Black metal magazine from Norway



======EDITORIAL======


For those of you who are eagerly awaiting issue #5, I'll let you know that it probably won't be out until this autumn. I have been very busy with my studies lately and the finacial situation has been very tight aswell. But I have started working on it, and if all goes as planned it will feature among others; Gehenna, Einherjer, Behemoth, Gorgoroth etc. I've also been thinking of doing a Powermetal piece, as this genre has fallen into my recent likings !! Although the paper version won't be out until this autumn, I am planning to feature it gradually here on these pages, as it develops. So watch out for new material !!. Another thing is that I have taken my sweet time adding the backissues. Well, rest assure that they are comming soon. I have started working on it, but I will place them online together, so I have to finish all 3 before you'll see them here. But it won't be long now!

PS: Do check out my news section, and send me stuff you wish to feature ! It doesn't seem like many have discovered it, but it's a link to it on the top and middle of this page.


=======REVIEWS======


Aura Noir "Deep Tracts of Hell"
Rating: 5
This album is quite similar to their last one, "Black Thrash Attack", very thrashy indeed. Agressor and Apollyon have each written half of the ten songs on the album. Apollyon's songs are straight ahead 80's metal with primitive lyrics, while the tunes made by Agressor also contain some "Ved Buens Ende"-type riffs, and have more complex, sophisticated lyrics. Aura Noir refer to themselves as the ugliest band in the world, and this is definitely not nice music. The album contains loads of catchy riffs and the production is brilliantly ugly. A very listenable disc. (O. Wefald)

Naglfar "Diabolical"
Rating:4+
Finally the new Naglfar album is out. This one I have been waiting for some while! Unfortunately it tends to be bad for a review when you have very high expectations, and I am afraid this album suffered under that. Without revealing anything specific that is… The old album was certainly the best album ever (without doubt!!), and I have been trying to get in touch with these guys for a long time, or even find out some news about them, but zip! And suddenly here is the album, what a rush!! Ok, lets have a listen then. Something has changed, no doubt about that. The whole thing starts off with an alarm of the kind you could picture in an old war-movie, and off they go. Still BM with lots of melody, but even so there's not the same extent of melody. The vocals have changed a bit, and reminds more of the old Marduk vocals I think. The tempo has increased violently! More usage of synth, but still not much, and I must say that worked out very well. Almost Immortal-style drumming, with lots of double bass drumming… One whole song with piano/synth, very nice indeed. The kind of sad tunes as you can find on f.eks Dimmu Borgirs "Stormblast", though a bit more professional. Actually I think it sounds very professionally. The it slides over into the last song; Diabolical. This song ends with a minute silence, some noise shit, talking (very evil J), more noise - until we happily can certify that the CD has lasted 45 minutes exactly. For what ever reason that might be (the 2nd WW ended in '45…!!??!). It is a good album, but compared to it predecessor it clearly just withers into nothing, but what doesn’t? Still it's ok, and I believe you can learn to like this one very much so, after listening to it a couple of times. (Grell…)

Urgehal "Massive Terrestrial Strike"
Rating: 5
So, the Urgehal guys are still going strong it seems. This is the second release on No colours, out of the 3 releases deal they got. Well, I'm sure this band shouldn't need any introduction, as most of you probably know what they are all about, namely raw and satanic black metal. And that is just what it is! This album is no exception. The music is raw, dirty, evil, heavy, black and satanic - to say the least. Urgehal are also true to their "beginning-of-the-nineties" old school bm-style, as was the case with Carpathian Forrest. It is truly great that some bands keep this classic style alive! Much of the music reminds me of the latest Darkthrone releases, like Panzerfaust, Transylvanian Hunger and Total Death. In fact there is no need to say much more about this album, as you should have a pretty good idea of what we are dealing with. And it is absolute worth checking out, as it is a powerful album. The production is of course much better than what Darkthrone accomplished on the aforementioned albums. There is also just enough variation not to make this style boring. Actually there are some synth as well in the song "Image of the Horned King" - horror tunes. (Grell…)


==========ULVER INTERVIEW===========


Your new album is quite different from the three previous Ulver-releases. Could you describe the album for those of our readers who still haven't heard it ?
-"I can try... It is a quite genre-schizophrenic endeavor which falls into no easy categorization. What I usually tell people is that it's a dynamic amalgamation between rock and the darker sides of techno(logy). However, there are also parts which may remind of jazz, film and popular music or so-called "ambient". It’s a sort of ”deep-listening” experience that takes you into a world of both atmosphere and vision."

Why have you changed your music so radically ?
-"We wanted to explore more inspiring territory."

The album's lyrics are written by someone named William Blake. Could you tell us something about this character ?
-"Blake was a british 18th century poet and painter, and is considered one of the first romantics. He played a prominent part of a generation of writers that would later be tagged the poets of sensibility. He strived towards a more inspired form of writing through sublime and imaginative means. He was strongly opposed to the matter-of-fact approach of other contemporary writers, who often made things dispiriting by pursuing order, clarity and rationality too much. That means that he dug Shakespeare, Spenser and Milton, and wiped his ass with authors like Dryden and Pope whom he meant had limited literatures’ possibilities."

Why did you choose this piece of rather prosaic writing for the album ?
-"I hope you mean prose and not prosaic, otherwise I would take that as an insult to a true genius. We choose to portray Blake because we dig his style. He addresses reality through the unreal."

The former singer of Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson, released an album not so long ago entitled "The Chemical Wedding". This album also contains lyrics written by William Blake. Is this just a coincidence or has one of you inspired the other to use his writings ?
-"Definitely coincidence. So I guess good ol’ Bruce must've got better aesthetic sense than one could assume then."

How long did it take to compose your latest opus ?
-"The process lasted for about half a year."

Do you think Ulver ever will release another traditional black metal album ?
-"No."

Have you ever been tempted to adjust your music towards what at the moment was considered trendy or popular in order to make more money from Ulver ?
-"No."

read more info on the label and their bands at: WORTHOG mag.


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