Customer Reviews

Work Which Transforms God

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Work which creates cognitive dissonance in the minds of the holy. This a soundscape completely devoid of anything positive or hopeful in this world. Before listening to this album, I thought songs like "Over Fjell Og Gjennom Torner" by Darkthrone, "Thy Legions Come" by Dark Funeral or something from Burzum's back catalog was bleak. Blut Aus Nord is a new progession of evil. The feel is cavernous, giving an added dimension not seen enough of in black metal. Music inspired by theology myths of the depths of hell I would think. Blut Aus Nord will have the grim minded smiling from ear to ear.

I remember the time this album fully clicked with me. Driving through northern Norway, with a powerful river gushing a green storm alongside us, this album seemed to be at perfect harmony with the surroundings. Actually, this would seem otherworldly to the majority, and in context to society it surely is, but in my mind this is the musical representation of that river, and thus this album is surely more worldly than anything motivated by populism (this applies to pretty much all black metal though, really). Of course, that is an entirely subjective interpretation, I'm not sure if Blut Aus Nord had nature in mind as a dominant theme when recording this.

Disregarding the first paragraph for a moment, even highly experienced people in the realm of black metal would probably tell you that there is something distinctly alien about this recording. The dissonant, sweeping melodies could almost be "The Howling Of God". A pummelling drum-machine surges them forward. Like somebody mentioned in an earlier review, drum-machines almost always make an album less natural. Why does it work here, then? Perhaps this album portrays the isolation of nature, rather than nature itself, and thus the less-human this sounds, the better? It seems to mechanically symbolise nature's efficiency and power, and so rather than just giving us the image of an insignificant machine doing its work, it actually adds to the album's organic feel. The drums are not only superbly executed, they're superbly produced, and the same could be said for the whole album. Vocal howls and screams are present in the background, but nothing obvious. They're almost indistinguishable from the guitar melodies at times, and the subtlety works extremely well.

Like most releases I heap praise upon, this one creates ambience in abundance. Like all ambient releases, this one needs to be listened to as one, as it creates a "sonic vortex" which Thamuz describes. Silence is used to great effect, contrasting beautifully with the music, creating plenty of tension and adding to the haunting atmosphere. Indeed, one track is 18 seconds of silence in preparation for the epic monster of a last track. These things have already been reflected on by others though, so I'll move on.

Blut Aus Nord have certainly developed immensely upon the ideas they started in "Mystical Beast of Rebellion" which, to be fair, is quite a weak release in comparison. There's lots of variation in pace now, at times ominously slow, at times roaringly fast. The preceding release was completely devoid of this, which was its main fault along with it never really feeling complete or purposeful, which they've also corrected here. The discordance that MBOR explores is fully recognised on this one, and like I mentioned before, the production is more fitting too.

It's interesting that the album is apparently quite accessible to those with an interest in black metal, considering how unusual it is. On the other hand, the atmosphere is so overwhelming I guess it's not that surprising. Another thing I've noticed is that the majority were hailing this album as the band's greatest 6 months ago, but now almost everyone seems to be favouring their first two releases. Though good, I've always felt that this one obliterates them both, but if you enjoy this one don't hesitate to check out their earlier material, in particular Ultima Thulee. As long as you're not expecting something quite this good, you won't be disappointed.

All that's left to say is: Pick up "The Work Which Transforms God" as soon as you can - it's an absolute blinder.

If Throbbing gristle reformed as a black metal act. They would be called Blut Aus Nord. This album is everything misanthropic. Buy it now.

Blut Aus Nord is one of the most unique Black Metal bands to surface in quite a long time. Their music is dissonant and sick sounding. It could best be described as sounding like The Swans/Godflesh meet Mayhem. Blut Aus Nord is dark, hateful, chaotic, and miserable. In many ways, The Work Which Transforms God is the best album to come out of the Black Metal scene in years. Some people would even go as far to say that it is the best album to come out in the post-1997 era, but does The Work Which Transforms God really live up to such dubious hype?

