Burzum

The Burzum debut-album was the second one to be released on the now cult label Deathlike Silence Productions run by Euronymous. Recorded in January 1992 and unleashed in March the same year, it is pretty obvious that this is an extremely rushed and sloppy record.

Although many of the songs are original in their structure, the result is actually a failure in its whole. The production is bad, to say the least. The guitar sound is flaccid and not convincing for a black metal album set to be as intimidating as this. Varg probably wanted it to be similar to the early Celtic Frost or Bathory I guess, but that just doesn't come through here.

Another problem when it comes to the guitars is that some songs, especially the first track "Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown" has no patterns and is totally incoherent. I count to about 7 riffs just thrown in and played one after the other, while Varg just screams his lungs out as if not even taking into consideration he actually is doing this along a music track.

There are some good riffs here and there though, but unfortunatly they end too fast, and most of the tracks consist of mediocre power-chords played rapidly back and forth in what could feel like an eternity. This, combined with the high pitched screams makes it almost insufferable at times. The slower song "Spell of Destruction" has minor chords and is most likely inspired by the intro to "Freezing Moon" by Mayhem. You can actually here some other Mayhem influence here. One riff in "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit" is very similar to the verse riff in "Pagan Fears".

When it comes to vocals, these are the biggest problem of all with this album. They are inventive, yes. But they are so high in the mix that it completely drowns out all that actually is good here. In all, the album is very poorly mixed, and maybe it is because they rushed the whole recording process so much to get the album out as quick as possible.

I really don't have anything bad to say about the drums. Varg plays drums pretty average but it works. The bass-guitar is undistinguishable if you ask me. All later Burzum albums do have a quite prominent bass-guitar but this one is clearly just focused on guitar-riffs and screams.

So to summarize; the idea and concept may be good and original, but in execution it fails to deliver.

During the early late 80s to 90s, black metal was still in its infancy. Bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, and Emperor were beginning to release material. These bands contained harsh necro guitars and pure Bathory worship, giving off an all-out hateful assault. But Burzum stood out as an oddball. This one-man band led by the one and only Varg Vikernes paved the way for millions of bands to follow in Burzum's footsteps. The legacy this project has left behind is something that can’t be overlooked. This band's early work is one of the first examples of atmospheric black metal. And the self-titled debut is no slouch, being a true black metal classic that fans of the genre will always cherish.

As I stated earlier Varg and Burzum is almost an oddball of the early Norwegian black metal scene. As most of the pioneers were focused on being the harshest, and the most intense. Mostly following in the footsteps of early Bathory. But with Burzum and the self-titled, it is definitely a much more atmospheric take on black metal. It still has the intensity but it’s much more about building the atmosphere. The songwriting is simplistic in nature, containing very repetitive sections and riffs that add more to the overall feel and atmosphere. This record is just drowning in rawness and blast beats, when I first heard this record it took a couple of listens to truly grasp what I was hearing. It was almost overwhelming especially when Varg's vocals kicked in. Which is just a blood-curdled scream, it’s a very unique vocal tone that not many bands can match.

However, with all this rawness and intensity going on the guitar riffs are still prominent. They’re very sinister and melodic, mostly dominated by slow and fast tremolos. While they are very repetitive it doesn’t take away from the overall experience. It’s very enjoyable and engaging, the compositions while simple are very interesting and clever. I love the way the drums and kick drums sound on here as well, once again displaying a repetition edge with the double bass and blast beats. When it comes to the aesthetics and overall imagery this project is obsessed with folklore and pagan themes. Not really focusing on satanism like most bands were at the time.

“Ea, Lord of the Depths” is a very strong song on here. It starts off with a galloping drum intro before kicking into one of my favorite Burzum riffs. The rhythms sound great and raw, once again displaying a very unique atmospheric feel and rhythm. I love how rough and abrasive the music is as well, the solo near the end of the song is also incredible. The repetition is probably the most striking and interesting thing, it’s executed so perfectly that it layers everything into this truly great atmosphere. “War” is the most straightforward thing on this album. Being mainly a ripoff of “Necromancy” by Bathory, and damn is it a good imitation. It’s a short sweet shock and groovy riffs and beats, displaying that classic Norwegian black metal flare. It’s also interesting to note that the guitarist for Mayhem Eruonymous does the solo on this track. Which I never knew about until looking further at this album.

Most of the songs except for “War” are very long. But Varg does an amazing job of holding the listener with his almost hypnotic riffs and atmosphere. Every song is different and memorable, using the long song runtimes to his advantage. There are also 2 ambient tracks, that showcase Varg's willingness to experiment and try something new. And he’s always had ambient flare to his black metal.

The two ambient/ interlude tracks “The Crying Orc” and” Channeling the Power of Souls Into a New God” contain very droney synthesizers along with other interesting instrumental sections. Conveying the atmosphere that Varg wanted to create and display. It’s very sinister and melancholic as in “The Crying Orc” Varg plays a very melancholic riff that drags on for the better part of a minute, which is a perfect segway into the song “A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit”. 9 minutes of pure atmospheric assault, the riffs are extremely punchy and powerfully composed. This song has a slight doomy and groove edge to it as well as the song slows down. It kind of reminds me of early Celtic frost in some aspects.

Another song I’ll mention is “Spell of Destruction“. A very slow and evil track that has some absolutely killer vocals and riffs. The riffs once again give off a very droney distant feeling that gives me slight unease. When I first listened to this album this song took the longest to grow on me. It was mainly due to the last minute of the song where Varg is just wailing his guts out. It was very overwhelming and at first, it didn’t click. But after a while it grew on me, it’s definitely an acquired taste. More highlights on here are “My Journey to the Stars” and my personal favorite song on here “Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown”.

In conclusion, this album is brilliant. It was one of the first black metal albums I heard and will always be one of my favorites. While it isn’t my favorite Burzum album it’s close to being there. This band will always be known for its controversial background, especially with Varg. But no matter what the music he put out that was pure black metal has always clicked with me personally. If you’re looking to get into black metal I would recommend something along these lines. Or “Filosofem”, if you can’t handle Varg's ungodly maniac and harsh vocals. A true classic in black metal.

I remember perfectly the first time I listened to this album, I remember it well because it was the first black metal album I listened to completely, until that moment I had only listened to single songs and I had an idea quite far away from everything black metal was about, in fact the decision to listen to this album in particular was because it had the song "War" as it was the only Burzum song I knew and the reference track for what I thought was going to be Burzum's sound, how wrong I was.

The first 3 seconds of the album begin with a sequence of sounds that seem like science fiction, and both at the time it was released and for someone who listens to it for the first time no matter the time, the sound of this album seems to come from another world. The sound that led Burzum is quite different from what any other band of their time could offer, there was a trend that derived from the aggressive style that was influenced by Venom or Sodom, and another much more grim trend that focused more on a chaotic and evil atmosphere with bands like Von, Abruptum or the colombians Parabellum. Varg Vikkernes on the early Burzum albums managed to give a taste of aspects of each tendence along with traces of his own style.

Everyone has one of Burzum's first four albums as a favourite, but despite my personal attachment to this record, when I've listened to it again recently with a much greater background in both Burzum's music and black metal in general, I can't help but see this work as one that doesn't develop properly and at times I feel it doesn't offer the full potential it has.

