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Shhh, silence everyone... silence teaches us how to sing.
Born from the brilliant mind of Garm, the wolves, or Ulver if you prefer, have always been a kind of white crow within the black scene, ever since the beginning when Bergtatt, it was 1994, saw the light. From 1994 onwards it has been a succession of ever-changing works, each with its own soul and specific identity, capable of enchanting, terrifying, soothing the listener in a world of dreams and then finding themselves the moment after in the blackest of nightmares: call them geniuses but for one reason or another, Ulver has always produced unique albums, each more beautiful than the previous one.
In this particular frame where all shades tend to overpower the cardinal colors lies what I believe might be the strangest work of Ulver's creation, I am referring to the EP "Silence Teaches You How To Sing", an album composed of a single song lasting 24 minutes. "Silence Teaches You How To Sing", this is the title of the piece, is an episode of Garm and his associates' discography so distant yet at the same time close to the concept of music that it leaves you totally stunned: you are overwhelmed by electronic parts where synthesizers take over, and other extremely emotional parts where sweet pianistic landscapes accompany the listener on the most celestial journey, offering dreamy, elegant, delicate, refined music. All this is counterbalanced by colder moments, with cyber hues, that give the composition a sense of instability, as it is filled with strange sounds that might even make it unpleasant to someone's ears. Towards the end, Kristoffer's voice appears, which does nothing but underline the dark and sad tones of the piece, intoning a sort of chant that leads us to the end.
Giving a rating that even remotely approaches objectivity is next to impossible since for some (myself included) this represents just another piece that makes the discography of these Norwegians even more perfect, while for others this product could represent just a mishmash of sounds thrown together randomly.
It's up to you to listen and decide whether this EP belongs to the first or the second category.
Happy listening.
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