BERGTATT - ET EEVENTYR I 5 CAPITLER

I was aware of the Ulver-discussion on the forums, but it still was a surprise to find them in Prog Archives, especially under the label of Progressive Metal. Still, Ulver certainly has an interesting musical history, as their music varies from Folky Black Metal and Acoustic Folk to Electronic Music.

Bergtatt, however, is their first full-length, and is the first part of their trilogy. The music is "melodic" black metal with a lot of soft acoustic parts. For me Ulver is the pinnacle of black metal, absolutely one of the best bands to ever do that sort of music, and this album is from 1994, right from the golden age!

The first track, or Capitel I, called I troldskog Faren Vild, is a slower song, and with clean vocals, which Garm handles brilliantly. The second part, Soelen Gaaer Bag Aase Need, kicks off with a soft folk tune before turning into a black assault of blastbeats and furious shrieking, as well as the third one, Graablick Blev Hun Vaer, which also has an interesting part in which we can hear someone walking in a forest and a soft piano sound. Obviously this has something to do with the concept of the album. The fourth track, Een Stemme Locker is an all-acoustic folk song. After that we get some more black metal in Capitel 5, Bergtatt - Ind I Fjeldkamrene. The album ends with a beautiful acoustic guitar sound. I understand this album has a concept. As I don't speak Norwegian that well, I can't go into detail, but it has something to do with Norwegian mythology, which is quite usual in Black metal.

This is a perfect debut album, and an indication of what was to come in the latter parts of the trilogy. The guys were under 20 when this was released, and yet they've managed to create a wonderful album with a very high level of professionality and originality. Strongly recommended, but only if you have an ear for the rougher side of metal.