ULVER & TROMSØ CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: MESSE I.X - VI.X

Teaming up with Tromsø Chamber Orchestra, Ulver use the classical backing offered by the orchestra to their advantage in adding weight, power, and gravitas to their post-rock compositions. Ulver have regularly dabbled in orchestral atmospheres ever since they steered away from the black metal of their early albums, with increasing confidence, and here there's a sense that a lot of these experiments dating from their William Blake album onwards are coming to fruition with these stately compositions. The title implies a VII.X-X.X to follow, and if that's the case they've succeeded in exciting and intriguing me. Recommended if you like the idea of a more classical, less electronic take on Ulver's post-rock era.