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Rating: It had been quite some time since I last "Imburzumavo-ed." Then, one evening, after many years, I listened to Umskiptar from 2012 and boom... I started going back in time, and within a few days, I immersed myself in almost all of his albums.
I have always liked Burzum. I have always found him to be a great artist, precisely because he is a despicable man. Yes, you heard right.
The artist is an abstract presence, an individual who attempts to seek beauty. The artist seeks a form of expression to communicate with ordinary people.
This is the artist Varg Vickerness, this is his tangible form of expression, which has nothing to do with who he is in ordinary life: A despicable being, a murderer, a fanatic, a totalitarian... an ex-convict...
It was the late nineties. Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and Filosofem had already been shocking the world for several years... and while the specialized press was hailing these albums as masterpieces of black metal and dark ambient, Varg was already in prison, and he would remain there for a long time. The judge had indeed sentenced him to twenty-one years of imprisonment for stabbing to death Euronymous, guitarist and co-founder of Mayhem, the band in which Varg appeared as a bassist.
During his detention, Varg spent many hours passionately reading Nordic mythology and Scandinavian folklore, to the point of being struck by the idea of recording a new album. For this purpose, he was granted the use of a synthesizer for a limited period, which led to his forced transition from heavy music to dark ambient and minimalism.
Daudi Baldrs was conceived as the first chapter of a trilogy - still unfinished today - centered on Northern European myths. In this case, we have a musical adaptation of the myth of Baldr, one of Odin's sons, and his death caused by a divine conspiracy. The album was supposed to include narrated parts, which could not be recorded because Vikernes was not given the opportunity to use a microphone.
Vikernes’ synthesizer produces simple - almost elementary - melodies, and even with the electric guitars off, it maintains the same compositional concept, made up of repetitive, enveloping, and obsessive parts. The atmosphere unfolds between claustrophobic sections and medieval interludes. The suffocating melodies seem to incorporate the melancholy, desolation, and solitude experienced by the author during his imprisonment.
Daudi Baldrs should thus be taken in its homogeneity and entirety, as a sort of tragicomic sonorous De Profundis, which hides behind Varg's literary passions, but inexorably betrays his state of mind: a sonorous reportage of asphyxia and desolation to listen to at least once in a lifetime...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Dauði Baldrs (08:49)
Þat er upphaf þessar søgo at Baldr inn góða dreymði drauma stóra ok
hættliga um líf sitt. En er hann sagði Ásunum draumana þá báru þeir
saman ráð sín, ok var þat gert at beiða griða Baldri fyrir alls-konar
háska, ok Frigg tók svardaga til þess at eira sky
ldu Baldri eldr ok vatn, járn ok alls-konar málmr, steinar, jørðin,
viðirnir, sóttirnar, dýrin, fuglarnir, eitr, ormar. En er þetta var gert
ok vitat, þá var þat skemtun Baldrs ok Ásanna at hann skyldi standa upp
á þingum en allir aðrir skyldu sumir skjót
a á hann, sumir høggva til, sumir berja grjóti. En hvat sem at var gert,
sakaði hann ekki, ok þótti þetta øllum mikill frami. En er þetta sá Loki
Laufeyjarson þá líkaði honum illa er Baldr sakaði ekki. Hann gekk til
Fensalar til Friggjar ok brá sér í konu
líki. Þá spyrr Frigg ef sú kona vissi hvat Æsir høfðusk at á þinginu.
Hon sagði at allir skutu at Baldri, ok þat at hann sakaði ekki. Þá mælir
Frigg:
'"Eigi munu vápn eða viðir granda Baldri. Eiða hefi ek þegit af øllum
þeim."
'Þá sp
yrr konan: "Hafa allir hlutir eiða unnit at eira Baldri?"
'Þá svarar Frigg: "Vex viðarteinungr einn fyrir vestan Valhøll. Sá er
mistilteinn kallaðr. Sá þótti mér ungr at krefja eiðsins."
'Því næst hvarf konan á braut. En Loki tók mistiltein ok sleit
upp ok
gekk til þings. En Høðr stóð útarliga í mannhringinum því at hann var
blindr. Þá mælir Loki við hann:
'"Hví skýtr þú ekki at Baldri?"
'Hann svarar: "Þvíat ek sé eigi hvar Baldr er, ok þat annat at ek em
vápnlauss."
'Þá mælir Loki: "Gerð
u þó í líking annarra manna ok veit Baldri soemð
sem aðrir menn. Ek mun vísa þér til hvar hann stendr. Skjót at honum
vendi þessum."
'Høðr tók mistiltein ok skaut at Baldri at tilvísun Loka. Flaug
skotit í gøgnum hann ok fell hann dauðr til jarðar, ok hefir þat mest
óhapp verit unnit með goðum ok mønnum. Þá er Baldr var fallinn þá
fellusk øllum Ásum orðtøk ok svá hendr at taka til
hans, ok sá hverr til annars, ok váru allir með einum hug til þess er
unnit hafði verkit. En engi mátti hefna, þar var svá mikill griðastaðr.
En þá er Æsirnir freistuðu at mæla þá var hitt þó fyrr at grátrinn kom
upp svá at engi mátti øðrum segja með orðu
num frá sínum harmi. En Óðinn bar þeim mum verst þenna skaða sem hann
kunni mesta skyn hversu mikil aftaka ok missa Ásunum var í fráfalli
Baldrs. En er goðin vitkuðusk þá mælir Frigg ok spurði hverr sá væri með
Ásum er eignask vildi allar ástir hennar ok
hylli ok vili hann ríða á Helveg ok freista ef hann fái fundit Baldr ok
bjóða Helju útlausn ef hon vill láta fara Baldr heim í Ásgarð. En sá er
nefndr Hermóðr inn hvati, sveinn Óðins, er til þeirar farar varð. Þá var
tekinn Sleipnir, hestr Óðins, ok leidd
r fram, ok steig Hermóðr á þann hest ok hleypti braut.
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Other reviews
By wwwhatemoornet
Too bad that once you’ve listened to it once, you won’t listen to it again.
This is not Burzum. Burzum has been over for a long time, just like this is not metal but atmospheric black.
By Rockardo
shit!
to hell with black and all the bastard fucking assholes who listen to it! go to hell!
