Customer Reviews

Black Flux (Dig)

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mr. bissels review is spot on. it's so very strange that the reemergence of Carl-Michael Eide, (contributer to avante-metal bellweathers such as Dodheimsgard, Arcturus and Aura Noir,) has gone relatively undocumented. His lugubrious drawl, (think Nick Cave on sleeping pills,) and oblique compositional tendencies are matchless and i've missed them dearly. you may catch a whiff of shellac, swans, deathspell omega or bauhause but believe me, you are on alien territory. Virus' only notable touchstone is Mr. Eides previous outfit Ved Buens Ende and if you haven't heard the album "written in waters," (which god knows, you probably haven't,) this is again a useless, circular comparison. do yourself a favor, stretch your legs and explore a little bit. we have been blessed by the return of a true luminary and "the black flux," itself is a somber sort of celebration.

This album amazes me each and every time I listen to it, but what amazes me even more, is that there are no other reviews for it here! This is a work that should be praised near and far by anyone who appreciates original, avant garde music. From the inspired guitar work, to the eerie, occult-styled vocals, every sound here is crafted to unsettle and paint for the listener landscapes strange and unknown. Of the many excellent albums which have surfaced over the past year (from Earth's The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull, to Meshuggah's obZen), this release is quite possibly my favorite. Few other albums evoke so powerfully, and completely the paranormal, otherworldly atmosphere which The Black Flux does. I highly recommend this work of art to anyone who appreciates new, original, and strange sounds. Don't hesitate, do your ears a favor and buy it now!

Even when the product is digipack, it still got the book. Its a really great work and I'll be waiting for the next one to come so I can purchase it too. Its all I wanted to be.

It will never be as popular as Blackwater Park by Opeth, Remission by Mastodon or even Alone by Solitude Aeturnus, but believe me, it is just as good.

This is avante-garde, odd, dark, abstract music. It places you very much within the shoes of the maker so that you experience his mind, rather than just listen to the music he creates. Combine the preoccupied, almost rambling intense vocal musings with the jazzy, spacey black rock attack and you have a record that asks for your attention.

The other reviewers here have done a better job than I could, in describing the music and it's impact. But don't let words convince you. If you enjoyed Sham Mirrors by Arcturus you will really appreciate this album.

I haven't been this blown away by an album in quite some time, then Virus came along with their second album, "The Black Flux", and completely messed around with my mind. The songwriting is dissonant, psychedelic and downright frightening, and the parallels to Ved Buens Ende's Written in Waters are evident here. While the music is in an avant-garde style, the instruments give off an atmospheric vibe as well, in which it sends chills down your spine. Vocalist Czral Eide isn't for everybody, but his style fits the music perfectly.

Anybody that loves music that pushes boundaries needs to get this. You won't be disappointed.

There are a lot of people out there making 'extremely weird' music, but it takes a rare bunch of lunatics to make it all sound completely natural, like you're listening to the familiar, famous, tonal lullabies from some parallel universe. In the case of The Black Flux, it could literally be that if you take one of the ludicrous guitar figures that form the core of these tunes, invert it so you're playing all the notes Czral ISN'T playing, you get Stairway to Heaven or something. The (catchy as all hell) riffs are constructed almost entirely out of dissonant elements, but with such thoughtful internal consistency and in ways so far removed from any jazz or traditional classical roles as 'tension', that they come across as more oddly soothing than deliberately jarring or wanky. Given huge harmonic depths to swim in, Plenum's basslines pull off some amazing intuitive acrobatics swinging underneath the guitar, and Czral's vocals pick out some singularly strange, haunting routes. Incredible stuff.