Burzum
Fallen

The prison is an annoying invisible presence which is deemed necessary, yet about whose concrete existence one would prefer to know nothing. The prison is a universe of silent bodies, it is watching the world through slightly open windows, peepholes, bars, meshes; the gaze does not see but rather searches, rummages, steals. The prison is waiting. Waiting to wake up tomorrow in another bed, in another place. The prison is not yet death, though it is no longer life.

The cell bars had not yet fully opened when Varg Vikernes, for everyone Burzum, had already donned his gala outfit with the appreciated ''Belus'', first album as a free citizen after 16 years of imprisonment. Twelve months later, here comes its relentless successor: ''Fallen''. As many of you already know, Vikernes is generally known for his music but in particular for his infamous and chilling past (a murder, church burnings...) and for his extreme viewpoints that initially made him an admirer of Nazi occultism, later a follower of what is now called Nordic paganism. Separating the music/ideology aspect has always been ambitious for anyone wishing to understand the blasphemous art of the Count (a nickname that, should you ever encounter him, I advise against using in his presence) since his works have always been closely tied to his viewpoints; however, I would like to try and focus solely on the inclination that concerns me the most, leaving aside potential considerations and judgments regarding morality, ethics, or even worse, politics.

''Fallen'' is the logical continuation of the discourse started in 2010 with ''Belus'', that is, the return to pagan Black sounds at the expense of the hypnotic Dark-Ambient essence of the two ''penitentiary'' works. A reading key thus entirely oriented towards the atmosphere albeit transplanted into a capillary and dry Black context, achieved thanks to morbid and characteristic circular riffs. No draconian upheaval then. Only two small details appear, incontrovertibly, very eloquent to the ears. 

The first. Burzum has opted for a more surgical and wise use of the melodic component, thereby increasing the pathos of the compositions and expanding the range of possible colorations that the tracks can manifest. In this sense, the relaxed and clean vocal registers that made occasional appearances in ''Belus'' are much more emphasized here compared to the demonic screaming, as wonderfully demonstrated by ''Jeg Faller'', with its whispered and almost imperceptible refrain.

The second. The Count has never made a secret of favoring a conscious exploration of murky and raw sounds as this genre firmly imposes(d). In ''Fallen'' he gives the impression of definitively breaking free his own sound, shifting the Black boundaries several miles forward, a peculiarity exclusive to the founding fathers. Thus exemplary is the production (curated personally) which tends towards aseptic shores but remains in an outdated context, with a preference for stifling the rhythmic base while amplifying the guitar and vocal lines.

With a few more listens under your belt, ''Fallen'' makes you abandon the faint sensation of having a B-side of the previous album in your hands, making its way with the usual compositional boldness (chilling is the central pair ''Vanvidd'' and ''Valen'') and with an unexpected formal clarity, placing another brick in the evergreen Black Metal wall whose foundation lies in Burzum itself. Do not be deceived by the decadent cover (detail from the painting ''Elegy'' by Adolphe-William Bouguereau), there is still plenty of Black here; it is just wrapped in a deeper, more disinhibited, ''spiritual'' guise that, as always, is sure to leave as many trails of enthusiastic satisfaction as gratuitous and sloppy bursts of nausea.

But, in the end, what truly matters is that the music of Burzum, whether it be beautiful or ugly, precious or negligible as it may appear, can answer to one single, indisputable word: Freedom.