Everything has to start somewhere. When listening to early fragments from a band's history, we often have to step back in time and look at it from that point of view rather than judge it based on their future works. "
Rehearsal" may be the earliest available recording by seminal black metallers/experimental pioneers Ulver, created in 1993 before the release of their "
Vargnatt" demo. This record features, fittingly, two early versions of songs from that demo: "Vargnatt" and "Ulverytternes Kamp." Both share the same basic characteristics: snarled vocals, hypnotic guitar riffs (both clean and electric,) along with pounding, jackhammer-esque drums. All of these elements come together to create an atmosphere of cold, almost like standing on a snow-covered hillside with a constant wind blowing at you.
The recording quality on here is, by all accounts, terrible. It is quiet, muffled, and drowned in low-end, with nearly inaudible drums and poorly mixed vocals. Musically it features some fairly impressive guitar work, particularly the solo on "Vargnatt" and the opening riff in "Ulverytternes Kamp." Garm's vocals here are nowhere near what they were on Ulver's debut album "
Bergtatt;" he takes to snarling most of his lines (similar to his style on the "
Vargnatt" demo) which gets a little grating after a while. Thankfully this is only a 10-minute tape, as that combined with the abysmal recording quality would render this almost unlistenable were it much longer.
This is by no means a bad release. As a rehearsal tape it serves its purpose, and it provides a fascinating look at Ulver during their earliest period. The bottom line is: if you aren't already a fan of the band than there's little point in checking this out, but it is an early demo that Ulver enthusiasts may want to have a listen too.
