Review: Ulver – 'The Assassination Of Julius Caesar'

ULVER
'The Assassination Of Julius Caesar'
HOUSE OF MYTHOLOGY

Ulver are a beast unto themselves. With their roots in folk, black metal and post metal, they have evolved into a band that transcends genre classifications. They are now simply Ulver. A band that never looks back and never retreads old ground. With albums such as the stunning 'Blood Inside', 'Shadows Of The Sun', and 'Wars Of The Roses' under their collective belt, their discography with every release becomes an increasingly long shadow to escape. But with every release they do and are one of the few acts today worthy of being place on the avant garde mantel as a result.

Album number thirteen, 'The Assassination Of Julius Caesar', is another clear step forward unfettered by expectations. Though familiar elements remain – such as ambient electronics, post-rock atmospheres, haunting vocals and nods to drone, trip-hop, and industrial – there is nothing derrivative about this. The album weaves a conceptual narrative and the long winding songs in particular sweep you along in their wake.

Tracks such as '1969', 'Coming Home', 'Rolling Stone', 'Southern Gothic', and 'Transverberation', are fantastic additions to the band's huge body of work. They shift seamlessly between styles and genres with a prog rock like disregard, but all the time maintaining a pop sheen that would make the likes of Vice Clarke and Depeche Mode jealous. The quality of the songwriting and musicianship on display here just goes to show why Ulver are pretty much untouchable wherever their instincts take them.

The production, courtesy of Killing Joke's Martin 'Youth' Glover, is absolutely spot on for what this album needed to be, balancing the experimental flourishes with the solid pop bass-line, and allowing that haunting ambiance to creep through and dissipate like mist.

Thirteen may be unlucky for some but for Ulver it is a magic number. 'The Assassination Of Julius Caesar' is a highlight within a strong discography that already includes its fair share of highlights. Fans of Ulver's earlier works definitely won't be getting the return to their roots they may still crave, and yes it would be cool to see what modern Ulver could do within the extreme/folk metal framework of their past, but that's not the point. This album is a solid and complete statement made by a group of musicians at the tiop of their game.  

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Review: SunnO))) & Ulver – 'Terrestrials'

SUNNO))) & ULVER
'Terrestrials' 

SOUTHERN LORD 

The combined curriculum vitae of SunnO))) and Ulver make for impressive reading. The members of each band have been pushing the limits of music beyond further than most would dare. So as a collaboration, 'Terrestrials' has been one of the most anticipated experimental albums of recent memory with mouths salivating at what such a union would produce. 

The album was recorded over night at Ulver's Crystal Canyon Studios back in 2008, just after SunnO)))'s 200^th gig. In the years since, both acts have unleashed landmark albums respectively (i.e. SunnO)))'s 'Monoliths And Dimensions' [2009] and Ulver's 'Messe I.X-VI.X' last year). The time therefore definitely feels right for 'Terrestrials' to see the light of day.

It is apt then that the first of the three monolithic cuts on the album is christened 'Let There Be Light'. The track slowly rises and flickers into life, radiating dense layers of sustained guitars before unleashing flares of strings and near martial rhythms and brass before slowly setting again. 'Western Horn' begins with more sinister machinations. Slow and dark, it rolls in from the horizon like a storm front. The thundering rhythm and noisy undertones are a constant foreboding presence while the lighter swirling guitars entice you to keep looking beyond the clouds and to the light on the horizon. The album culminates in the fourteen-minute 'Eternal Return'. Which radiates light, but sinister guitars, while a mournful violin laments over ambient but somewhat jazzy keyboards. The track then settles into a repetitive synth and piano section providing Kristoffer Rygg with a space for the album's only vocal passage supplied his unique style of delivery. The track unfortunately slowly loses its direction after the moment where vocals cease, which would have been the logical point of conclusion.

'Terrestrials' may not be the dark slab of experimental drone that many will be expecting, and it certainly bears little resemblance to SunnO))) and Ulver's last sonic collaboration on the track 'CUTWOODeD', but this album is a satisfying listening experience. The mixing of SunnO)))'s analogue prowess with Ulver's digital mastery creates a perfect union that frees each side up to fully cut loose and set their minds adrift. This can let the songs at times feel somewhat rudderless in places, but they always manage to bring it back into focus.

'Terrestrials' feels like a soundtrack to an unfinished film or an audio companion to silent meditation. It may not scale the same heights as each band's individual works, but its naturally evolving soundscapes are an accessible and enjoyable listen.

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