The answer is yes. It is one of the best Black Metal releases I have ever heard. Although, I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is the "best" Black Metal album to come out of the post-1997 era. It is certainly near the top of that list, though.

The best thing about Blut Aus Nord is that they are different. They obviously take their music seriously, so their craft exhibits the sickening, depressive, and chaotic feel that you should get whenever you listen to Black Metal. The music is obscure and esoteric, which ultimately indicates that the old school spirit of Black Metal exists within Blut Aus Nord. They are not afraid to push the boundaries of the genre into uncharted territories, which results in an interesting and disturbing experience. Blut Aus Nord feels no need to play it safe and to some extent they make Black Metal appear to be threatening again. Blut Aus Nord plays music that is discordant. They throw away most of the rules of music theory and the results are truly sickening. Most of the time it sounds like the guitarist is bending a chord up, or playing a dissonant melody that sounds like a siren. The music is very hypnotic and even industrial sounding at times. And since Blut Aus Nord uses a drum machine instead of a real drummer, the music also has a machine like feel. The drumming is never repetitive, though, and the programming is actually quite interesting. Other than that, their music also incorporates keyboards which add "nicely" to the ambient atmosphere. They are never used excessively and their presence within the songs is very subtle; often low in the mix. And with that said, the keyboards are just as sick/disturbing sounding as the guitars. There is nothing cheesy in Blut Aus Nord's music.

With that said, Blut Aus Nord's The Work Which Transforms God is amazing. The best release of 2004 without a doubt.

Far from the Norse birth ground of the genre, the mostly moribund and commercialised black metal scene is being ripped apart by artists who are re-defining the definition of black.

French band, Blut Aus Nord (Blood From North) are one such group, and with their latest release The Work Which Transforms God they have managed to produce an album which is quite simply evil.

Most modern black metal has eschewed the garage production that characterised the early genre classics. In keeping with this trend, The Work Which Transforms God possesses a stark but far from digitally perfect sound, guitars are in the fore, vocals and bass get less focus and are barely discernible. Where present, keys are punched quite high in the mix. The drums are clearly from a machine but clever arrangements and layering manage to avoid veering into industrial territory.

Musically Blut Aus Nord have a heavy focus on atmosphere with more than half the tracks devoid of trademark black metal vocals and hyper-speed guitars. These tracks are true mood pieces featuring extensive use of semitone harmonics and discordant modes. By virtue of contrast, the impact of the handful of tracks that fit the more traditional black metal mould is significantly enhanced.

Stylistically one notices much influence drawn from far outside the traditional metal founts. In particular, there are significant post punk and experimental/noise guitar elements featured in the slower paced tracks. This contrasts against the deliberate omission of jazz, neo classical, electronic and prog elements that many other blackened artists have dabbled with.

These elements all combine to give the work a harsher and pre-meditated tone of transformed chaos featuring demonic vocals and ruptured semi tone harmonics.

A significant improvement on the bands previous releases, this studio masterpiece just gets better with repeated listens as more and more layers are revealed.

Highly recommended for all fans of extreme metal and extreme horror soundtracks, but be warned this is not for the faint hearted.

Definitely gets my vote for Black Metal release of the year!

This French band never ceases to amaze me.Brilliantly combining cold eerie sounds and mystical ambiances into their music,"The work which transforms god" is,quite frankly,one of the most vile,evil works I've heard in a long time.Keyboards are not employed here to create "happy" atmospheres,they're meant to scare the hell out of you.The songs vary in style,finely displaying their ability for being diverse as shown on the doom-ridden agonies of "The fall" or the bestial speed showcased on "Metamorphosis".Songs like "The choir of the dead" literally live up to its name with its dissonant sinister guitars.It is important to keep in mind that this isn't traditional black metal,even though it's rooted firmly on a black metal foundation.Picture ABRUPTUM in a dark alley trading sounds and painful wails with GODFLESH.Innovative?Definitely.Disturbing?Well,for better results,it is strongly recommended to listen to this during late night hours.