The main potential is the aura that surrounds the compositions, the style is dirty and raw yet melodic, truly emotional guitar leads can be appreciated and serve as a counterpoint to the lugubrious atmosphere. Many of the best tracks are those previously written by Varg, tracks like "Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown" or "Spell of Destruction" radiate strength and a mystical folk aura. It's this conjunction of layers at different levels of sound (accompanied by a heartbreaking voice) that distinguishes Burzum from other bands and gives them that unique character, except for the song "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit" which is the only one in this style that doesn't convince me, It's not that it stands out from the rest of the songs but I would expect something less anticlimatic being the longest song of the album, but it seems that it is that way because it doesn't know when to put the end, it gets longer like a flame that tries not to be extinguished but it ends up getting more tiring than anything else. But if I have to mention one song as the best of the Burzum style on this album, it's not any of the songs previously written by Varg for the demos, it's "My Journey to the Stars" which is easily one of the best songs in the whole Burzum catalogue. Everything works perfectly and every riff is better than the previous one, some of them have such a strong melodic charge that they seem to be (or maybe they are) in a major scale, the pitch change pauses fit perfectly into the rhythm and it is also the only song on the album where Varg shows a great level on drums.

Because unfortunately, this album is far from perfection, after several years aspects that used to impress me no longer do, or learning more about the origins of the genre make me realise details that I used to see as original are not so original anymore. To start with what I have remarked before, all the songs except the mentioned "My Journey to the Stars" have a mediocre drum sound, as far as I have understood, Varg didn't have much experience on drums when he recorded his first 4 albums but I can really find good moments of him on that instrument, being the song "Det som en gang var" for me the best example of it, so I can't excuse that the drums sound so basic and weak throughout the whole play. The rest of the problems I have with what is left to comment on the album are more directed towards certain aspects that I don't feel are fully developed here, which I know they will be in Burzum's discography, or also parts that take me out of the album because of their resemblance to other musicians' work.

Let's go with "War", it has been long discussed whether this song is a copy of the song "Necromansy" from Bathory's debut or "Píseň pro Satana" from Root, my opinion is simple, I think it's a clear tribute to Bathory and I don't think it's a song that should be given the slightest importance, there are dozens of better songs with more substance in Burzum's discography, its only useful function is to serve as a first exposure to Varg's music, but even for that it's bad because it doesn't represent properly Burzum's sound, it's true that it was the song that made me get into this album but nowadays I don't like it at all, if it wasn't for its short duration I would probably skip it. And speaking of Bathory... doesn't the end of the album with "Dungeons of Darkness" seem a kind of "Storm of Damnation" much more elaborated and atmospheric? I know Varg had a lot of Bathory influence in his music but this is not the kind of ambient coming from the norwegian musician that I enjoy. In several albums after this one, Varg makes a much better use of that musical aspect and what we hear here in this song or in "Channelling... "seems poor in comparison, they are too short, simplistic and don't reach anything, just like "The Crying Orc", which I sincerely believe that it doesn't contribute to anything, there are versions on YouTube of this song in orchestral format and you can really appreciate the foundation and sonorous potential of this brief composition, but just like the other three songs mentioned, all this seems to me more like fragments of ideas that had not yet come together or have not yet found their definitive style, these four songs without being bad themselves, they detract from what could have been an album close to perfection.

As years pass by
The aura drops

Burzum is a special project for me. Its music was one of the reasons why I started to listen to extreme metal. I always found the sound of Burzum dark and enigmatic, but engrossing. Knowing that something like this was made by just ONE musician was even more astonishing for me. The atmosphere that Burzum's music transmits is pretty captivating and for me, this is one of those albums that has to be taken as a reference when playing black metal.

To start, I want to talk about the songs. Surprisingly, Burzum has a great deal of variety as to the songs. There is no reason why you think the album is repetitive. It goes from the accelerated rhythms of "Feeble Screams from Forest Unknown" and "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit" to the more mid-paced songs like "Spell of Destruction". Equally, each one of the songs has something different to offer. The riffs are very varied; they are both raw and melodic in the precise moment. Even the instrumental pieces are great songs and immerse the listener to a grim environment.

What I want to highlight from Burzum is the achieved sound with very few resources. Despite the riffs are not very complex and the music is not as fast or as "aggressive" in comparison to some other black metal bands from back in those days, Burzum's music reached to be raw, visceral and a real ode to darkness. This is in part thanks to the production since as the album does not have a very sophisticated audio quality, this aspect was exactly what helped the music to have such a dark sound. The instruments execution is pretty decent and as I mentioned, Varg Vikernes is not precisely the most virtuous multi-instrumentist of all, but his work functions and he is very competent as an executor.

The voice is another great characteristic from this album. That shriek and agonic singing style can make any non-black metal listener feel uncomfortable or scared by such an impressive vocal sound, which, for me, makes it even better, as you know that this is a very dark and evil music style. It's impressive and makes Vark Vikernes a peculiar, but "iconic" singer (in his way).

To finish, the last thing I want to praise is the atmosphere. "Burzum" is a very dark record, everything thanks to the aspects previously mentioned. The music is capable to immerse the listener into a dismal and funeral atmosphere, and I think this is what makes good a black metal band (or project, in this case): the environment and sonorous style.

There's no much more that I can say about "Burzum". This is not my personal favourite Burzum album, but it's undoubtedly a masterpiece of dark music and for me, black metal at its purest style. Listen to "Burzum" if you want to know what black metal is about: pure darkness and murk.

Is it necessary to tell, who Varg Vikernes is? Probably no. This is Burzum's debut album. It will be enough to say just a one thing: Varg had all the needed warm-up in Old Funeral, Kalashnikov, whatsoever, then he had some final stages of preparation with few Burzum demos and by the time of recording the self-titled album of Burzum Varg already reached his prime. Varg's main motivation, that gave him inspiration, wasn't too special. He was about revolting against the modern world and alongside with other Norwegian black metal pioneers he was against trendy death metal. Yet eventually the common motivation lead to extraordinary results. "Burzum" was a one of the first black metal albums and it was a one of the most specific at that time in Norway.

"Burzum", or "darkness", has enough backup behind its name. It's grim beginning with the artwork, ending with music and lyrics. Raw sound, aggressive melodies, ferocious shrieking vocals - all those things establish the convincing darkness. And the aspect of the aggressiveness is the most defining for Burzum. It is based on vocals a lot and it makes Burzum stand out among other Norwegian formations of the early 90s. However, the album has a lot of intense moments from the instrumental side as well. An album opening "Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown" and "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit", for example, sound dense, oppressive. On the other hand, the likes of "Ea, Lord of the Depths" and "My Journey to the Stars" settle the dark atmosphere not with explicit aggression, but with grim melodicism.

Yes, the music of the album is diverse and in the same time it always represents darkness. The two ambient compositions of "Burzum" proves this well. "Channelling the Power of Souls into a New God" sounds dismal and "Dungeons of Darkness" is just reflecting its title, it's actually a one of the few Burzum not ambient, but dark ambient tracks, as it is more noisy, not based on melodies. And in the context of the diversity a couple of other tracks should be mentioned. It's "War", that is written in the first wave black metal style and is presented as a Bathory tribute. And it's a short and sad instrumental "The Crying Orc", which follows "War" as an aftermath.

So, "Burzum" is filled with masterpieces, but still there's a highlight of the album. It is "Spell of Destruction", which is also called "Black Spell of Destruction" because of the fix by Euronymous of Mayhem, whose label originally released "Burzum". This composition is the slowest among black metal tracks of the album. It sounds much gloomier, than any other track. Some can name it as the first seeds of depressive black metal and that sounds trustworthy. After its main part "Spell of Destruction" has an absolutely fierce ending. Lead guitar provides a sorrowful melody there. Varg provides piercing, utterly desperate and hateful shrieks. That's the most intense moment of the album.

"Burzum" is black metal classics, which is miles above the vast majority of the followers. It's a remarkable music, which is interesting to listen to because of its truly special songwriting and its convincing atmosphere of darkness. The diverse set of tools works for this single major criteria. Every composition of the album noticeably differs from any other and, of course, each of them carries its specific mood, yet all of them are the bricks in the same wall of darkness. This album masterfully represents its ideology. The question "What is black metal?" requires an answer in the form of Burzum's debut full-length album.

