Ulver
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| Image:Ulvernewlogo.gif | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Image:Flag of Norway.svg Norway |
| Genre(s) | Black metal, folk (early) Experimental, electronic (later) |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Label(s) | Jester, The End, Century Black, House of Kicks |
| Website | jester-records.com/ulver |
| Members | |
| Kristoffer Garm Rygg Jørn H. Sværen Tore Ylwizaker | |
| Former members | |
| Håvard Jørgensen Torbjørn Pedersen Grellmund A. Reza Erik Olivier Lancelot Carl-Michael Eide Hugh Steven James Mingay | |
Ulver (Norwegian for “wolves”) is a multi-disciplinary musical group from Norway. Since their first, folklore-influenced black metal release in 1993, Ulver’s style has ever been changing by mixing elements of experimental, electronic and ambient music, avant-garde rock and trip hop.
Contents |
[edit] Musical overview
[edit] Black Metal Trilogie
Although Ulver’s first three albums are often called their “Black Metal Trilogie,” they are quite diverse in musical styles, with only two of them belonging to the black metal genre. The archaic Danish lyrics of those three albums were inspired by Scandinavian folktales.
Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler is considered to be a folk-themed black metal album for its occasionally fast tempo, distorted electric guitars and croaky screaming vocals intermitted with melodious acoustic passages with clean vocals, and having a fantasy storyline. The title Bergtatt literally translates as “mountain-taken”; in Norwegian folk tales the word refers to people who wander off into mountains, lured by trolls or other legendary beings. The narrative of the album’s lyrics follows a maiden as she becomes so mountain-taken. The subtitle translates as “A Tale in 5 Chapters”. Bergtatt features a melancholic, fully acoustical song Een Stemme Locker (“A Voice Beckons”).
Kveldssanger, Ulver’s second album, contrasts with Bergtatt as it uses classical guitars, cello and chamber chants, completely eschewing the 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.” Garm later clarified this by saying that the performance was immature, yet the content is strong when their youth is taken into account. 1
The third album, Nattens Madrigal (“Madrigal of the Night”), was a return to black metal, more ferocious than Bergtatt ever was, with only a brief acoustic interlude in the first track. The album is intentionally underproduced, akin to Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, with buzzing guitars and rather muffled drums. There are rumors surrounding this album and its recording, the most famous being that the band recorded this album 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, like Armani suits, haircuts, cocaine, beer, and/or a new car. Garm has since confirmed that the band has expensive tastes. 1
[edit] Blake album
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, added to Garm's expanding artistic visions and together they stepped over the boundaries of black metal aesthetics, creating a genre-defying work often associated with avant-garde metal. 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.
[edit] The metamorphosis
Ulver's next two releases, the EP Metamorphosis and full-length album Perdition City, 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.
[edit] Teachings in Silence and soundtracks
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 within the song structures. Due to their individual rarity, they were later amalgamated as “Teachings in Silence.”
Having proved their proficiency at making atmospheric music, Ulver were hired to make music for cinema films like Lyckantropen, Svidd Neger, and Uno.
[edit] Recent years
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, albeit adding more dramatic and symphonic elements, with various string sounds (most likely sampled) and 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 with Garm's broad vocal range, Ulver created an album that was far beyond anything anyone has heard in the avant-garde scene.
Ulver 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.” [1]
In July 2007, Ulver announced on their website that they would be releasing a new album, Shadows of the Sun, on October 1, 2007. Garm calls it, “our most personal record to date. Low key, dark, and tragic.”[2]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Full lengths
UlverBergtatt.jpg
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Ulver-kveldssanger.jpg
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Ulver nattens.JPG
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Ullver Perdition.jpg
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Ulver shadowsofthesun cover large.jpg
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[edit] Other releases
- Vargnatt demo (1993)
- Split EP with Mysticum (1994)
- The Trilogie - Three Journeyes through the Norwegian Netherworlde (1998)
- Metamorphosis EP (1999)
- Silence Teaches You How to Sing EP (2001)
- Silencing the Singing EP (2001)
- Teachings in Silence EP (incl. both Silence EPs) (2002)
- Lyckantropen Themes (2002)
- 1993-2003: First Decade in the Machines (2003)
- A Quick Fix of Melancholy EP (2003)
- Svidd Neger soundtrack (2003)
[edit] Contributions and Guest Appearances
- Feuersturm – Century Media Records compilation (1997) – "Sœlen Gåer Bag Åse Need"
- Souvenirs from Hell – compilation (1997) – "Synen"
- Ablaze Compilation – Ablaze Magazine compilation (1998) – "Of Wolf and the Night"
- 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 "Hymne VI - Wolf and Passion" from Nattens Madrigal
- Merzbow - Frog Remixed & 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"
[edit] Current members
- Kristoffer Rygg (aka Garm, Trickster G., G. Wolf, Fiery G. Maelstrom) - Vocals, Additional Programming
- Jørn H. Sværen - Misc.
- Tore Ylwizaker - Programming, Keyboards
[edit] Session / Guest / Former Members
- Håvard Jørgensen – guitar (Vargnatt through Themes…), session guitars on Perdition City and Blood Inside
- Torbjørn Pedersen (aka Aismal; Tykje) – guitar (Bergtatt through Themes…)
- Grellmund – guitar on Vargnatt (committed suicide on 31 Dec 1997)
- A. Reza – guitar on Vargnatt
- Erik Olivier Lancelot (aka AiwarikiaR) – drums, flute (Bergtatt through Themes…)
- Carl-Michael Eide (aka Aggressor; Czral; Exhurtum) – drums on Vargnatt, guest drums on Blood Inside
- Hugh Steven James Mingay (aka Skoll) – bass (Bergtatt through Themes…)
- Robin – bass on Vargnatt
- Bosse – guitar solo on Blood Inside
- Jeff Gauthier – violin on Blood Inside
- Mike Keneally – guitar on Blood Inside
- Andreas Mjøs – vibraphone on Blood Inside
- Maja S. K. Ratkje – choir on Blood Inside
- Knut Aalefjær – drums & percussion on Blood Inside
- Steinar Sverd Johnsen (aka Sverd) – piano on Vargnatt and Bergtatt
- Alf Gaaskjønli – cello on Kveldssanger
- Knut Magne Valle – guitar on Themes…
- Rolf Erik Nyström – saxophone on Perdition City
- Jan Axel Blomberg (aka Hellhammer) – drums (on the song "Synen", released on the Souvenirs from Hell compilation)
- Ivar H. Johansen – drums on Perdition City
- Kåre J. Pedersen – drums on Perdition City
- Bård G. Eithun – drums on Perdition City
- Øystein Moe – bass on Perdition City
- Stine Grytøyr (aka "her") – vocals on Themes…
- Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen (aka Samoth) – vocals on Themes…
- Vegard Sverre Tveitan (aka Ihsahn) – vocals on Themes…
- Gylve Nagell (aka Fenriz) – vocals on Themes…
- Lill Katherine Stensrud – vocals on Vargnatt, Bergtatt; flute on Bergtatt
[edit] Related bands
- Coil - Probably the band by which 2000-2002 era Ulver is most inspired by and analogous to. This British-based experimental band has redefined the essence of electronic and minimalist music
- Arcturus - Another project of Ulver members Garm and Skoll, as well as Ulver session members Sverd and Knut Magne Valle, which started as symphonic black metal and transitioned into avant-garde metal. Garm left the band in 2003.
- Borknagar - Norwegian folk-inspired black metal band that featured Garm on vocals on their first two albums.
- Ved Buens Ende - Side project of Skoll and Carl-Michael Eide. Since disbanded and recently reunited.
- Head Control System — a duo of Garm and the Portuguese metal musician Daniel Cardoso.
[edit] References
- ^ quote was taken from http://www.headcontrolsystem.com/thesektor/viewtopic.php?t=109 (link is dead now)
- ^ ULVER official site (2007-07-13). Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
[edit] External links
- Ulver's official page at Jester Records' website. Contains general information about the members, release history, and interviews.
- The End Records, Ulver's North American label.
- "authorised Ulver website", not updated since 2004.
- "Interview with Jørn H. Sværen", from SonicFrontiers.net (Nov 2007)
| Ulver |
| Kristoffer Rygg | Tore Ylwizaker | Jørn H. Sværen |
| Håvard Jørgensen | Torbjørn Pedersen | Grellmund | A. Reza | Erik Olivier Lancelot | Carl-Michael Eide | Hugh Steven James Mingay |
| Discography |
| Albums: Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler | Kveldssanger | Nattens Madrigal - Aatte Hymne til Ulven i Manden | Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell | Perdition City | Blood Inside | Shadows of the Sun |
| Other work: Vargnatt | Split EP with Mysticum | The Trilogie - Three Journeyes through the Norwegian Netherworlde | Metamorphosis | Silence Teaches You How to Sing | Silencing the Singing | Teachings in Silence | Lyckantropen Themes | 1993-2003: First Decade in the Machines | A Quick Fix of Melancholy | Svidd Neger (soundtrack) |
de:Ulver es:Ulver eo:Ulver fr:Ulver it:Ulver he:אולבר nl:Ulver ja:ウルヴェル no:Ulver (band) pl:Ulver ru:Ulver fi:Ulver sv:Ulver