How to even begin describing the mind-bending brilliance of 'The Work Which Transforms God'is the major dilemma i face while writing this review. How describe sounds that seem to originate from a place other than Earth?

Terrorizer magazine described this album as 'Black-hole Metal', a a better description i cannot find or create myself. Quite frankly, 'The Work Which Transforms God' makes many other artists who attempted to make bleak, mind-altering, cosmic black metal sound like A Simple Plan.

This album is far from easy listening, but lets face it - you are not looking up Blut Aus Nord if you are looking to find a replacement for the last Cafe del Mar cd on your stereo.
This a dark, morbid, mind-bending attack on your subconscious - don't be suprised if little green men receive some kind of signal from your strero while this cd is playing and decide to touch-down in your back yard.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!

I wasn't 100% what to expect when I got this album. But what amazon doesn't tell you is that it comes with another disc that is more industrial but just as atmospheric and intense and relaxing all at the same time.

I was debating whether to buy the more droney album MoRT or TWWTG. And I decided obviously to wait on MoRT. The reason I got The Work was because it was still sounding like drone metal kind of like MoRT but with more black metal influence than MoRT.

You'll not expect what your getting yourself into. It will either make you think, make you annoyed, make you tired, or make you zone out.

Buy this album!

The Work Which Transforms God must be listented to in solitude, with high quality headphones, in the complete darkness. In such an environment Blut Aus Nord's newest innovative and genre evolving 'howling of god' will force you into a nihilistic trance that will make you feel as if you had been drugged. In this sickening and mind altering trance you might experience the principle of fear while also feeling liberated above death.

The Work Which Transforms God transcends Blut Aus Nord's previous works which focused on pagan idealism and enters into a world of existential introspection through pure wrath, rage, hatred and fear. The sound of The Work Which Transforms God (like all of the albums I have reviewed) is avantgarde, highly experimental and refreshing. Instead of relying on time tested generic black metal convention Blut Aus Nord presents us with an organic, transcendentalist, sickening, thick, doomy (think the darkest Neurosis tracks such as Purify), dreadful, claustrophobic, industrial, freezing and utterly indifferent sound that would suitably be the soundtrack played over the PA in Hell or in our own darkest nightmares.

The guitars don't so much play notes as they melt into a entrancing maze of divine whispering. The vocals are intimidating and make us feel threatened, as if a destroying spell is being cast against us or a demon is being channeled into the body. Instead of conventional black metal vocals the vocals present in The Work Which Transforms God are used sparingly and as a instrument in achieving a feeling of despair and desolation. Instead of singing there is a great deal of chanting and faint mutters and whispers. The utilization of the drum machine is masterful and easily brings together the entire album. While in most albums (especially ones which are as atmospheric and tense as The Work) drum machines may ruin the mood, the intentionally mechanical sound of Blut Aus Nord's programming only accents the album's ability to frighten and assualt the listener.

While Diabolical Masquerade achieves similar emotional effects through sheer diversity of style and lyrical narrative, Blut Aus Nord achieves the same through tension, terrifying soundscapes and sparse but intimidating vocals.

One of the best metal songs in history is the outro of this album: "Procession of the dead clowns" is what Neuorsis would sound like if they were a highly experimental black metal band intent on killing its audience. Definatly buy this album if you want to have the ability to have a mind altering experience without the use of drugs.

let's face it, aside from these french cats, fellow countrymates deathspell omega, the almighty darkthrone and leviathan, the current black metal scene is pretty pathetic

thankfully there's bands like blut aus nord who still take their ideas seriously and see black metal as an art form and not a way of dressing like barbaric clowns and releasing angst onto antiquated recording equipment

this album is simply brilliant, my favorite overall metal release of 2004; practically every element of black metal is altered and redefined into an all-new and fully captivating listening experience where the listener is sucked into the darkest and bleakest corners of their minds; an album that can both change your mood AND the way you think, as this can conjure some visceral introspection, exuding confusion, hate, sorrow and terror at any given moment of its duration

do yourself a favor, and buy buy buy