Burzum "Hlidskjalf" CD
[Dead Ringer]
Thankfully, at the very least, this follow-up to the atrocious "Daudi Baldrs" does show a progression along the instrumental "ambient" path for Burzum. The songs aren't as long or one-sided (granted repetition still plays a large role); the synths, while still a little on the silly side, are definitely darker and more atmospheric; etc. So I can listen to this and actually appreciate some of what's going on. It definitely has a soundtrack sort of vibe to it, so there is something being put across that works on some level, regardless of whether or not I find it to be particularly enjoyable. There's a cool ethereal quality to portions of tracks, like "Der Tod Wuotans", which brings in some subtle programmed percussion deep in the mix, but sadly many of the tracks are minimal and goofy ("Frijôs Einsames Tranern", for example) - basically more structured and developed versions of the type of shit that was all over "Daudi Baldrs". The same also goes here as it did for "Daudi Baldrs" visually, as I assume the layout is the same as the original (the cover art is), but this one looks way better because the imagery is bleaker and more mature, or at the very least more visually engaging. The booklet is pretty big, devoting one image and one set of text per song, and the text is in both German and English. Of course the content deals with a mythological tale or whatever, so it's nothing that interests me, but it's cool that translations were provided and I do find the images to be very nice. This is still but a disappointing speck in the eye of Burzum's early recordings, but it could be worse. I would've preferred to hear at least a little bit of a less musical angle layered into the orchestrations, but what can you do? At least this one's listenable. A few of these songs could've made a really good 7"... I'll give it that. (3/10)
Running time - 33:42, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Tuistos Herz, Der Tod Wuotans, Einfühlungsvermögen]
Dead Ringer - http://www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

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