Ulver

Ulver — which means "Wolves" in Norwegian, is an influential musical ensemble from Norway who started out making folk-inspired black metal music, gradually moving to neo-classical folk and finally the avant-garde, experimental music they currently make.

Contents

1 Discography

2 Current Members:

3 Musical Overview

4 Related Bands

5 Links

Discography

Bergtatt (1994)
Kveldssanger (1995)
Nattens Madrigal (1997)
Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998)
Metamorphosis ep (1999)
Perdition City (2000)
Silence Teaches You How To Sing ep(2000)
Silencing The Singing ep (2001)
Lyckantropen (http://lyckantropen.com) Themes (2002)
A Quick Fix of Melancholy ep (2003)
Svidd Neger (http://sviddneger.no) (2003)
Blood Inside (to be released)

Current Members:

(as of July 2004)

Kristoffer Garm Rygg (aka Garm, Trickster G., G. Wolf)
Jørn H. Sværen
Tore Ylwizaker

Musical Overview

Ulver's music on their first album, Bergtatt is classified as black metal for its fast tempo, dry electric guitar sound and unnatural screaming vocals. However it is quite original and does not show any overt style adoptions from other black or death metal bands; instead Ulver, on Bergtatt, reach back futher in history and mold their music from folk and classically inspired themes. Kristofer Garm Rygg, the band's main contributor, has since said that he considered Bergtatt to be a "very traditional black metal album," although many listeners would seem to disagree with him. This quote was taken from an interview with the band which can be found on the Lyckantropen (http://lyckantropen.com) Themes DVD (2002).

Kveldssanger, Ulver's second album, strongly contrasts with Bergtatt in that it has eliminated the electric guitar and screaming vocals and replaced them with folk and classical-inspired acoustics and chamber chants performed by Garm. The album can be described as neo-folk played like mid-ranged blackmetal. Garm has since said that this album was an "immature neo-classical album."

In the third album, Nattens Madrigal, the music is even more brutal and aggressive than in Bergtatt. The band seems to have reverted into a more primitive and nihilistic rage on this release. The band itself has said that the album was a step back to the first-wave of Norwegian black metal, particularly to the sound and style of old Darkthrone. All lyrics in the first three albums are in Norwegian.

The Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell album, released in 1998, is completely different from what Ulver, and furthermore, any other band, had made before. With this album, the band had left the traditional path, extensively using electronic sound. The album was most highly rated in many European publications on alternative music at the time.

Ulver's next two releases, Metamorphosis and Perdition City, were even more innovative and original than the "Blake Album". The band had moved futher away from rock and metal and their music could no longer be easily classified, much like Coil. The use of electronics is much more extensive here than on previous albums.

The band followed up these two releases with the classic, no vocal, minimalist works, Silence Teaches you how to Sing and Silence the Singing. These two albums are emotional "experiments" from the band which have been self-defined as "studies".

Because of their unique atmospheric sound, Ulver was invited to make theme music for cinema films. The subsequent film music that followed was used in the film Lyckantropen (http://lyckantropen.com) and Svidd Neger (http://sviddneger.no).

As of July 2004 the band has recorded their next album, Blood Inside, which has yet to be released.

Related Bands

Coil - Probably the band by which Ulver is most inspired and directly related to. This British-based experimental band has redefined the essence of electronic and minimalist music
Arcturus - Another project of Ulver members Garm and Skoll, which started as symphonic black metal and transitioned into avant-garde metal. Garm left the band in 2003.
Ved Buens Ende - Side project of Skoll. Since disbanded.