ULTIMA THULÉE

"Ultima Thulée" is the debut full-length studio album by French black metal act Blut aus Nord. The album was released through Impure Creations Records in January 1995. The original release was limited to 1000 copies. The album was reissued in 2005 by Candlelight Records and made more readily available. Blut aus Nord was initially a one-man act consisting of Vindsval who handled all vocals and instruments, but on "Ultima Thulée" he is helped out by W.D. Feld on drums and keyboards, and Ogat who is credited for playing session bass.

The music on "Ultima Thulée" is atmospheric black metal. The vocals are raw/raspy and kind of screaming in a way that I usually associate with suicide black metal acts. The music features atmospheric keyboards in addition to the usual rock/metal instruments in guitars, bass and drums. The keyboards don´t add neither a symphonic nor an especially melodic element to the music though. They are primarily there to create a cold and dark atmosphere. There are a couple of alternative tracks on the album which include an atmospheric keyboard solo piece and a choir piece but most of the tracks are just well composed atmospheric black metal.

The sound production is raw and primitive. Not far from sounding like a demo, but it´s one of those cases where the muddy sound suits the music well and provides it with that last rawness and authenticity. The production and the music simply make each other better and "Ultima Thulée" is ultimately a quality atmospheric black metal release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.