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After a long day of hard-work, you come home, half asleep and about ready to past out. After quietly entering through the front door, you slowly plod towards your bedroom, the oasis in the desert of your exhaustion. You fumble with the door knob, but finally enter, only to collapse on your mattress, in a tired heap. Before reaching a state of complete and total unconsciousness, you grab your I-Pod from the night table, so you can have the comfort of music to help you soothe your transition to sleep. After pondering on the music, you finally decide on Ulver's 1995 classic Kveldssanger. Upon the opening notes, you find your eyes getting heavier and heavier, with the overwhelming feeling of fatigue making its presence more and more known. Slowly and calmly, the light of your world goes out...
Chapter 1: Østenfor Sol og vestenfor Maane
...only to have the rays of sunshine interrupt the pitch black of your slumber. You open your eyes, only to find yourself laying in a patch of wild flowers, outside of what seems to be a vast, ancient forest. Although dark and menacing, the wooded area also has a feeling of mysticism and wonder to it, a feeling that pulls and tugs at your very consciousness, to enter its unfamiliar, yet seemingly safe borders. Slowly you come to your feet, slowly and warily start making your way towards the enchanting woodlot...
Chapter 2: Ord
... only to stop feet short of it in trepidation. While enticing and alluring, the forest upon closer look seems, darker, more dense, and frightening. Unsure of what to do, you take a deep, relaxing breath, and again walk slowly towards the border, and finally, pierce the bushed entrance...
Chapter 3: Høyfjeldsbilde
...to only have your breath taken away. The beauty of this forest, is staggering. Everywhere you look, stand tall, ancient trees, with branches that weave in and out one another, creating patterns of unimaginable beauty. Strewn across the grassy earth, lay dozens of beauty flower buds, colored with the most divine shade of blue. Everything that surrounds you, everything that creates this maze of tree, bush and vine, just invites you to keep going, hinting that the radiant sight before is only the beginning, and the true sights are hidden deeper within. More confident now, you walk at a faster pace, excitement racing through veins, excitement for what other rare beauties are hidden in the labyrinth of the forest. You walk, and walk...
Chapter 4: Nattleite
... to find that as the deeper you go, the more dense the air gets. Once again, the forest emanates a feeling of darkness, pain and sorrow. The trees, are slightly more gnarled, the flowers, and leaves, show signs of death, with brown tinged tips and thin, weak stems being their only connection to the life of a tree. Emotions well inside you, the agony of the forest's heart, reaching your own, with devastating effect. You continue your journey forward, trying to move unhindered by this radical change of atmosphere. Forward, you march...
Chapter 5: Kveldssang
...until to your surprise, you finally see your first signs of other life present within the wooden fortress. You take refuge hiding behind a large and ragged tree, watching as young, small, precious deer, nudges a large slumping figure lying on the ground. It doesn't take long to sink in to figure out that this, figure, this other creature is the young doe's dying mother, who is desperately trying to fight the inevitable brace of death. The familiar pain inside your heart returns, and you inexplicably find yourself grieving for these creatures, you only noticed moments ago. After what seems like an age of waiting, the last breath is drawn from the body of the mother deer, as if finally goes still, breathing no more. The doe, nudges it's mother for the last time passionately, before slowly trotting off into the darkness of the wood. For reasons you cannot say why, you feel drawn to this now lonely creature, and follow the young creature...
Chapter 6: Naturmystikk
... which leads you to a small pond, bordered by smooth, gray rocks, and a thick coating of dark green moss. The young deer, bows slightly, drinking from the transparent sea. Inside the crystal clear water, you can see fish, of varying size and color, swimming peacefully within their liquid home. Some, fish are white, moving along the other fish like pale ghosts, while some are a beautiful shade of gold, with mid-day sunlight, breaching the canopy of treetops, reflecting from their gleaming scales. They move so elegantly, so smoothly, like in a mesmerizing dance, a dance that keeps you that keep you entranced for hours and hours...
Chapter 7: Acappella (Sielens Sang)
... and what could feel like days and days. The dance of the elegant fish is intricate, and rapid, with the creatures always in motion. Each fish follows its distinctive path, never straying from its course. The dance is never ending, its hypnotic spell, never ending...
Chapter 8: Hiertets Vee
...until a soft nudge brings you back to reality. You find the small deer, usually shy in nature, at your side, staring up at you with deep, black, penetrating eyes. It stares for another moment, than starts walking away slowly back in the forest. It's only now you notice that the sun just barely in the visible sky, casting a red/orange light from its intense white core. Following the deer once again, on a dirt path trail, subtle beauties start to make themselves known in the twilight, catching your eye with their magnificence. The sound of a mighty wind in the far off distance, yet the cold air of its breathe never reaches your skin, always just remaining a distant sound. Finally, after a long while of tailing the deer, the sun finally says goodnight, as darkness spreads across the gaping sky...
Chapter 9: Kledt i Nattens Farger
...bringing a complete and total sense of fear into your mind. Suddenly, those once inviting colors and tones of the forest, emote a feeling of treachery, causing a sense of unease that sends your stomach churning. Without light, the tree's look like jagged, demonic figures, swaying in a savage ritual during the cool nights breeze. Rustling bushes surround you, causing you to back yourself into the stump of tree, scraping yourself in the process. Their you wait for untimely demise, your end of existence. You close your eyes and wait...
