depends on the act - Mortiis wasn't terribly original, Aghast was.

and as if ANY of them are completely paralleled to an Ulver disc.

Did I say they 'completely paralleled' Ulver? I just pointed out that Ulver ripped a lot of these bands off for bits and pieces of the Themes....

ildjarn had only one EP released at the time which was even worth bringing up

By March of 1996 (when Nattens Madrigal, the Ulver album in question, was released), Ildjarn had already released two full-lengths, two EP's, and three demo recordings, all fleshing out the same basic sound.

...and frankly wasnt much like bergtatt or especially the vargnatt material at all.

And no one implied that it did - the earliest incarnations of Ulver found the band deep in the throes of Darkthrone worship. You really should try actually reading what other people write before you respond to them.

ildjarn quickly went downhill from there

Ildjarn remained consistently brilliant up through Strength and Anger, after that, the drop off was fairly precipitous (with the exception of Hardangervidda, which was great) - but then again, considering the 5 year layoff between Strength and Anger and the next release, that's hardly surprising.

and to imply that Ulver were conciously ripping him off at any point after that is ludicrous considering how far above and beyond Ulver were to just about any band in that scene musically at that point anyway.

Certainly they had technical skills at their disposal that some of the other bands of the period didn't (chiefly Burzum and Ildjarn - though most of the other major bands of the period were at least their equals as players, and some, like Emperor and Immortal, were clearly MORE skilled, but that's neither here nor there), but it's hardly relevant as they weren't making use of those skills in their recordings. Instead, their actual records were technically simple and aurally lo-fi in the vein of the minimalist artists they were aping. Ulver simply never were first tier players in black metal, and, despite what their metal blinkered fans think, they're not first tier players in trip hop either.
 
im arguing with a guy who thinks Ulver is "2nd rate" and Ildjarn is "brilliant". i think ill just hold my tongue now. lol


edit: and the fact that he insists that Ulver was a "trip hop" band at ANY point, makes it obvious he knows nothing of trip hop, and why he continues to dwell on their black metal albums as his main argument. as if Ildjarn isnt straight Bathory worship anyway. ugh...morons.
 
Ildjarn is pretty much the furthest removed from Bathory of any of the early Norwegian acts. I suppose that a comparison can be made inasmuch as both bands at one point played relatively primitive music - but by that logic, they're both just Ramones ripoffs.

I love how, rather than providing any evidence for your claims, you just hope that innuendo and feigned indifference will bulldoze any objections.

So, let me guess, you're about 17 years old and you have a HUGE mp3 collection. Am I right? Thought so.
 
My Man Mahmoud said:
Ildjarn is pretty much the furthest removed from Bathory of any of the early Norwegian acts. I suppose that a comparison can be made inasmuch as both bands at one point played relatively primitive music - but by that logic, they're both just Ramones ripoffs.

I love how, rather than providing any evidence for your claims, you just hope that innuendo and feigned indifference will bulldoze any objections.

So, let me guess, you're about 17 years old and you have a HUGE mp3 collection. Am I right? Thought so.

me? nearly 24, and enough CDs and vinyl to make myself a guest house out of. plz stfu
 
NineFeetUnderground said:
me? nearly 24, and enough CDs and vinyl to make myself a guest house out of. plz stfu

Oh ho! A collector! That mentality certainly explains your painful lack of insight.
 
edit: and the fact that he insists that Ulver was a "trip hop" band at ANY point,

Oh but he says it so authoritatively!

Watch how he seamlessly backs into armchair psychoanalysis when his musical points get identified as BS.
 
You mean when NFU states - without even the slightest presentation of evidence - that this is so?

Come now, you can't be that stupid...
 
youre the one with something to prove here pal. i could drool for the duration of your membership here and still come out on top. youre biggest mistake was tearing everyone down and not doing anything remotely helpful or positive. be important, stop being a clown...theres room for everyone here.
 
I don't tear anything down - I'm just a realist who is honest enough to point out where people and bands actually stand. I can't really help it if you take offense when other people don't share your nearly sexual affection for every 'open-minded' abomination that some twirp manages to shit out.
 
NineFeetUnderground said:
i know why youre here, i know what youre doing, and i know why youre doing it. lets just leave it at that. just know its not fooling me....LEAST of all, me.

0h, 0k.

:lol: