Ulver "Metamorphosis" ep Jester Records Trick 006 1999 (25:17)
Of Wolves & Vibrancy (4:45)
Gnosis (8:00)
Limbo Central (Theme from Perdition City) (3:36)
Of Wolves & Withdrawal (8:55)
Conceived in Jester & Beep studios by Rygg/Ylwizaker.
Ulver (meaning "wolves") began as a leader of the 'black metal' scene of Norway in the early/mid 90s. However, with their more recent releases, Ulver have expanded their sound well beyond the bounds of the genre. In fact, you'd never guessed they were once a black metal band. Their first release on Norway's Jester Records "Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell", exhibited their diverse creativity. With the aptly titled "Metamorphosis" EP, their second release of 1999 on Jester, Ulver continue to unpredictably and intelligently evolve. With this disc Ulver concentrate more on the electronic and instrumental side of their music, though there's still a great deal of diversity and attention to detail within these four tracks. "Of Wolves & Vibrancy" is a very upbeat electronic dance track with busy bass and synth lines and snare/hi-hat rhythms. This track is a real surprise ... not only because of it's electronic nature, but it's quality. "Gnosis" begins with several minutes of quiet soundtrack style atmospheres then introduces a slow beat, synths and scratches. In the final 3 minutes the track shifts gears by adding mellow electric guitar and vocals, borrowing words from Arthur Rimbaud's "Bad Blood". "Limbo Central" is a pleasant piano/synth/beat based soundtrack theme. "Of Wolves & Withdrawal" is very quiet, little more than silence, low rumblings and reverberated knocks. As a whole, this another beautifully produced work from Ulver. They've made a permanent fan out of me. Up next is the full soundtrack for the upcoming movie "Perdition City", also via Jester ...
Where did I get this cd? - from Jester Records to review