Customer Reviews

Hlidskjalf

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

while it is certainly too short at 33 minutes, hlidskjalf really is a good and diverse record, with a good booklet and atmosphere. some of the keys sound a bit cheesey, but i can forgive it because of the circumstance (done in jail).

the music is enirely keyboard driven, but with some good drums (electronic of course) in some parts. it isn't just a long midi rambling, there are some very different parts/songs on here, from the bombastic sounds of Ausuzgardaraiwo, to the very minimal and quiet tracks like Der Weinende Hadnur and Frijos Einsames Trauern. the entire thing is drenched with mythological themes, and comes off quite melancholy.

all in all, this record comes closer to the definition of minimal darkwave than it does to true ambient. i would recomend this as a first ambient or minimal electronic record as well, because it does have a lot of variation, and isn't as boring as some other albums i can think of (you don't have to be so much in an ambient mood to play it.) not that this is the absolute best, but it is a very good record.

The second of Varg's two prison albums is richer and more textured than its minimalist predecessor 'Dauši Baldrs', but it feels more confused, not as purposeful. Darker too. Rather than the promise of rebirth implicit in 'Dauši Baldrs', here one feels only a grim sense of foreboding, of violence to come. The whole album seems watchful, and in the distance is a hedgerow of shields and shining spears, the only 'light' to be seen in a landscape otherwise harsh and obscure. Doom music, for awakening warriors.

This was recorded and mixed in jail, translating to Odin's Throne. Odin is the highest of the Norse gods and adversary to the Christian God. Varg was baptised a member of the Asatru religion. Here the black ambient soundscapes are much more accessable to casual fans.

In my mind, this album is a testament to Vickernes' ability to single handedly make cold, bleak music that reflects his dark, warped mind. Now that he's incarcerated he only has access to a synthesiser to carry on making music, but I wondor if he'd have made this sort of music anyway. Burzum was one of the greatest black metal bands of the 90s, and it deserves that title due to its bleak emtional sound that so many black metal bands didn't have. And even though the distorted guitars and the tortured screams are gone, Varg still manages to convey those feelings with a digital synthesiser. It could have come off sounding cheesy (if not downright stupid) had it been attempted by most other people. But once again Varg proves he is capable of capturing moods where most people wouldn't know where to start.

The instrumentation is very sparse and simple for the most part, but then Burzum always has been. That's the beauty of it. What he does with it is what is important. Here he has created an ambient abstract album with an incredible feel. If you can get past the crude sounding keyboard, you'll find an album that slowly reveals itself to you over time and captures your imagination like few others.

In my opinion, any Burzum fan must get this cd. It is a very enjoyable trip into the darkness of the woods. This album is ambient and classical and is unlike any earlier Burzum which was straight black metal. I prefer this. I really do think Varg has found his voice in his musical output.

This is most definitely not the original black metal BURZUM, but it don't matter. Varg was seeing before he went to prison that everyone in black metal was doing pretty much the same thing. He took the format of black metal and mixing with the apparent story continuing life he has. The first song, "Tuistos Herz", is a gong (?) banging classical masterpiece, moving in and out of worlds. The second song and my favorite, "Der Tod Wuotans", is a indescribable song that makes me travel to the stars beyond the stars. The seventh song, "Frijos golden traunen", lets my mind travel to iced trees and sparkling rivers of unmoved crystal lakes while I taste the sweetest bush rippened fruits. The "lyrics" (altho there are none in the music!) in the booklet pages are (I thinK) meant for reading while listening to the music. Varg continues to show why he is, and always will be,the King of Black Metal.