Ulver Album: “Bergtatt”

"Authenticity" is more crucial in Black Metal than any other style of music, with the only possible exception being some of the more extreme factions of hardcore punk. With that in mind, it would be difficult to be more authentic than Norway's Ulver. Instead of their church-burning contemporaries, Ulver chooses to subvert Christianity by creating music that hearkens back to a more primitive, pagan time.

Bergtatt was their first album. Sonically it resembles their masterful third album, Nattens Madrigal, more than their other releases. The story follows a young maiden as she is "taken into the mountain" (Berg=mountain, tatt=taken). Unfortunately, no English translation is available, but the "Fairytale in 5 Chapters" goes as follows:

Capitel 1

Capitel 2

Capitel 3

Capitel 4

Capitel 5

A wonderful album, a wonderful story.

If black metal could ever be described as beautiful, then this is it. Even when they speed things up, Ulver still retain a sense of delicate melody. First off, Garm's vocals are simply wondorful, combining an emotional black metal rasp with haunting clean vocals. That they are sung in an older dialect of Norweigen adds to their mysteriousness. Then there are the lush acoustic guitars that can be found throughout the mix. Those of you who enjoyed the acoustic guitars of other metal bands that don't fall under the black metal label (Agalloch and Opeth are the two I have in mind, though I'm sure there are others), would do well to look into this album.

What I can't beleive is that Ulver aren't more popular (though their adventures with pure Nordic folk music and electronic music may be somewhat responsible for that). Make no mistake, when this band want to speed things up and get heavy, they do so. But throughout it all there is still melody, still some acoustic guitars, still some clean vocals and even a flute from time to time.

Of course, those of you looking for a 'true/extreme' black metal release may wish to look into Mayhem or Darkthrone. But those of you looking for an album that still embraces the grim underground sound of black metal but executes it in way far beyond what most other bands were doing at the time would be well advised to buy this incredible album.

"Bergtatt" is Ulver's first LP from 1994. ('Ulver' simply means "wolves" in Norwegian, by the way). Its run time is only 34 minutes. Vocalist "Garm" recently referred to it as 'Immature typical black metal.' Although it's true that there is a large amount of black metal typical of that era on "Bergtatt," a full 50% of the album is ATYPICAL to black metal. For instance, much of the time "Garm" hauntingly SINGS (or chants) over the black metal-style riffs. These parts are very enjoyable. There are also quite a few classical-type acoustic guitar sections; one featuring a flute and another with a woman singing soprano.

"Bergtatt" literally means 'Taken to the mountain' (berg: 'mountain;' tatt: 'taken'). The album is a "fairy tale in five chapters (or songs)" about a young maiden that wanders off to a mountain and is (what else?) taken by the mysterious forces of the mountain itself. All the lyrics are in some archaic Norwegian tongue so you won't understand them, but they nicely add to the mystique of the recording.

The problem with "Bergtatt," as I see it, is the incongruous 'typical black metal' parts (as "Garm" put it). Listen, for instance, to the beginnings of Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 on the album. Both start with incredible acoustic guitar passages; Chapter 3 includes a haunting melodic/chant by "Garm." Both pieces are magnificent but they are utterly ruined by a SUDDEN typical blast-beat riff with Garm's growl vocals. The change is so jarringly incongruous that I can't help busting out laughing every time I hear these parts. I don't think this is the reaction "Garm" was shooting for.

Don't get me wrong here, I love some catchy agressive and speedy riffs in my metal now and again, but the blast-beat riffs on "Bergtatt" are typical of the black metal genre of that era, i.e. simple, speedily strummed, high, non-heavy, discordant progressions. Such riffs lack innovation or inspiration and are therefore boring and unmemorable. The only time such riffs are redeemed on "Bergtatt" are when "Garm" drowns them out with his captivating non-growl vocals.

The main reason I wanted to check out Ulver's "Bergtatt" is because John Haughm of Agalloch stated that "Bergtatt" is the foundation of everything Agalloch does. In light of this, I naturally figured "Bergtatt" would be as good or better than Agalloch's material. This is not the case, however. Just listen to "Pale Folklore," "The Mantle" or "Ashes Against the Grain" and you'll see that Agalloch utterly blows "Bergtatt" out of the water. The main difference is that Haughm & Agalloch know how to expertly fuse fast, agressive parts with slower, acoustic passages.

Don't get me wrong, "Bertatt" is definitely worthy of your CD collection. I would say that a full 65% of the recording is astounding or, at least, impressive and pleasurable. It's those moronic, juvenile blast-beat/growl sections that make you cringe and literally bust out laughing. They heavily MAR the album; this is what "Garm" meant when he referred to "Bergtatt" as 'immature typical black metal.'

The main reason I'm writing this review is to counterbalance all the rave 5-Star reviews that could mislead potential buyers. This evaluation is a seriously-needed reality check.

Since Bergtatt Ulver have expanded their sound to include everything from Scandinavian folk to electronica. I love and appreciate all of their work, but Bergtatt remains my favorite. Everything good about black metal is distilled and spread throughout these 5 songs.

There are abrasive and grim passages littered with blastbeats and screeches (although nothing as harsh as Nattens Madrigal), hypnotic melodic vocals, traces of acoustic folk, and the entire thing is pure atmosphere, BM's strongest quality and foremost criterion. Garm's ethereal voice compliments Ulver's melodic riffs so well. Songs like Evelen Follows Behind Vase are glassy and beautiful without layered keyboards or orchestras. Bergtatt is melodic black metal without the frills.

I am by no means an expert on all things grim... however, this album is recommended to ANY fan of black metal or metal in general. Great atmospheric music!

Nothing, and i mean nothing is better than this cd. The first day i got it, i had listened to it 4 times in 5 hours. I can't get over how dramatic it sounds. I take the whole cd as a story, with each song depicting a certain event in the storyline. Trust me, i dont need to tell you how the story works, you will easily discover it on your own. The music is EXTREMELY melodic black metal. There are only a few songs with actual growling in it, but that would not bother anyone listening to it. His clean vocalization is stunning. The drums make the music a lot more heavy than it would have been if not for that style. The use of folk-like acoustics and flute help make this album the inspiration for beautiful imagery and fantasy daydreams (or dreams, depending on when your listening to it). Nothing before has given me more emotion and feeling than this cd. Though it is well known for its beauty and epic verses, it still maintains its heavy visage. IF YOU DO ANYTHING WITH YOUR LIFE THAT BENEFITS YOU, BUY THIS CD!