Burzum’s debut echoed what was to come of the Burzum project. I find it hard to believe that all of the first four albums were written (presumably) and recorded in such a short amount of time. In barely two years Varg had managed to not only write some of the most defining and memorable songs of the genre, but helped influence many artists to follow in the black metal footsteps with experimentalism and a mix and blend of what would soon be called “Dungeon Synth” and elements of dark ambient.

This album consists primarily of songs composed like old style heavy metal songs, with a fuzzy distortion and screamed vocals. Which was to be expected from an up-and-coming black metal artist in Norway in the 90’s; however; the idea that this album, and an album like Filosofem could be recorded so close together is incredible, as this album shows the incorporation of dissonance and distortion, but lacks the overbearing volume and general composition typical of an album like Filosofem, where the guitars dissonance often blends together. Repetition is present on some of the tracks, again to a lesser extent. All of which echoed what to come of the Burzum project.

Two examples of more “heavy metal” style riffing on the album are on “War”, and “Stemmen Fra Tårnet”. Where there is little dissonance in the chords chosen to write the main riffs, and the drums have a sort of “Iron Maiden” feel to me. Besides that, I think the album is a wonderful composition of the previous demos that led up to the point, he clearly worked on his playing ability and composition throughout the years leading up to the debut.

Overall I give I think the album deserves a 70%. It is telling of the future of the project but outside of that it seems like a proof of concept in very mild experimentation, high pitched harsh vocals, distorted guitars, and slower beats than what was typical of death metal at the time.

Burzum are (in this case, "is" because of the group being a one-man project) a Norwegian black metal and ambient band. Probably one of the most well-known black metal bands of the second-wave, not to mention one of the absolute distinguished eternally. Burzum have a primeval audio fabrication on this record. The methodology of formation is very original. Such a phlegmatic form of music. Nothing drastic about the instrumental construction whatsoever, by any means.

If anyone is exploring old school, classic black metal, you need not seek any further. You may receive some form of displeasure concentrating on this record, it trademarks a somewhat different sound than many traditional black metal bands, especially vocally. I would go as far as suggesting that the vocals used sound a lot like modern, depressive black metal vocalists. Clean vocals are also featured in small quantities. The release measures a considerable amount of orchestral-themed ambience.

Burzum's guitar-playing is very idiosyncratic within it's own right. It's far from tortuous, it's more melodic. Such comforting solos as well. Amalgamated with immaculately exquisite drumming and delicate bass-playing. The atmosphere of the album is pitch-dark, mysterious and atypical. Almost something out of a black and white horror motion picture. One instrument doesn't outweigh the other on this decently-rounded album, which makes for a pretty unbiased release. All options were on the table when this was recorded. The more instruments that were added, the more depth it generated. By adding a substantial volume of ambience, it played the part completely well. The vocals on the other hand, lacked an honest quantity of prospective and could have been done better.

Instrumentally, this release did excellent. The imagination being put into the instrumental formation was clever and blended well. The high-pitched vocals were unsatisfying and whiny. It's almost unfathomably wretched. I wouldn't strongly suggest this record to anyone and it wouldn't be my first pick as a suggestion at all. If one can survive and even adapt to listening to the dreadful vocals being applied throughout the album, then it makes for a pretty proper record. If you adore primeval audio fabrication, then take the time and judge it for yourself. This is unquestionably a class B particle of sweat.

Have you ever seen a movie or a TV show where a female character hides behind glasses and turtlenecks and whatnot only to have a wardrobe change and a makeover in the third act reveal that, guess what, she was actually a bombshell the whole time? Of course you have. You're clearly not Amish. Anyway, Burzum's debut is that character in album form. What we have here are the makings of some brilliant music that just aren't being allowed to shine like they ought to, partly because of the horrid production, partly because of Varg's lack of experience with recording, and partly due to his habit of dragging his ideas out longer than they need to be.

If there's anything Varg loves more than making creepy Youtube videos of himself talking about whatever the hell comes to his mind while his young son is either nearby or in his arms, it's atmosphere. The effectiveness of the ambient qualities in Burzum's self-titled debut is quite spotty. Sometimes the atmosphere is brilliantly rendered despite (or maybe even because of) the murky production. ‘Ea, Lord of the Depths’ is carried on the back of buzzing guitar passages only made more sinister as they marinate in the murky production. 'Black Spell of Destruction', meanwhile, is built on eerie droning that creeps slowly along. Both reek of the sort of foggy, mysterious menace implied by the album’s cover art but not every track is so effective. Opening song ‘Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown’ isn’t very impactful, nor is the dungeon synth interlude ‘Channeling the Power of Souls into a New God’, which has a mildly mournful tone but doesn’t provide anything noteworthy.

Varg must not have been all that focused or entirely serious in his attempts at making music at this point in his life because there are a few parts where he clearly forgot to even try to inject any of the creepy and/or grandiose atmosphere he's known for. 'War' is the most obvious example of this because this, constituting straightforward Bathory (circa 1984) worship where the simplistic rhythm is accompanied by incoherent yelling. And let’s not forget that laughable bit at the beginning where he says, “This is war, huh? Wow!”

Additionally, Varg's occasional inability to realize he needs to move on to the next musical idea whittles away the album’s value as an atmospheric journey. There are a few parts throughout the release that wander without going anywhere or repeat themselves many more times than they need to. The opening track is guilty of this, with a section in the middle that plods onward with a bland, droning texture, the guitars an unengaging buzz of minimal, midpaced activity and the drums just following along without throwing any interesting patterns or fills our way. ‘A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit’, meanwhile, is some kind of scientific breakthrough, as the main riff somehow bends spacetime around itself, allowing Varg to cram 45 minutes worth of repetitive droning into roughly nine minutes of actual elapsed time.

Both the production and the instrumental performances leave quite a bit to be desired. Sure, they manage to create an oppressive atmosphere sometimes but more often, it just makes the album seem rushed and poorly thought out. The drums follow basic patterns that are generally effective at maintaining a song’s momentum but sometimes sound mechanical in their simplicity. The way they’re produced also leaves the cymbals sounding tinny and the snare and toms like drumsticks striking paper bags. The guitars are this album's main strength as far as the instrumental performances go, often having a somber, meditative quality to them as they weave simple, sometimes hypnotic and eerie patterns. When the album speeds up, the guitars shuffle along competently but feel strangely hollow because the tone is so thin. The award for weakest performance goes to Varg's mouth, though. None of the anger or hatred that’s supposed to be there is present. Normally, black metal vocals elicit some kind of cold malevolence but throughout this album, everyone's favorite church arsonist yowls hoarsely and tunelessly and sounds like he’s putting his vocal chords through quite a lot of undue stress.

While Varg's talent as a songwriter is certainly here on Burzum's debut, its distribution is uneven and its execution is shoddy, even by TRVE KVLT standards. For every passage as inspired as the energetic and catchy main riff in 'My Journey to the Stars', there seems to be a long-winded mid-paced bit that takes too long to get where it’s going. A good number of the songs switch back and forth between the two, sometimes helped and sometimes hindered by the unholier-than-thou production. The songwriting brilliance that make the three Burzum albums that would follow this one so enjoyable is here but it’s too frequently shoved to the side. This is a decent effort, considering the entire thing is the product of one 19-year-old’s imagination but that 19-year-old, for all his ambition, had yet to master the art of channeling it into something uniformly captivating. Like the young woman in that movie/TV show mentioned in the first paragraph, all the crucial ingredients are already here, but their utilization and presentation just aren't ideal for showing them off.

Though I'm a fan of Burzum, I really don't get this album. It's seen as a classic in the black metal community, but no matter how many times I listen to it, I just can't like it. I've heard so much talk about this sounding so ''evil'' and ''dark'', but I frankly can't see it.

