Burzum
Thulêan Mysteries

Has he returned? For many, yes, absolutely, for many Burzum has returned. What to say about this “return”? For many, it will certainly be so, and from a certain point of view, it is true. For me, however, Vikernes has returned, but Burzum has not, because Burzum never left; therefore, it doesn't return that which cannot die, the ancestral Spirit that animates and possesses an entity cannot leave, it gives it form and motion, no, Burzum does not return because it has always been here, it has “always been,” the Tolkienian darkness was there, is there, and will be there. Period.

I love starting with adolescent romanticism when talking about this legendary and infamous timeless project. I can't help it, and I could say that I almost regret being put in the possible cauldron of what Varg is at a strictly personal level because I really don't care much about his theories on the hybridization of green eyes versus blue ones or the fact that, in his view, a huge racial war is destroying the “native Europeans” and everything is inevitably manipulated by the Elders of Zion... Yes, I almost regret it because I have never listened to one of his songs thinking about what shade of blonde hair should have to be considered “pure," but in the end, I couldn’t care less, let them place me wherever they want, those who love to categorize strangers mostly through a keyboard and a screen, can only generate in me a feeling of tenderness and human compassion.

I am aware of the fact that it can be liked or not, that it can “reach” or not, that’s fine, of course, but you cannot deny that most accusations and insults directed at Vikernes fall into two large categories: 50% hate him for what he is privately and for his way of thinking, not as a musician, and the remaining 50% insult him for being “incompetent and overrated”; part of a large audience disparages him because, according to them, he is famous “only for the stupidities and crimes committed in youth.” Personally, I believe that while others only talk, he made and continues to make records, and many of his haters would not be able to produce half a note of “Filosofem” even in 10 lives, and there’s no doubt about this: “acta non verba,” they used to say, and for the keen listener… We get it anyway, everything’s fine, however, I don’t understand why these renowned music lovers insist on wasting their precious time under articles and reviews of someone they regard as a miserable pseudo musician, well... I don't want to think that they might spew insults without having listened to half a note of the new works (we take the old ones on trust), it would be ridiculous, right? So, I do not even understand why they insist on spending their time listening to the hated Varg Vikernes at work once again, who this time, moreover, delights us devotees with an hour and a half of pure beauty.

This is the point, gentlemen, “Thulêan Mysteries” is pure beauty in music; all of this according to me, of course, even if it seems obvious, it is good to clarify it.

As it has been said and repeated, this material was conceived in recent years and thought especially as a soundtrack for his role-playing game MYFAROG, even though for me it primarily brings to mind the soundtrack for his defunct YouTube channel, the insane “Thulêan Perspective”, which also gives the title to the fourth track of this double album and which is one of the best "journeys," typical of the new course of Burzum, that can be found in the record. It starts with “The Sacred Well” and the scenario is dreamy, but also full of fear and anguish, for what we will find as we walk into one of the eternal forests that have always been the backdrop to this genre, and I find it to be one of the best introductory tracks ever heard on one of his ambient works. Personally, I find here the same structure of every album of his, even if over the years Black Metal has given way to the emotional and dreamlike sphere, our intent is always the same: to accompany the listener on a journey of introspection and extroversion, a journey directed by his way of sensing, a way that gives voice to the vibrations of the trees and the movements of the leaves, to the fertility or sterility of the soil. Here inside, if you wish, you will find tracks ranging from less than a minute to over a quarter of an hour, but dear readers, pieces like “ForeBears” can only depict all that the past, understood as a mix of passed-down stories and intimate imagination, can mean through music. “Gathering of Herbs” introduces the tribal rhythm of the beautiful “Heill auk Sæll”, personally one of my all-time favorite pieces, where Vikernes reviews the Norse pantheon to the solo rhythm of a percussion intended to establish those shamanic contacts typical of Seiðr, the ancient Norse magical practice. This attitude will be found again later in “Descent into Niflheimr”, and the evocative tendency will rise again several times, as in the already well-known “Heill Óðinn, Sire”, which appeared several times as background music for videos on his former YouTube channel that we mentioned earlier. The haunting “Jötunnheimr” brings back to my mind the advance of the primordial serpent Níðhöggr, already visited in the final part of “Fallen,” one of the last albums where ferocity and reflective setting mixed together. Brief but evocative passages lead us to the Nordic lullaby par excellence, the unmissable “The Great Sleep”, where the bard revisits an ancient children’s rhyme, reminding us that “it is nice to sleep and rest until morning,” but also “until the next life”; “The Lord of the Dwarves” and “A Forgotten Realm” are accompanying and will accompany my walks here for a long time, in my big green plain exactly like that unforgettable and lengthy masterpiece which is “Rundtgåing av Den Transcendentale Egenhetens Støtte” from “Filosofem.” Continuing, I cannot fail to mention the hypnotic “Thulêan Mysteries”, which gives the album its title, 4 and a half minutes in which to get lost and surrender like in the days of Tomhet. It is hard then to speak specifically of each of the 23 tracks contained in this new effort by the Count, I wanted to talk about a few this time, even though I usually do not like writing my impressions by describing each piece, I believe this is up to the individual listener, however, I think a few words should be said in this case.

In conclusion, Vikernes has, therefore, returned, at least to offer us what he has put together in recent years, those after “The Ways of Yore,” the fetid swamps in which Burzum, according to him, seemed mired, have started to flow again, and the murky waters have returned to flow clear. Even though they don’t know me, I thank Kalhyma and Dopecity from Metal.it for their impeccable video reviews of this album on YouTube, they kept me company during this tumultuous and chaotic period when my land and my city became a “dark valley.” Returning to the beginning of this review, I can only reaffirm what Lovecraft said in “The Nameless City”:

“That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.”

Here you go, Burzum does not die and will not die, Vikernes may come and go, as a human being he may swim in clear waters or return to be mired in his swamps, Burzum instead no, the Darkness, that necessary so that the Light may shine, will never die.

For those who want it, happy journey and happy listening.