In all honesty, this record should not be getting a review on Metal Archives. The reason why is obvious - it isn't metal. However I have decided to take the opportunity to post my thoughts, and therefore hopefully counterbalance the somewhat unwarranted exposure this record will get within the realm of ambient electronica.
First up, I'd like to state that this is not an offensively bad record by any means. There are some good moments on here, especially Autumn Leaves, in which the gently cosmic keyboard tones are augmented by a simple yet evocative acoustic guitar and bass pattern, and then later with one of the rare examples of distorted guitar utilised on the record. This augmentation works well because it draws the ear away from the silence behind the sparse rhythms which infuses the record. So many of the tracks suffer because dynamically speaking, they offer little, while musically speaking their reductionism draws attention to the fact that what is on show is often just not very interesting.
Vikernes' prison material Dauði Baldrs saw primitive keyboard work allied to the occasional equally primitive percussive element. While his early explorations in this new style were restricted in scope for obvious reasons, in the intervening years there has been a disappointing lack of progress in his electronic work. The keyboard elements are more polished and evocative of a 'cosmic' atmosphere, but are noticeably simple and fairly repetitive. These loops of more atmospheric synth are joined with simple piano-like tones in a format which is repeated more or less for the entirely of the record. Again, pleasant enough but not that interesting.
One of the weak points of the record are the vocals of Varg. On Heil Odinn he produces a murmured attempt at singing that, while raw and honest enough, demonstrates a lack of melodious quality and strength that reduces its impact. On Lady In The Lake, he tries a spoken type of vocal style. Again, for all his many qualities, I don't believe his spoken voice , which is given a kind of hand-over-the-mouth muffled treatment, is particularly compelling. The Coming Of Ettins begins with the already familiar swathes of cosmic keyboard, before more chatter from Varg. Once again, these hushed tones are muffled in an inexpert fashion and placed in the mix in an uninteresting way. Simply put I just didn't find the style he adopts adds anything to the sense of mythic lore he is attempting to capture. The Reckoning Of Man follows this template once more - keyboard nurdle and spacey synths, the Count speaking another passage in English. At least he uses a tiny bit of reverb effect this time. If there is any great poetry to his lyrics I cannot say, for I found the spoken word fairly hard to follow. On Heil Freya we are once again 'treated' to Vikernes singing, as he attempts to introduce a ritualistic quality to proceedings. His singing is once again fairly tuneless and uninspiring. Ek Fellr (I Am Falling) is another opportunity to showcase his somewhat tremulous warblings. I admire him for attempting to introduce this element but unfortunately his lack of tunefulness acts as a barrier to the attempt to evoke a sacred, ritual atmosphere.
In summary I'd say that although there are some nice moments of contemplative ambience, and Varg certainly has a reverence for the material which shines through, the repetitive dynamic and predictability of the record makes it unlikely to be one which I revisit too often. Most of the tracks follow a formula that relies heavily upon the swathes of spacey keyboard, which unfortunately start to sound very similar to one another, thereby reducing their impact in invoking a dreamlike atmosphere. I'd like to have heard more of the acoustic guitar which works so well on Autumn Leaves. He has obviously improved his playing no end over the years and I think greater use of the guitar would take some of the emphasis away from the keyboards which become rather boring by the final track. The greatest failing though is with the vocals, as mentioned at great length here. Simply put they are not strong enough to warrant such prominence within such a sparse sound field, and the man cannot sing to a degree that makes him compelling. If he had managed to find another person to sing many of these tracks would have been improved greatly, and he could have concentrated upon expanding the atmospheric element of his work.
So there's some hope Vikernes may eventually come to fully realise his atmospheric vision, but this record, while an honest attempt, will only garner interest because of the use of the Burzum moniker, and not because it stands out in the densely populated field of dark ambient electronica. Anyone wishing to hear a superbly realised example of ethno-ambient soundscapes could do worse than checking out the solo work of Karl Sanders.
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