The main problem with this album is the riffs. They're just flat out boring, and every song feels so rushed, weak, and stretched out. Some of the riffs sounds like something I'd write when I was 13 and just barely learned how to play the guitar. There's nothing that stands out. Mostly there's just really bland and overused progressions repeated too many times. This album just feels so pointless, there's absolutely nothing outstanding or even mildly interesting on this album. It almost reminds me of elevator music, it's just so dull.

The production is quite bad, however what can you expect from Burzum anyway. The guitar tone actually has it's charm, the chainsaw-like distortion is quite effective, though it can sound a bit piercing at times, especially when high notes are tremolo picked, but that isn't to much of a problem, as it mostly consists of chords played quite low on the fretboard. I've been told that this album is an ''anti-death metal album'', and though I can understand that, that single fact doesn't carry the whole album. The fact that this album was unique and different once upon a time doesn't mean that it's good. And though I certainly respect the album for the role it played, that isn't enough for me to actually like it.

The lyrics aren't too good. It's just some pseudo-intellectual nonsense, however it's tolerable as you can't hear what Varg's saying anyway. And as for the vocals, I do find them quite good, however, this doesn't carry the whole album either. Overall, I understand the historical importance of ''Burzum'', however it's just not very interesting.

While better known for his more mature later efforts such as Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and Filosofem (and the murder of Euronymous), Varg has some great early releases, such as this album, Aske, and Det Som Engang Var. Burzum's self titled debut may come off as a relatively immature album, it has nearly as much depth to it as an album such as Filosofem.

Burzum's later material consists of longer songs, with one longer than twenty five minutes. In a bit of a contrast, this album has mostly shorter songs. "War" is an almost thrash metal like song that clocks in at only two and a half minutes. This shows that the album is a more straightforward black metal album than Burzum's later album.

The music on "Burzum" is overwhelmingly beautiful. "The Crying Orc" is a rather sad short instrumental, consisting of only guitar. It is one of Varg's most beautiful compositions. Other songs rely on an approach designed to evoke thought rather than emotion. "Ea, Lord of the Depths" is a poetic song that requires a lot of thinking. The mysterious atmosphere of the track is unbelievable. Still, there are some aggressive songs. The aforementioned "War" is one of the most aggressive songs to ever be written by Varg.

A Burzum album would not be complete without some ambient music. While the black metal provides a huge amount of atmosphere, the ambient music adds a slightly different edge to the music. "Channeling the Power of Souls into a New God" is an absolutely beautiful ambient piece, and a true standout. "Dungeons of Darkness" is the other ambient piece. It takes a very different approach to creating a dark atmosphere. Instead of using only synthesizers, it makes use of a "guest appearance" from Euronymous, who also played at least one of the solos on "War". On "Dungeons of Darkness", Euronymous is banging on a gong in the background, creating a very interesting sound. This sound is very haunting, even though it is not an "in your face" song, it still drifts in your head in an odd way.

One of the first things that someone listening to "Burzum" will notice is the vocals. Varg Vikernes shrieks in an almost wolflike way. Songs like the eerie "Spell of Destruction" feature excellent shrieks. "Spell of Destruction" comes to a strange part where there are only guitars and screamed vocals. That is one of the best moments of the entire album.

The one song that I think is a bit below the rest of the album is "My Journey to the Stars". It is a good song, but it lacks the same atmosphere as the rest of "Burzum". Instead of putting the listener in a dark forest, they find themselves drifting through space. Varg claims that the song is symbolic, so it most likely has a deeper meaning than floating into space. One could say the same thing about "War", though. I like the song, because it is almost a break from the more serious stuff. While serious in its own respect, the song is quite fun to listen to.

"Burzum" is an eight track album, but it still feels like it could be longer. To remedy this problem, many versions come with a bonus Aske E.P. Despite feeling short, Burzum is still an album worthy of a lot of respect, and an essential.

I listened to the albums canonically referred to as Burzum's 'masterpieces' before getting around to the project's self-titled debut. As tends to be the case with then-future greats with such classics in their futures, Burzum set the stage on a less refined, less intentional note than the carefully crafted master's atmosphere Varg Vikernes would be recording just a year later. While every incarnation of Burzum has been about upholding an unfashionable degree of primitivism in the music, there's no denying Vikernes became ever more meticulous in the way he brought about his raw sound. I see Filosofem get compared favourably with modern classical minimalism. The debut isn't going to warrant associations like that any time soon.

It is interesting to hear Burzum's debut; this is where a lot of it all started, and you can still hear bands coming out today that have tried to replicate the archetype he made here. With that said, it is surprising that I don't feel I have too much to say about it, especially compared to Filosofem, which carries enough weight in its atmosphere to inspire multiple volumes. Is it because the debut necessarily suffers by association with its better-crafted cousins? Not necessarily; although everything of Vikernes' making inevitably carries a distinctive Burzum character, the style here is much different than what came after it; comparisons only go so far. Put simply, this is early black metal at some of its most intuitive. It is raw in every sense of the word, and that includes the way it was written. Burzum sounds like it came together in a flurry, without regard for what does or doesn't work on the record. That rawness-- paired with Vikernes' natural predilection for great riffmaking-- is more than enough to carry his first full-length through, although it would still be an album or two before his vision hit its stride.

Starting off, Vikernes was more riff-focused than many of his contemporaries, and the debut essentially sounds like a bunch of solid riffs thrown together onto a cassette, with markedly less emphasis given to other parts of the music, like the structure or the songwriting. "Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown", "Spell of Destruction", "War", "The Crying Orc" and "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit" all wield instantly memorable riffs, but whether they're all necessarily great songs is another matter. Particularly with the two longer songs on the latter half ("Side Winter"), it doesn't feel like Vikernes made the most of their greater scope. While great riffs are immediately possible to write for someone with the right innate talent, things like tact and structure are learned with time. Keeping in mind again that it was only a year between this and his atmospheric masterpieces, it's clear his black metal education was swift and effective.

Grimy heavy metal-flavoured riffs, fearsome drumming and some half-effective early attempts at adopting dungeon ambient form the musical core for this debut, but it's Vikernes' vocals that leave the strongest impression. His rancid shrieks are possibly the best representation of his musical objectives: primitive, personal, and utterly void of bells nor whistles. Burzum sounds like it was written and recorded by someone who was still learning to write and record. If his musical objectives remained constant throughout Burzum's early years, then he hadn't quite reached his mark here. There's nothing in the way of profound epiphany to be experienced listening to this, but the quality of his conviction and riffs is enough to excuse the abundant obvious flaws throughout the album.

Burzum's self-titled debut album is perhaps the Varg Vikernes' most raw and varied. Varg was ahead of his fellow black metallers in Norway in the early 90s, and it was evident already on his first offering. While Darkthrone and Immortal had a stronger speed/death metal influence a la Bathory, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Burzum focused more on the very simplistic, but atmospheric style. Of course, Bathory-ish sonic attacks are evident in songs like "Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown", "Ea, Lord of the Depths", "My Journey to the Stars" and of course the song that is dedicated to Bathory called "War", which is Burzum's token thrasher, pretty much. But what stands out the most, is the sheer eeriness of songs like "Black Spell of Destruction" with its doomy riffing/rhythm, the instrumental tracks; "Channelling the Power of Souls into a New God" with its creepy, brooding synth work and "The Crying Orc" with its emotional guitar, which is the sole instrument.

The most obvious difference between Burzum and the other black metal acts at the time, are the vocals. Vikernes doesn't exactly use the witchy-type of vocals, strongly influenced by Bathory (Darkthrone, Immortal and others all adopted this). Instead, Varg uses some very human-sounding vocals, albeit terrifying. His vocals sound like a human being tortured both mentally and physically, and they're downright terrifying. Some people might think they're too much and will be put off by them alone (I was one, once upon a time). But with time, your ears might adjust to them, and if so, you'll notice that they add a certain charm to Burzum's early albums. It's all about the darkness.

