| | Full Review | Ratings (383) |
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| 3.0 good | Kyle Ward STAFF | February 19th 10 |
Belus is certainly not what I was expecting. On the one hand, we have the regressive nature of Vikernes as he sticks to murky, tremolo-picked riffs for a large portion of the album, and also utilizes a less-unique scream than what fans were used to on Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and the like. On the other, Belus shows the signs of over a decade of maturity, utilizing muffled clean vocals and a large heap of melody which is rather out-of-character for a Burzum release. The production, not surprisingly, hasn't evolved much from the likes of Burzum's releases in the early 1990's, but isn't inherently terrible or off-putting. Not a masterpiece in any sense, but then again not a complete failure, Belus closes the book on the mystery of where Vikernes' sound would go upon his release from prison.
6 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | Adam Thomas EMERITUS | February 22nd 10 |
How to write a Burzum song (2010 Edition)
Step 1: Choose a boring riff
Step 2: Keep playing it over and over until you are just about to lose sanity.
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 for 11 minutes.
4 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | Motiv3 | February 20th 10 |
The Burzum of 2010 was always going to be a different from the Burzum of 1994 which produced the now legendary Hvis Lyset Tar Oss. The traditional black metal tremolo-picking riffs are still there and the production is still in the vain Vikernes' earlier work. However Belus is an album which shows the signs of a Burzum that has evolved and moved on with the times. The album as a whole is very much riff based and has distinct lack of ambience from the previous releases, whilst that takes out the fact that sometimes in the past Vikernes went a bit overboard with it, it does take out a unique factor which made Burzum so prominent. The Longer songs on this album tend to drag on too long especially the 11 min 'Glemselens Elv'. Vikernes doesn't seem to have the ability like he did on Hvis Lyset Tar Oss to produce a song over 10 mins with only 3 or 4 riffs used at a time to really work. Despite this however there are positives to take out this album, the amount of melody is very surprising and un-burzum like but comes across as a breath of fresh air and something new and inspiring to the Burzum sound. The focus and engagement of riffs has certaintly allowed Vikernes to come up with some new riffs, a couple i never thought he would be capable of producing and implementing in an album to make it work. The harsh vocals do seem to lose some of that unique edge, but are solid nonetheless. Overall Vikernes has nothing to be ashamed of, he said he was gonna produce a black metal album and a Burzum album of 2010 and he certaintly did. A solid and a bit surprising album, but still one in the shadows of his previous work.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | Eakflanderyof | March 2nd 10 |
I think Varg rushed this album a little, but it's still pretty solid. What does disappoint me is that the ambient black metal that still remains a little on this album is somewhat lackluster and boring. Morgenrode goes on for way too long and that's the way I feel about the more "ambient" sections. The more aggressive riffs are better here which is surprising in a good way since the direction he took was unexpected. What I disagree with the general consensus on is the vocals. They are very well executed and still sound like Varg. I would go as far as to say it's his best vocal performance to date. The production is perfect for what he intended as well and for black metal it's pretty good production. This album was pretty good, but I'm expecting a little more with the next one. I'm hoping he continues in this vein, but with more new material next time because, as he said, it was a lot of older material reworked.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | Hopig213 | February 27th 10 |
I don't know Why everybody is talking about the repetitions in this album, because all burzum albums are known for their repetition of riffs (Filosofem..) and that is what has made them good and special, because Varg's able to mesmerize you with that after many listens. I think this is a Great Burzum, and I'm not disappointed at all.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Nate B. | February 25th 10 |
I don't know what people were expecting from this, but to be perfectly honest I'm not disappointed in the slightest at Belus. It might not be a neoclassical conceptual masterpiece like Hvis Lyset Tar Oss or Filosofem, but it's rock solid, few frills black metal that is unapologetically true to its roots. Varg has no reason to be ashamed: this album is great.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | Thomas Michael Morris | February 21st 10 |
Varg looks so jolly in that profile picture.
Also this is better than a 2.9 average rating.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | LokitheTrickster | February 22nd 12 |
Better than the previous two albums before it, but not outstanding. However, there are some good songs though. Sverddans in particular is a great song and Keliohesten is close behind it. They both have a definite black metal sound to them. The rest is just okay.
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| 3.5 great | ManRunsOverBus | March 22nd 10 |
Surprisingly good . 'Sverddans' is a waste of time though.