Chapter 10: Halling
...only to once again feel a soft nudge. Slowly and cautiously you open your eyes, to meet the eyes of the young deer once more, which stands by your side. What was once dark is now lit, by dancing orbs of blue flame, that lie just below the tops of the trees. Gaining focus of your sight, you see you are in small open field, shrouded in light fog of late night. Moths, with glorious patterns of brown and contrasting yellow on their wings, flutter carelessly throughout the air. Drawing your attention is an orange light in the brush ahead. In a trance again, you walk towards the light slowly and carefully, through the bush and vine...
Chapter 11: Utreise
... until you reach the blazing, scorching pit of fire withing the center of a flat, barren grassland. Although large and flailing wildly, the inferno before is controlled as it wild, never reaching far enough to harm the resplendent woods. Gathering by the side of the wildfire, sit many various woodland creatures, all sitting comfortable by the flame, soaking of the rays of comfortable heat. The young deer, walks ahead, and then glances back as if saying farewell, before joining the forest's other residents. To your astonishment however, once the doe reaches his companions, one by one walk straight into the flames. There's no pained cries, no flaming corpses, no stench of burning, they just, disappear before you wide eyes. Now you're running full speed towards the blaze, attempting to stop the next animal, before it takes its last suicidal steps into the fire. As you near the fire however, you lose balance, and sail off your feet, flying towards the very thing you were trying to prevent others from entering. Closer and closer you go, awaiting the fierce burn of the flame...
Chapter 12: Søfn-ør paa Alfers Lund
...which never comes. Instead you land in the very patch of flowers you awoke in earlier that very strange day. Confused, and shaken, you look around to find the animals that went through before yourself, and but find that you're alone once again. Peering at the forest, you wonder what should come next if you enter its domain again. Before able to make a choice, heaviness, ways down upon your eyes, as you collapse to the ground unable to move...
Chapter 13: Ulvsblakk
...as black takes your world once more. Mental images filter through your brain though, images of the beauty of the fire, the dancing fish, the blue flame, the lonely deer. You try to piece together an explanation for this experience, but you know in your heart, this occurrence with never have a logical reason. Instead of trying to explain what happened to yourself, the overwhelming beauty of the experience takes control as the light of your world goes out...
Epilogue
...only to have the rays of morning sunshine break through your eyelids, and awaken your slumbering body. Opening your eyes you find you back in your bedroom, safe within the grasp of familiarity. Taking the headphones from your ears, you sit up, reminiscing on the dream you had last night, and the haunting melodies of Kveldssanger. The melodies so strong and moving, they supplanted whole experiences in your head, experiences based on the sheer strength of the songs, and their ability to tell stories, through minimal instrumentation and vocalization.
| other reviews of this album |
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Album Rating: 5.0
I guess this "review" is my visual interpretation of the music and the story it tells me. I might work on the conclusion later because i find it kind of weak, but i think the rest is pretty okay. I just wanted to try and do something a little different i guess, so hopefully its not too horrible lol.You'll find that in a lot of parts, the way i describe a setting or feeling, is the feeling i'm getting from the song, so it kinda goes hand in hand at some parts. So of course all constructive critsism is welcome, but i hope it wont be too much.
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yeah this is probably going to be a flamefest
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cool idea
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
"yeah this is probably going to be a flamefest"
i hope its not, but i mean. it was an experiment. i don't plan on doing all of them like this, i just wanted to see how it would go.
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you never know but Sputnikerians aren't generally big fans of the poetic shtick.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Very true
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This isn't even a review though, that's why you need to brace for impact.
It's an interesting idea, but there's no description of the music whatsoever. Maybe a bit of both would've helped?
This dream of yours though, you might want to talk to someone about that.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Some parts of the atmosphere of the "dream" relate to the mood of the music, but your right, its not really a review, just what i visualize when i listen to the album.
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It's actually a very interesting idea.
I've never heard Ulver (to do list) but maybe mentioning how a change in tone in a song or how one soft and chilled out song followed by something more abrasive influenced the "dream".
Again, just an example because i've never heard this band before.
Not saying you should, but i'd be interested in reading a re worked version of this
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
i'll probably edit some of it when i get the time. i would do some now, but mentally, i'm just kinda drained due to the hour/actually writing the review. but thank you for your feedback, because i feel like your comments could make this review lots better.
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No probs man
But, uh, brace yourself ok?
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Hah yeah, i'm bracing.
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I should check this out. Nice review.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Thank you
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I haven't listened to Ulver yet, I do like Garm's work on Borknager's The Olden Domain however. I have listened to Arcturus but haven't fully warmed up to it.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
I think Ulver is far and away his best project even though i do greatly enjoy his Borknagar work. Ulver was just so innovative for their time and continue being so today, its just great stuff.
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Is there a connection between Ulver and Arcturus?
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arcturus is pretty funky
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
the only real connection is Garm
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awesome review, i don't think the album is a classic though
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