Vikernes had the ideas as early as here, and while the first albums were all recorded in a very short space of time (a year or so), the progression and musicianship improved gradually on each and every record. This album gives us a very raw and young idea of what is to come from Burzum. With that said, 'Burzum' is the weakest of Vikernes' early classics. It's by no means a weak album; not at all, but it feels like Varg hadn't utilized his excellent vision and ideas properly. He did it well here, very well on 'Det som engang var' and excellently on 'Hvis lyset tar oss' and 'Filosofem'.

I think that 'Burzum' is a monumental record, partially due to Vikernes' notoriety, but musically it's a very different black metal record. He was indeed ahead of his time and would probably become the most influential black metal musician from the 90s era.

Burzum is the name of the band of artist Varg Vikernes. He is considered a legendary black metal artist. He is widely known for his controversy surrounding the burning of multiple churches in Norway related to the underground black metal scene. He is also known for the slaying of Euronymous, who played with him on Mayhem’s magnum opus, “De Mysterious Dom Sathanas”. Much controversy has also surrounded him regarding his beliefs. Despite having so much controversy, he is respected by many in the second wave of black metal fandom. He is also one of the pioneers of the style.

When listening to this album a multitude of ideas come to mind. The thought of walking down a beaten path in the middle of the night, hearing the whisper of the wind against the trees in the cold comes to my mind vividly. I also envision the album cover art during a lot of the music. Vikernes has the ability to produce music that makes you think of the night. The music is so dark, but at the same time it’s beautiful. Listening to this album in a completely dark room will be sure to cause an out of body experience, especially when it gets to the first ambient track. The riffs have a primitive sound that helps to encompass the archaic feel this album has. Feeble Screams From the Forests Unknown is a great example of this primitive movement in the riffs. The melodies themselves create a sinister atmosphere. They could literally sound dark played on a xylophone. Vikernes possesses the ability to do this well. It’s what black metal is all about, after all.

The guitar-work album features tremolo picked riffs with minor chord arpeggio riffs. The guitar isn't necessarily technical, but he definitely knows how to play the instrument. The guitar tone itself is rough, abrasive, and on the lower end of production quality. This all helps add to the atmospheric qualities of it. The guitar features heavy distortion, but there is no problem hearing the haunting melodies that exude from the axe. He is a master of crafting melodic lines that are stirring and unsettling, while still holding your attention with catchiness. Just listen to the dooming (mental) breakdown that happens during the first three minutes of Feeble Screams From the Forests Unknown.

Something else notable about this album is the vocal performance. Varg sounds like he’s being tortured while he was recording. Nattram from Silencer should have taken notes from this album before he tried doing, “Death - Pierce Me.” His vocals pierce over the top of the low bass and distorted guitars. Burzum does a great job of balancing his vocal aggressiveness with the guitar. The two never really compete with each other, and go well together. For a good example of this, check out, “Ea, Lord of the Depths.” They really complement each other here. His mournful, dark, and animalistic vocals go great with the guitar line, especially on the main hook.

Burzum is definitely a second wave black metal gem. I’d say it’s an essential listen for anyone serious about black metal. It’s best listened to in darkness. After all, that’s what the name “Burzum” means. I’d say this is the type of release you shouldn't judge after one listen. It takes a few times to truly hear what the album has to offer.

1992 is the year that the second wave of black metal began to take shape. While Quorthon had already laid the foundation with the first three Bathory albums and Mayhem had been revving up for a while, it was the trio of Darkthrone’s “A Blaze in the Northern Sky,” Immortal’s “Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism” and Burzum’s self-titled debut that really kick started golden age of black metal. These albums are dark, raw, evil and chilling. Burzum’s debut is no doubt the most extreme of these albums.

Structurally and conceptually ambitious, “Burzum” already gives a peak into the complex artistic vision of Varg Vikernes. At the same time, this is an album that is as raw as they come. Varg takes Bathory’s buzzing guitar sound and sharpens it to an absolutely piercing pitch. Keen as these riffs are, they still fill a lot of space through resonation and humming feedback. The minimalist production does not stop these riffs from sounding big and full. This creates the perfect landscape for Varg’s maddening screams. Varg’s vocals on the first three albums are simply without peer. He sounds like a crow that just returned to its nest to find its eggs missing and is pissed the fuck off.

Conceptually, the album swings high, but it doesn’t always hit the mark. The album is split into two sides: “Side War” and “Side Winter.” Beyond being a fairly asymmetrical pairing, the two sides do not really fit the bill. For example, the dreamy ambient piece “Channeling the Power of Souls into a New God” appears on “Side War” while the thrashy headbanger “War” appears on “Side Winter”. More problematic, the album doesn’t have the greatest flow. Unlike some of the masterfully arranged albums that Varg would produce in the upcoming years, the debut is somewhat of a grab bag. There are three longer, emotionally complex tracks and there are three shorter, visceral tracks. While these differing types of tracks could conceivably be interwoven, Varg doesn’t actually manage to achieve that here.

Varg really shows his brilliance as a songwriter on the two closing epics, “A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit” and “My Journey to the Stars”. These two songs do feel like side winter with sweeping melodies buzzing around like gusts of ice cold wind. The tracks interweave between fast, pulsating rhythms and slow, tribal beats, constantly bringing new sounds into their web. Actually, the headbangers are damn good too. “War” is a great tribute to the Bathory song of the same name and “Spell of Destruction” is absolutely riveting. Varg’s devastated, retaliatory wails on the later track are some of the most beautiful and horrifying vocals in the history of black metal.

Still, when it’s all said and done “Burzum” mostly feels like a collection of innovative songs from an excited and inspired young artist, but it doesn’t quite feel like an album. The structure is too erratic and the songs sometimes clash. While this doesn’t make the songs themselves any less excellent, it does put Burzum’s debut a notch or two below its sequels.

(Originally written for http://listenwell-nocturnal.blogspot.com)

Back in the primordial sludge of black metal's evolution in the early 90s, particularly in Norway, there was a bit of stylistic ambiguity as to what direction things would go, as was largely the case with the early thrash efforts from a decade prior. Whereas Metallica's and Slayer's debuts, along with the early Exodus demos still had a strong remnant of the NWOBHM sound, so too did the early efforts of Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, and the subject of this historical excursion Burzum with the still largely thrash infused death metal scene that many of them came out of. Suffice to say, the respective 1992 releases in the style were marked by an obvious nod to the past, be it the one lived by Bathory, Hellhammer, Venom or Sodom, and the self-titled debut out of Varg Vikernes' one-man project was no exception.

To be clear, "Burzum" does strike a bit closer at the streaming, flowing, melodic tremolo character that has come to typify the style than "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism" or "A Blaze In The Northern Sky" do, but it has a near equal musical memory of the 1st wave 80s conventions and slight tendency towards the more occult oriented death metal sound that predated the gore-obsessed scene of the early 90s. But the greatest point of contrast is Varg's utterly raucous almost to the point of torturous vocal display. Unlike the deep grunts or goblin-like ravings that typified most contemporary offerings, what is heard is very human sounding, albeit an exaggerated dose of what a human being in a state of utter suffering would sound like. For many, it's a bit too much to handle, as was likely the case with a number of early grindcore/goregrind releases, but it generally suits what is going on musically, despite being a little too high in the mix at a few key points.

