Ved Buens Ende
Written In Waters

There are albums that change the course of history, while others, despite being phenomenal, don't get much attention, and because of this, they are inevitably doomed to sink into the oblivion of forgetfulness. Certainly, "Written in Waters" by the Norwegians Ved Buens Ende..... belongs to this latter category.

Already in the album's title, there was the inherent sad prophecy of a work that wouldn't leave a mark. Founded in the now distant 1995 as a parallel project and a purely artistic outlet of more or less known figures from the Norwegian black scene (Vicotnik from Dodheimsgard, Carl-Michael Eide from Aura Noir, Skoll, who was then playing with both Ulver and Arcturus), Ved Buens Ende.... left only this excellent "Written in Waters" (if we don't count "Those who Caress the Pale", the reissue of their demo), which stands as a perfect example of "post-music", even before this label became fashionable with the advent of the post-hardcore of Neurosis and the post-rock of Mogwai.

Perhaps, the reason for their being largely ignored lies in the fact that this crazy trio happened to be ahead of their times and confront a public not yet ready for certain types of sounds (it was the golden season of Norwegian black metal). Or maybe it's simply a matter of appeal, since for a proposal to be successful, it has to be not only intelligent but also in some way enjoyable. And indeed, this hybrid music, too cerebral for extreme metal fans, too raw for palates accustomed to experimental music, ultimately lacked a target, an audience. Those who approached the group did so because of the personalities involved or simply out of curiosity because of the truly improbable cover.

The peculiarity of Ved Buens Ende..... lies in having crafted an original product that is capable of surpassing black metal (in this sense, it's post because it develops a style, not resorting to the convenient trick of crossover, mistakenly becoming synonymous with evolution) starting from and using, twisting, the language of black metal itself. In "Written in Waters," the sound corpus of black metal is therefore remodeled and transformed into something more thoughtful, without losing anything of the misanthropic and decadent spirit that has always animated the scene. The speed tempers, the singing becomes surreal, the riffs expand into very long and structured compositions, with a sly progression, dominated by dissonant guitar melodies and the wobbly bass lines (Skoll's work is fundamental, perhaps the most original bassist in the scene), by Carl-Michael's oblique singing, which resembles a drunken Garm. The arpeggios and riffs remain rotten and icy as tradition demands, but at the same time they indulge in visionary excursions, driven by the ever-varied and imaginative drumming, with developments, sometimes obsessive, sometimes progressive, which quite recall certain passages of the Satyr-Frost duo at their best moments, or even the noisier works of King Crimson, such as "Red" and "Starless and Bible Black."

Now, realistically speaking, I don't think that given their background, they had in mind the dissonant experiments of Fripp and company; it's rather more likely that they were inspired by the works of Voivod and that, through these, they were indirectly influenced by certain influences. It's anyway curious to observe how different evolutionary paths lead to the same conclusions, and how, through completely different routes, our Norwegians arrived at sounds not far removed from those proposed by groups like Don Caballero, Sonic Youth, and Fugazi, comparisons naturally to be taken with extreme caution, also because the umbilical cord that ties the band to the mother scene remains strong and firm. When, in fact, they decide to step on the accelerator, there's no stopping them, and we immediately find ourselves catapulted to Oslo, dazed by outbursts in the style of Darkthrone, where unfortunately (the only flaw of the album) the screams, courtesy of Vicotnik, appear somewhat subdued. The true black component is therefore very much present, and most of the tracks, which more or less move on the same coordinates, follow the thoughtful beginning-final explosion scheme, or vice versa.

Certainly worth mentioning is "Coiled in Wings" (my favorite track), acidic and catchy in the first part, devastating in the second, where they launch into a truly killer final assault. Or "Remembrance of Things Past", which boasts the noisy incursion of an insane clarinet (proving that the experimental attitude is real and intentional, and not just the result of unconscious jamming). There's also room for an acoustic ballad, the ramshackle "Autumn Leaves", which benefits from the contribution of sweet female vocalizations, and for the brief "To Swarm Deserted Away", placed at the end, characterized by the distant sound of a harmonium and the sorrowful and alcoholic singing of Carl-Michael.

It's a pity that black metal later preferred to embark on other paths, often characterized either by extreme avant-garde (which directly led beyond the genre's boundaries, suffice it to consider the admirable works of Arcturus, Emperor, and Ulver, which even ventured into electronics) or by stylistic inertia that led to an increasingly massive resurgence of the past, directly looking back to Motorhead, Celtic Frost and the eighties thrash in general (Darkthrone and Carpathian Forest in primis), thus halting an evolutionary journey that, in my opinion, constituted one of the most creative moments of nineties metal.

This "Written in Waters," along with Burzum's "Filosofem," and "Heart of Ages" and "Omnio" by In the Woods, will remain an isolated episode that will not bring substantial innovations to the scene, but will forever stand as an important treasure for all those who think outside the box and appreciate music as an emotional vehicle and artistic expression.

Affectionately recommended.