Burzum - Belus

Burzum’s comeback record effectively split his fanbase in half. Many called out for the lost ferocity of old, yet equally he was praised for his progressive approach to rebirthing the project (heading in a more folky and mature direction). Personally, I don’t see what the problem is – the metal re-recording of “Belus Doed” from Daudi Baldrs sounds like it could have fallen off the arse end of Filosofem, give or take the shitty drum machine. “Glemselens Elv” is a majestic 11 minuter of beautiful hypnosis; the way the guitars just lap over each other like waves caressing distant shores is truly fantastic. Yes, it’s a bit repetitive, but I love Swans, so that’s not a problem!

The real problem for Burzum I think started with the follow up album, Fallen, which is basically a tired re-hashing of Belus. As far as shocking comebacks go (GUT takes the fucking cake for me, personally), I think Burzum could have done a lot worse than Belus. People ragging on the lost sounds of old need to realise that this man has been in prison for 16 years, and has started a small family. He is not the same angry fucked up youngster he was when Burzum began in 1991. The biggest downside is the enormously lazy drum programming. But the riffs are spot on; khold, grimm and frvstbittvn as fvvkkk, svvvn. \m/

Burzum - Det Som Engang Var

It was recently the 20th anniversary of this record so I pulled it off the shelf, dusted it off and give it a spin for good measure. I'm a good way into collecting a bunch of Burzum vinyl, and Det Som Engang Var has to be one of the best in his release history. I feel this album lives up to the whole "spell" thing that Varg originally intended with Burzum and it has a great variety of not just viciously lo-fi black metal, but a whole bunch of excellent atmospheric noise tracks, really bringing in those creepy keyboard sounds that would become so prominent on his later works.

 I love the opening track but the first black metal song, "Key To The Gate", doesn't rank that high for me. "En Ring Til A Herske" is absolute brilliance, as all of side B - opener "Han Som Reiste" is a fantastic, eery keyboard piece and "Snu Mikrokosmos Tegn" is an enormous black metal classic that will never be forgotten until the end of time itself.

This is - you guessed it - a Back on Black repressing, which explains it's lovely shiny exterior. The cheap pencilled artwork has never looked so good; and if you look carefully you can even see the little man and the tree from the first album down in the bottom by the gates; I never knew until I bought this that the artwork was something of an extension to that on Burzum. I guess you learn something everyday, eh?

Burzum - Dauði Baldrs

I know this doesn't exactly rank high amongst the playlists of many black metal enthusiasts, but I am a huge fan of the prison-Burzum era. I think we need to reflect on what the man was simply left to work with; any country that allows you make an album whilst serving prison time for murder is pretty unusual in my opinion, and to be fair, considering Varg was supposedly only allowed to use a synthesizer, he did a pretty good job. Sure, it sounds cheap, but so does any synth music made in that era - just check out early Mortiis, that sounds similar and that dude wasn't chained up in the clink when he was writing his shit.

I think that the cheap, tacky feel of the keyboard sounds really contribute to the full atmosphere of the record. Sure, these tracks would sound absolutely stunning performed by a full orchestra or even a small group, but the tacky electronic instrumentation really gives this record it's charm. I was chuffed to bits then, when Back on Black re-issued not only the guaranteed-to-sell Burzum records, but the whole shebang, allowing me, the crappy keyboard music enthusiast, to get a lush new copy of this record on wax. I am not usually that keen on re-issues but Back on Black has made the whole Burzum catalog (not to mention a lot of "classic" black metal) much more affordable for vinyl fans. The fact that this label seems to get through so many releases can only be a good thing for the vinyl world, right?

Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss

Burzum is a tricky subject, but I am not going to try and navigate it here. As I'm sure I mentioned in my last Burzum post many moons ago, I try to keep politics out of music. If politics happen to be the driving force behind music, then that is fine by me, but I don't let it get in the way of my enjoyment of it. I'm no more a racist for wanting to own Vaginal Jesus CDs than I am a left wing, vegetarian anarchist for owning Agathocles stuff (2020 edit: I am now the left wing veggie snowflake incarnate!- Ed).

Hvis Lyset... is probably my favourite Burzum stuff. The opening track, "Det Som En Gang Var" is a 15 minute journey of absolute epic proportions which pretty much sums up everything that I love about this project; the wasp-like guitars, the simple yet effective backbone of thick bass and sparse drumming, the chilling synths, and those horrendous vocal screeches. Production wise, Hvis... has more in common with Aske than say, Filosofem, but still sounds pretty necro.

With releases as near perfect as this, one has to wonder what road Burzum would have gone down if Varg hadn't gone to prison. Would Burzum have continued to unfurl into the greatest (if maybe not so over-rated due to the murder controversy) black metal project ever alongside Darkthrone? Or would he have fizzled out early and lost all favour with the majority of the community through his ramblings about racial purity?  I guess it's pretty pointless of me to speculate, but it does make you wonder.

As with every other Burzum album, this has been fantastically re-issued on the Back on Black label in a lovely gatefold sleeve and is brilliantly easy to find. However, if you are after the original, you might wanna start saving up.

Burzum - Burzum

So I finally grew the fuck up and got this album. After years of holding out, hoping and praying for a shot at the original pressing from back in the day, I finally gave up on owning a piece of musical history. I can only justify so much for a record. It is, at the end of the day, historic or not, it's just a piece of vinyl. I don't like Burzum enough to justify spending hundreds on an original Deathlike Silence pressing. Back On Black's repress in a lovely gatefold that includes the follow-up EP Aske (which is just as pricey in its original form) will do nicely, methinks. I still paid over the odds for it thanks to Plastic Head but it is a fancy package so I'm not too unhappy with how much I paid.

I'm not sure if Burzum is the black metal record; but it definitely encompasses what the original scene was trying to achieve. For me, personally, at least. Every time I suggest this around metalheads I seem to face mostly disagreement, but if there is anything that will satisfy my "black metal urges" it is this record (or something by early Darkthrone). It was made at such a place and time that wholly impacts upon its structure, delivery and the entire finished product. If Burzum was recorded at any other point in time, or even with a different producer at the studio, or through a different guitar amp, it would not be the same record. That might sound a bit obvious, but it is more than that; what Burzum reflects is an idea, a vision so strongly held in belief by its creator that it eventually led to arson and later to murder. To know through these terrible acts that there was 100% belief and conviction in this music, in this way of life, makes the listening all the more powerful and dark.

Not that I personally advocate the burning of churches or stabbing your friend and record label boss in the face. And I don't sympathize with the views held by Burzum's bat-shit insane creator Varg Vikernes either. But, I am all about the music here, not politics, so if Varg's (possibly worrying) drive for Norwegian racial purity fuels him to continue creating such beautifully vicious and mood altering music, then so be it.