From one song to the next, it is clear that while Varg is very much situated in the musical climate of the year, his own unique quirks and fascination with droning and ambient ideas are very present. In addition to a rather creepy and dissonant sounding keyboard instrumental in "Channeling The Power Of Souls Into A New God", contrasting with the largely contemplative and restful numbers that were on subsequent albums, many of the riffs contain tuneful tremolo melodies that are very different from the largely thrash infused riffs common to Bathory's 80s offerings and earlier Mayhem works leading up to this point. Particularly in the cases of "Ea, Lord Of The Depths" and "My Journey To The Stars" these lead guitar ideas have an almost singing quality to them, and were probably very influential in shaping what became the early offerings of Gorgoroth.

This album's outlier status doesn't end with the rest of the early Norwegian scene, but also takes shape with regard to subsequent releases. With the remnant of earlier thrash infused blackness from the 80s comes a somewhat more virtuosic musical character, resulting in more ideas being jammed into shorter songs and having more of an accessibility factor for anyone not necessarily into the drawn out, droning character that became standard with "Transylvanian Hunger" and "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss". There is also a short thrasher in "War" that sounds a bit closer to a late 80s Mayhem song, complete with a guest guitar solo slot by Euronymous himself, channeling his usual influences from the Slayer and Bathory formula and shredding in a disjointed, choppy fashion for the last 30 seconds of the song. It's auspicious in that it's probably the closest to an out and out throwback to the 1st wave, in contrast to a set of songs that, while still tied in with the older paradigm to an extent, are far more advanced towards the commonly recognized sound than otherwise.

Pure in a musical sense, this is the weakest of the early Burzum full length albums, for no other reason than that it's the least consistent from one song to the next. The focus is definitely on the English translation of the band's Tolkien black-speak name of darkness, but the darkness is not the peculiar niche that Varg is more readily know for. From a historical standpoint, this album is probably the most monumental as it seems to be the most widely imitated, especially by some prominent Norwegian bands that cropped up soon after. But for all the distinctions that anyone else may or may not make, this is definitely a top notch representation of the seemingly endless wellspring from which many rawer black metal bands continue to flow.

The lone wanderer in mist. The shade itself. The black and white image which graces the cover of the 1992 Burzum s/t debut could not be more suited to the musician behind its conception, for Varg Vikernes (Count Grishnackh) has always seen fit to tread a path apart, of his own making, for better or worse. But outside of the notoriety this individual has created through his statements and actions, Burzum is actually a pretty poignant album because of the fundamentals it established. Vikernes is by no means the first human being to write and perform all instruments on an album (even a metal album) himself, but as far as the solitary aesthetic within this particular genre, the 'one man' black metal band, its obvious that the breadcrumb aspirations of many future suitors could be traced back to this particular Norse granary.

For another, Vikernes had set out to separate himself from what he considered dangerous trend and mediocrity within the reaches of extreme metal, the ever technically inclined gear whoring that death metal had become in its incessant strive towards brutality. Burzum is not the work of a man hanging out about his local music store offering fellatio to the latest brand name wizardry, but that of a minimalist. One who enters the audio market with nothing other than a daring imagination and whatever instruments are on hand. I've got no particular gripe with musicians who are particular about what equipment they use, mind you. To each his own. Engineering, tonal quality and the visual aesthetics of instruments and amplifiers are obviously of great importance to a great many composers and performers. However, I would be lying to say that I didn't find Varg's ethics for the time to be refreshing; the Burzum album itself is ample proof that such a philosophy could translate into memorable, important music.

And memorable this debut is, as one of the most primal offerings of its variety, yet satisfyingly structured. This is a cut above demo or rehearsal level quality, but implicitly simple. You won't hear the crashing calamity of Venom at the dawn of the 80s, or the first three ripping Bathory LPs, but a contrast of calm, flowing melodies and Varg's wraith-like, shrieking vocals which felt borne more of direct pain than pleasing harmony; as if he was stabbing himself in the foot while hurtling dark promises into the studio microphone, howling as often as delivering the lyrics. The drums are competent but dry, tinny cadences delivered through slow to mid paces, heavier on the snare and cymbals than the bass and toms. The axes shorn of repetitious, carnal melodies that eschew complexity for dramatic desolation; the few lead lines kept close to the rhythmic skeleton (as in "Ea, Lord of the Depths"). The bass is the antithesis of rocket science, as it too hovers very near the guitar passages, a shadow of certainty.

The consistency of its content is the one region in which this album suffers, albeit a very mild ailment. The first 5-6 tracks are captivating, but once it spins off into its more expansive pieces like "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit" or "My Journey to the Stars", I got the impression that the riffs were overwrought and slowly lost their gathered luster. Not the case for "Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown", with its immediate charge into harrowing, belligerent agony, or the subtly shifts in "Ea, Lord of the Depths" (the alternating chord pattern at 2:20 is stupendously eerie and enthralling). Not the case either for "Spell of Destruction's" bleak crawling, or the abrupt shift towards straight, dirty heavy metal that is "War" (with a central riff reminiscent of Destruction's "Curse the Gods", or the bridge of Sabbath's legendary "Symptom of the Universe"). But "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit" taunts us with a few mesmeric passages and then beats us in the face with them until we're numb of being numb; and the same could almost be said for "My Journey to the Stars", 1-2 decent riffs and transitions but ultimately the guitars and double bass drive are not all that appealing.

Burzum also features a few ambient excursions, perhaps an unintended prospectus on what was to follow on ensuing efforts, but tasteful enough. "Channeling the Power of Souls into a New God" is simply a pair of primitive synth lines, one droning powerfully the with backing notes, the other repeating a melancholic, softer pattern alongside, almost like some mausoleum in a primitive video game soundtrack. "Dungeons of Darkness" is the more interesting, with a dark swell of implied subterranean atmosphere that slowly erupts into loose percussion, tumescent synthesizers capped off in freakish electrodes. There's also "The Crying Orc", which is less than a minute of simple guitar melodies ringing off into the mists, but the notation here isn't given the time it would need to manifest the listener's sorrow.

In the end, I found there to be about 40 out of 48 minutes here which have compelled me through the years to revisit. This is raw imagination, stripped of excess ballast and sincere in its reproach towards humanity, evoked here through lyrical libations to Babylonian myth ("Ea"), fantasy, destruction and dour mysticism. Burzum is not the most impressive of Varg's albums in hindsight, but it lays much of the brickwork that favorites like Filosofem and Hvis Lyset Tar Oss would stand upon, and it speaks with a voice of its own, a frightening and permeating chill at any depth of comprehension. As a work of influence, it drowns even that.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This self-titled LP debut by Burzum competes with Transilvanian Hunger for best black metal record of all time in my opinion. Every other Burzum influenced band no matter how good they might be (and there are few to none) sound downright silly in comparison to this misanthropic mastery of Norwegian heathenry. The concept behind this album is simple: to entrance you with pagan legend in the starkest possible sense of Norse context. It may sound complicated in idea but here it is simple in design. Works of genius are never elaborate; only honest and original. This was made by someone who is in touch with his heritage and knew how to express it in accordance with the simplicity of nature which he was in tune with. That someone is none other than Count Grishnackh. I will not delve into the man’s already well documented notoriety except to say that his reputation outside the studio is the consequence of a spirited conviction vice the other way around. Whether that facet of him is misguided or not is for none of us to decide since we don’t know him personally nor present when and where any of those events actually took place. This is about Burzum. The music. The haunting sounds of…

...Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown. The blasts beats on this first track make it pretty clear that this is one straight forward black metal album unlike Varg’s later albums which incorporated more ambient details. The layers of his guitars are profound. The speed is fast and the riffs are primitive tones of blunt atmosphere. There is a combative sense of urgency in the percussion. Varg is a very good drummer for this kind of black metal. He has established his own rhythms and variances when the song slows down and it never seems off. No surprise that the bass is not very noticeable but it is more functional than what you might expect even though it is nowhere near as hypnotic as his playing of the instrument when he recorded with Mayhem. The speedy passage on this song toward the end is a black metal clinic. This shows off the thin production quality and it sounds evil as ever. Blazing through and down until you can no longer fathom what can possibly be encountered only then when you are swallowed up by…

