It's clear from the offset that this album is something unique. After all, when you have so many tracks in which beauty and madness share a simultaneous space, there's no denying that there's a creative genius at work here. As it happens, we have two creative geniuses in collaboration on this album: Norway's Svein Egil Hatlevik (here under the guise of Zweizz) and the sadly departed US-chaos merchant Joey Hopkins (of Midget Factory fame). The two met online a few years ago and promptly put their maniacal heads together to come up with eleven tracks of unclassifiable weirdness that have culminated in this self-titled opus. There's so much going on here that it's impossible to take in on one listen, from the Commodore 64-industrial barrage of "dWill 2 dPower" to the off-kilter ABBA-esque musings of "How we ate the flesh", this is an album that commands respect. Track of the album is "The goat", which kicks off with a cybersheep chorus followed by something that sounds like a bizarre reimagining of the "Alien" soundtrack. The album also benefits from a wealth of guest appearances from Carl-Michael Eide (Virus, Aura Noir), Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), Torgny Knutson Amdam (Amulet) and Ingrid Aarvik Berge (Norma Sass), to name a few. To the untrained ear most of this might sound like random incoherence. In actual fact, it's one of the best lessons in controlled chaos that you're ever likely to find. This is a whole new level. This is lounge music for lunatics. - John Norby
Details have been revealed for the new Ulver album "War of the roses", now confirmed for release in April via : http://www.jester-records.com/ulver/ulver.html
Said album is the first in many years to not be released on the band's own and it also stands as the first release since establishing themselves as a formidable live act. Needless to say, this is one of 2011's most anticipated releases.
Nidingr are one of those bands who make up for their lack of releases with the supremacy of their recordings, and "Wolf-father" is no exception. Musically, this is unmistakably Teloch and Blargh at work and it is a fitting follow-up to 2005's "Sorrow infinite and darkness". Just as that album displayed a strange character unique to Nidingr, so does "Wolf-father" exude an enigmatic presence that doesn't quite sound like anything else out there. As much as founder-member Teloch may loathe genre labelling, the best way to describe Nidingr to the untrained ear is to explain that it's predominantly deathened black metal (yes, that's the right way around) with elements of 'weird' included. When compared to its predecessor, it has an almost muffled sonority yet, as a standalone album, the production is spot-on, complimenting the musical output to perfection. A short album, clocking in at just under 23 minutes, it's definitely a case of quality over quantity, but with the legendary Hellhammer offering his expertise behind the kit, a special guest appearance by Ulver's Garm, and an album that's captivating from start to finish, the quality control mark is firmly stamped and good to go. There's not a dull moment to be had, from the driving main riff of "Baldrs draumar" to its esoteric doomy passages through to "Reginsmol", a song that sounds-off like Burzum on cocaine. It's all inspiring stuff. There's something about it that takes us right back to the heady days of early Norwegian black metal and therein lays its hidden genius. At we enter the latter half of 2010, this looks like it could be one of the top releases of the year. - John Norby
I'm not the only one to loseinterest in black metal -- genre pioneers Ulver abandoned the genre completely once completing their monumental 3-album trilogy. Which is not to say they abandoned the dark arts completely; in fact, I'd say that some of their post-BM work is ever more black and twisted than "Nattens madrigal". It goes to show that even if you stray, there will still be lines drawing you back, though the news that Ulver mainman Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg's label was releasing a "pure" BM album by the band Nidingr still came to me as a surprise. Naturally, I was immensely curious -- though not all of Jester's releases appeal to me, they are always interesting and I knew I had to hear what was so exciting as to inspire such a return. Amazingly, for a label that prides itself on releasing left-field/avant music, Nidingr's "Wolf-Father" is straight-up orthodox: lots of blasting drums (courtesy of Hellhammer), tremolo picking and cold, dissonant riffs. There are a few standout points of interest though, and that's what makes it an exceptional release. First, the recording. On one hand, it's really flat and digital sounding and, to be frank, the drums are lame and unnatural/heavily triggered, but it's also all very in-your-face, especially the vocals. Also, the cleanliness augments the fact that it's a (mostly) unembellished recording, untainted by excessive and unnecessary overdubs. You can even hear the bass! Furthermore, so much BM is marred by ye standard issue reverb-drenched shrieking, but not here: Nidingr is all about raging screams placed front and center in the mix. Which brings me to my second standout point: the lyrics. Not that I could ever understand Enslaved's old Norse lyrics on their (superb) early albums, but I knew what they were about and I knew it was awesome; Nidingr mines those same Viking legends, but they disseminate it in English and they do it with unbridled fury. Taken as a whole, it's almost enough to get me excited about black metal again. Almost, I say, because I doubt anything else will match it anytime soon.
How did I not know about this? , the esteemed avant/whatever label run by Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg of Ulver, will be releasing Nidingr's new album "Wolf-father" on June 5, their very first-ever black-metal release. Also, like Ulver's own renown BM-trilogy, this new album is inspired by Norse mythology. Hear a couple samples at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/nidingr
Norwegian noisenik Zweizz had been working on a musical collaboration with American artist Joey Hopkins up until the latter's tragic untimely death in late 2008 and now, at long last, the project has been completed and will be released via . Says Zweizz: "I have tried to make an album that both his mother and the rest of his family can remember him by -- as well as being a statement that lives up to my somewhat idiosyncratic artistic standards. And of course, I can just assume that Joey would have approved of the songs in their respective final states. It can be difficult to kill the darlings of a friend who has already went onwards. I hope I have succeeded in this, and I want to share this music with as many people as possible to celebrate the memory of the immense talent of Joey Hopkins. It has been an honour to work with you." The album will simply be called "Zweizz & Joey Hopkins" and here is the final tracklist:
01. Eternal Puberty (feat. Ingrid Berge)
02. dWill to dPower / Tomorrow
03. Black Strobes (feat. Torgny Knutson Amdam)
04. Bimbo Rimjob
05. Porcelain Dolls in the Bath
06. The Goat (feat. Kristoffer Rygg)
07. Armies of General Nonsense
08. Smash, Politics, Gag
09. How We Ate The Flesh (feat. Ingrid Berge)
10. No Clue (feat. Czral)
11. Compulsar Massive (feat. Kim Sølve)
Zweizz & Joey Hopkins
Nidingr