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| 3.0 good | Qwe Qwetherington | March 6th 10 |
i like the first song. yeah his stubborn minimalism is detrimental to the music still but the riffs are good, and the subtle variations low in the mix keep it interesting. but hey thats the first song, everything else could blow. qwe will wait and see. listen, rather. ok decided this is a great but sometimes boring album thats all there is to it
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| 2.0 poor | LostViking | March 2nd 10 |
Boring and repetitive. Riffs that go nowhere. Weak vocals. Just a lazy record. What else would you expect from one of the most overrated BM musicians. Think he'd do better for his fans. Varg is an enigma. And that's being nice.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Hawks | February 24th 10 |
Album is good, but that's about it. Nothing here can compare to any of his older classic albums. Returns to the black metal style of the past, but really fails to compete with the classic Burzum albums. The thing that really disappointed me about this album was Varg's vocals. To me, his vocals sound completely uninspired and it kind of brought the album down.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Caelum | May 19th 13 |
| 5.0 classic | fkbm | May 15th 13 |
| 3.5 great | E0N | May 1st 13 |
| 3.0 good | wezel | March 23rd 13 |
| 3.0 good | Majkl | February 28th 13 |
| 3.5 great | Nammai | February 26th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Pesty | January 24th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | Posty95 | January 23rd 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | cb123 | January 21st 13 |
| 2.5 average | Sevhead | January 13th 13 |
| 2.0 poor | Deviant STAFF | November 29th 12 |
| 2.5 average | ceddy78 | October 26th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | sagu | September 27th 12 |
| 5.0 classic | kristof | September 23rd 12 |
| 3.0 good | KILL | August 16th 12 |
| 3.5 great | PapaH | August 7th 12 |
| 3.5 great | IRAI | May 22nd 12 |
| 2.5 average | Rail | May 19th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Lought | April 28th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Adam S. | March 16th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Shu | February 12th 12 |
| 4.5 superb | Imiface | January 16th 12 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sawks | January 6th 12 |
| 2.5 average | HWBTW | December 19th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | lintu987 | December 11th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Evilin | December 11th 11 |
| 2.5 average | junkie | November 20th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | mar1s | October 22nd 11 |
| 3.0 good | stotty | September 25th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Hangover | September 19th 11 |
| 4.5 superb | Mrnuble | September 17th 11 |
| 3.0 good | stfrnz | August 17th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | FoxPie | July 28th 11 |
| 2.5 average | true | July 26th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | eeule | July 18th 11 |
| 3.0 good | Manco | June 19th 11 |
| 4.5 superb | Wolves | April 24th 11 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jips | February 26th 11 |
| 5.0 classic | Noqmyr | January 30th 11 |
| 3.0 good | Angel STAFF | January 29th 11 |
| 2.0 poor | Lambda | January 26th 11 |
| 4.5 superb | Will IV | December 26th 10 |
| 3.0 good | ACY | December 9th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Aether | November 14th 10 |
| 5.0 classic | Waaltz | November 10th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Mendigo | October 24th 10 |
| 2.5 average | YUJOS | October 16th 10 |
| 3.5 great | ctax | October 3rd 10 |
| 4.5 superb | Kenos | September 25th 10 |
| 2.5 average | fish CONTRIBUTOR | September 12th 10 |
| 3.0 good | noisy | September 5th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Thane | September 3rd 10 |
| 3.0 good | Kriss | July 31st 10 |
| 3.5 great | rc1288 | July 22nd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | BaZaH | June 29th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Yusuf | June 3rd 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Blurry | May 26th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Niels | May 16th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Photon | May 16th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Evisc | May 4th 10 |
| 3.0 good | LuTo | May 3rd 10 |
| 3.0 good | Skyler | April 27th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | blabony | April 15th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Adam | April 14th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | Ian W. | March 23rd 10 |
| 1.5 very poor | drewkar | March 16th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | jk2two | March 12th 10 |
| 3.0 good | Bleak | March 9th 10 |
| 2.5 average | Irad | March 2nd 10 |
| 5.0 classic | Dash | March 1st 10 |
| 4.5 superb | Ghost76 | February 24th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | alsid | February 23rd 10 |
| 3.5 great | Hoenir | February 21st 10 |
| 3.0 good | Ali CONTRIBUTOR | February 21st 10 |
| 2.0 poor | RedSky | February 21st 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | tomr4 | February 20th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | ot63 | February 19th 10 |
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