…Ea, Lord of the Depths as he lurks the chasms of the Baltic. This song feels like a celebration of pure Tolkien. I’ve always found it to be one of Burzum’s trademark-like songs in sound. There is a little wobbly honk of feedback right after the beats kick in and the diminished chords ram this beast through. It’s all so perfect and so organic. This the type of Burzum song that makes me picture the band’s album covers because the sound is so stark and ancient. I mentioned the bass earlier and it’s invisible but effective presence but here if you listen perceptively, the bass on here is what gives the song aggression. I would describe it as a sort of audio illusion since the riffs are what will grab you the most. The mix of the bass on this is ringing all the way through in a very “aquatic” way. People are so used to not even paying attention to the bass on most black metal now because it is typically marginalized in a lot of records in the genre but you cannot underestimate Varg’s trickery in using it as a secret ingredient to project even more dissonance on these riffs and blasts. I was one to pick up on it though as it seemed to be the musical representation of the mythical beast in the title as it slithered and slurped up any seafaring souls of yore. Even if those souls could chart a course around him in those dark waters they might not be as fortunate to stave off the eerie…

…Black Spell of Destruction! Melancholy and foreboding chants of disharmonic serenity awaits in this cold skinned black metal movement. While Vikernes’ vocals are not the greatest in the genre, at least they are different than most of what other bands were doing at the time. His are torturous and primal but terrifying all at the same time. This song is very slow and is driven by pertinent beats while chromatic values are placed throughout one serpentine scale. This song sounds like a medieval tale of torture and you will feel it as such as the drum pattern guides you along what sounds to be a labyrinth of cold, dark air where much suffering takes place and where no one comes out! It’s an atmosphere that can only be created by a tyrant mind and while the captives of his creation lament their own presence, the mastermind is already busy…

…Channeling The Power Of Souls Into A New God and that deity is getting restless. This mood piece is actually the ambient conclusion to Side Hate. Burzum is the band most prominent for including these synthesizer pieces to go along with his track lists in black metal. As simple as this song sounds, it actually probably took a long time to come up with since there are actually a few complex loops overlapping each other and drifting in and out of several notes with mystical pace. It’s very soothing and hypnotic but creepy at the same time. Don’t get to comfortable because Burzum declares an all out…

…War! What is it good for? Well, absolutely nothin’ except for a chance to enjoy a token thrash song by Burzum! We are now on Side Winter but that doesn’t mean it is time to bundle up and call a temporary ceasefire until spring. This song is a nod to Bathory from the sounds of it but I did not recognize it as such right away due to the vocal presentation by Varg. The pace is about accurate for what is typical of Bathory’s early work. This is a track that is overlooked in Burzum’s discography since the material in Filosofem is more recognizable than this black thrash type of effort. Euronymous cameos with a ratty raw guitar solo at the end that was interesting to hear. Once the fields have been wasted and the bodies of soldiers strewn all throughout the forests, you can sense misery and fallout by the surviving victims and one of them to be found is…

…The Crying Orc as he contemplates suicide. This is a short interlude of brilliant Norwegian black metal darkness. It feels like it was authored by a long ago Pagan woodsman who made music to accompany his Norsk woodcut artwork. Maybe Varg felt like such a figure and he shows it through with this song. I would not be surprised at all if he conjured up this tune while sitting in the middle of the shiny and quiet countryside as he reflected back in humility his own existence as…

…A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit in the grand scheme of Odin’s fleshed out frontiers of forests, fjords and foreboding rivers where trolls bathe and tribal lands divide. This original rendition is so much better than the Aske version which I always felt had too clean a sound. This version though is rougher and truer to form. It’s a dour tour-de-force about death and immortality throughout the lands where Christian imperialism has raped the pride of Norway’s landscapes. The bass-y slowdown toward the end emits dread and loss but may the ghosts of Nordland avenge? That’s the idea behind the vigor in this song as Varg screams and beats his way through the elongated passages of depressive dissonance. Varg must have envisioned the fallout from this tale when he dreamt up…

…My Journey To The Stars. Whether Valhalla is that place or some other astral realm of enshrinement is unknown but the trip is a furious one. The opening riff sounds a little like Ea. It’s a blazing assault of grassroots black metal. The drumming is concise and agile. The bass is more aligned with that which was played on the previous song in that it follows more traditional patterns of conforming structure. Varg is a well organized musical compositionist. Every song on this album has a purpose in the track list. If My Journey To The Stars is thought to be the final place of rest, then it seems likely that you would be wrong because there lies cruelty and unending solitude at the end of this violent jaunt. So many sacrifices and adventurous turns only to find yourself naked, freezing and forever chained up in…

…Dungeons of Darkness where you will go insane with solitude and helplessness. Yes, even the Gods keep such places for their own whim. Another electronic/ ambient track, many will dismiss this one as nonsensical minimalist atmosphere but it is impressively engineered to sound like such a rickety forebode. If you want to know what harsh, three dimensional drone might sound like, this is a very good example. Not only that, but it’s perfectly long and echoes the solitude of ages! This is a fantastic ending to a perfect album. Filosofem was a huge achievement from Burzum, but this album is more upfront, take-no-prisoners type of aggression in pure black metal.

A personal pet peeve of mine has always been when (even by my other favorite) bands proclaim themselves as not musicians but “artists”. This has always annoyed me because it reeks of self-importance and arrogance in pretentious fashion no matter how good their albums are. But this record by Burzum is probably the only piece of work that I would call pure art and music.

As one of the most notorious bands in the Norwegian black metal, Burzum emerged from the darkest thoughts of abysmal misanthropist known as Varg Vikernes. Due to his extremely delivered taste of raw black metal, this self titled debut is perhaps the most essential record that one must have in their possession. The album kicks in with “Feeble Screams from Forests Unknown” which in my estimation is a combination of raw and aggressive old school black metal. At first when I was listening to it, this album rather annoying and very in comprehensive in terms of song writings. Unknown to me that Vikernes quickly became one of the most genre bending godfathers in the early Norwegian black metal scene.


When it comes to touch the aspect of Burzum’s music, I could only say that it is straightforward in – your – face heaviness. Varg’s ultra ear piercing screams and savagely distorted guitar pummeled with insane drumming pattern have totally blown me to bits! Not to mention the undefined volume of his double bass drumming that really sticks out behind the music. To me, it sounds more original and unique without sacrificing the speed since it preserves the most authentic sound which could rarely be enjoyed by many of unappreciative listeners. I really enjoyed reading through the lyrics, as can be found in the opening track followed by “A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit” and “My Journey to the Stars”. Frankly speaking, I’m not worried about Varg ideologies or beliefs. Let them be Odalist, paganism or whatever it is as long as I could sense his ingenuity through the music he produced. Most importantly, Varg highly imaginative thoughts have been such a good deed for him to write the lyrics. My favorite track as well as its lyric is “A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit” whereby the music is unrelentingly fantastic and its lyric keeps flowing with enrichment of mystique. While “Channeling the Power of Souls into a New God” and “The Crying Orc” are far much longing and I wish the latter would span more lengthily therefore I could indulge with Varg softly tuned synthesizer whenever I feel like cannot sleep. Before I forget, Euronymous also did some good job with his solo in the track “War”. It is clean and surely to pierce your ears even for a brief moment.


As far as I’m concern, this album shall forever remains as one of my greatest black metal record. I highly recommended this album to add to your collection in which I think it won’t complete without any presence of Burzum’s releases.

This is Burzum's debut, and definitely the least unorthodox of all the releases. He actually plays what might be called standard black metal on this one (though he would do that some on DSEV too).

