5 FEBRUARY 2014 - ULVER /NORWAY/

Everything falls. World history is an endless process of failure and falling, forced forward by opposed powers. In this twilight ULVER hovers, somewhere between Beast and Man, noise and silence, the golden summits and the dead centre.

Their first fall was into the satanic metal scene emerging in Norway in the beginning of the 1990's. Their songs were manifestations of rebellious romanticism, combining elements from Old Norse folk music with the primal brutality of black metal. The first three albums form a trilogy exploring the sinister aspects of Norwegian folklore. The beastliness begins with Bergtatt (1994), is balanced with the all acoustic, neo-folk album Kveldssanger (1995), before returning with even more impact on Nattens Madrigal (1996), where the pure anger and anguish is a consequence of the quintessential lycanthropic lyrics.

Their next releases lack heavy sounds, instead the group decided to put electronic and minimal music in the foreground. Their latest album “Messe I.X-VI.X” released in September this year was inspired by classical music – the band experimented with religious music.

ULVER's uncompromising and enigmatic attitude made the band one of the most influential of the Norwegian subculture. Nonetheless they recognized that these early endeavors were stepping stones rather than conclusions - a thought that most bands of the scene did not care or dare to think. ULVER has always been in radical opposition to all forms of restriction and habit. "I think we quite early discarded all convulsive attempts at being dark and evil in any common sense of these words", states G., "When it comes to darkness, I find it much more fascinating when applied subtly."