The production is actually pretty great. Raw as hell, much more so than any of Burzum's other releases. The drums can have this annoying ticking sound to them at times though. You have to love Varg's screams though; totally primal, and never more so than here.

So as the title says, when Varg writes actual songs, and isn't farting around with some ambient bullshit, it's pretty good. The first three tracks are real songs, and while I can't remember any of the details of them at the moment, they're all good. And then we have some ambient crap, Channeling the Power of Souls yeah yeah. When you listen to Daudi Baldrs, god help you, never say Varg didn't warn you. After this one is a really bad song, War. It's short, but it sucks. It's like Varg wanted to rock out or something, but he fails. Next is some more ambience, in the form of the minute-long The Crying Orc. Pointless, and forgettable, as I had to be reminded of its existence just before writing this.

After that, Varg kicks it up a notch with My Journey to the Stars. He apparently thought that the intro to this song kicked so much ass he would repeat it like five times during the course of it. Luckily, he's right, it does kick ass, and so does the rest of the song. So, following this great success, what does he give us? Right, more ambient poo. Except this time, sucks even harder. I suppose Dungeons of Darkness is supposed to give you the impression of being in a dark dungeon. It gives me the impression of being near a chain link fence during a hurricane. Really, just terrible.

As a final note, I'm a big fan of listening to albums, rather than just selected tracks. With that in mind, burn one of these that doesn't have the Aske EP tacked onto the end. The addition makes it overlong.

And so begins the twisted tale of everyone’s favorite Nordic white supremacist Nazi black metal Viking Satanist Odin-worshipping incarcerated nut-job. Let’s face facts here people. In the years since Christen Vikernes, a.k.a. Varg Vikernes, a.k.a. Count Grishnackh came to public notice in the metal world, this guy has garnered more spilt ink in the music press than he will ever deserve over several lifetimes of misadventures. He murdered one of the black metal scene’s foremost architects (Oyster “Euronymous” Aarseth of Mayhem fame) and gloated about it, then claimed self-defense when on trial for said act, claimed to be a Satanist in his formative days, then claimed to be a Norse pagan, then claimed to embrace national socialism, and ultimately has marginalized himself as a self-obsessed violent narcissist who will serve many more years in a Norwegian prison for committing a very stupid act.


Trying to chart this guy’s guises and poses throughout the years is a frustrating and useless act, as he seems to feel the need to re-invent his persona in order to continue to receive attention every few years or so. But somewhere in that criminally idiotic mind is also the vision of some of black metal’s most authentically bleak and somberly inspired sounds. I really can’t bring myself to dwell to deeply on the man, so I choose to concentrate on the music he made, which some may see as irresponsible, but hey, this site is about MUSIC after all.


After performing with some marginal death metal bands (Old Funeral) in his native Norway, Vikernes became impressed with the vision of black metal foisted by the aforementioned Euronymous. Said vision of dark images, wailing humorless souls, and faces painted in the manner of plague victims flew in the face of current trends and was decidedly provocative. Acting in kind, Vikernes formed his own one-man band Burzum (from a Tolkien inspired word meaning darkness, originally Uruk-Hai) and began recording primitive but effective recordings the evoked sorrow and pain at their most acute. The self-titled debut album issued on the infamous Deathlike Silence label is testament to that vision of anti-human music.


Whatever his personal wackiness, Vikernes is a composer of emotional abandonment like few others. His melancholy riffs and forlorn sounds are almost without equal, the tortured wailings of a truly disturbed soul. It’s rumored that Vikernes screamed himself hoarse before recording the vocals for these songs and I believe it. His shrieks are unsettling indeed, the perfect match for his mournful riffs. “Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown” is a collection of just that, alternated as it is over thrashing and alternately pounding tempos. “War” conjures up perhaps the album’s most obvious antecedent, Bathory, but only in spirit. Remorseful instrumentals dot the affair, most especially in the form of “The Crying Orc” and “Channeling The Power Of Souls Into A New God.” The overall feel is one of bleak despair, and it may very well have been in this state that Vikernes future violent urges sprang. Whatever the truth, Burzum’s debut is an unforgettable experience.


Again, the man behind the music is one to be kept at arm’s length ideologically and clearly one not playing with a complete deck of UNO cards. But at this point, he had what was simply the most personal and foreboding vision of black metal music to date. This counts for something.

I like a lot of the so called tr00 bands but I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon and rave about this album. I really don’t understand the great popularity. I fail to get sucked into Varg’s world. I do like Burzums later releases though. Filosofem anyone? But yet I just find this S/T fairly dull except for a few points.

This is the most straightforward black metal put forth by Varg. Varg made the right move into transferring his style involving much more keyboard work as he manages to create a much greater atmosphere.

The same guitar riffs are played over and over again but instead of putting me into a trance as much of this style does it just bores the hell out of me especially in Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown and Ea, Lord of the Depths. I get hardly any sense of dark atmosphere that many people seem to find. Ea, Lord of the depths opens up with an almost happy riff that sounds like it would be in some oldskool videogame such as Golden Axe. In fact I think it may well have been. This riff is then dropped into a much more boring one which is a pity cause it started out better.

The guitars are played a little on the sloppy side at times and the vocals sound like almost any bloke off the street could have performed them, just random screams over and over again. It is really nothing special. It could drive almost anyone to insanity or even worse, suicide (or maybe insanity is worse, it’s your call). I do like some suicidal metal such as Silencer (Swe) or Abyssic Hate’s Suicidal Emotions. The difference is with those bands, is that they manage to create some great atmosphere so there is the possibility of getting sucked into their world, and with Burzum that is mostly not the case.

The vocals seem to greatly suck on My Journey Into The Stars, which otherwise is an incredible track as it is quicker in pace and much better riffing. The guitars here actually sound really grim and atmospheric, but as I said before the vocals ruin the track. The same goes for The Black Spells Of Destruction which is quite possibly the most covered song in black metal, including covers by the likes of Beatrik and Nargaroth. In fact I have a compilation devoted entirely to covers of this one song. My favourite track on this album would be The Crying Orc, simply because it is an instrumental and doesn’t feature Varg’s horrible screams.

How other people can decipher Varg’s lyrics from his vocals is beyond me. If I listen really hard I can sometimes make a word out here and there but to do that I have to use all my attention and divert it from everything else but I don’t listen to black metal for the lyrics in the first place so this does not bother me.

I don’t totally hate this album, it has some nice riffing in here but Varg doesn’t quite manage to capture that atmosphere that he does with his later works. If the vocals were better then this album would be a fair bit better but still nothing spectacular, but as it stands this is fairly mediocre. I recommend listening to some of Burzum’s later works such as Aske and Filosofem instead as he began to find his potential.

I could start this review talking about Varg Vikerness’s (the one man behind this band) deeds but that topic has been covered so often already. I’ll just say that in the case of Burzum, one would do well to separate the man from the music. On to the review.

(Note: I wrote this review at the time Burzum/Aske was entered as one release in the archives, and I own only that one. The difference between Burzum and Aske is hard to notice. Aske has a slightly more muddled and darker sound, and if I would view it as a seperate release, I think it would come out on top, though by a very small margin.)

This reissue consists of Burzum’s self-titled debut and his only EP, Aske, which was released after his second full-length. The songs on his first three releases were all written in the same period of time, so there are songs on Aske and his second full-length that predate the songs on this one. The original version of ‘A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit’ is cut from the tracklist, but that’s no big deal because we have the remake on Aske.

Burzum was one of the first bands to play an atmospheric variant of black metal, and his later releases would be even more focused on atmosphere. Burzum/Aske is Varg’s most “ass-kicking” release, and Black Metallers who can’t enjoy atmospheric music will probably like this one the most.

Like most BM, the guitar sound on this album is very ugly. Burzum doesn’t yet use as many layers as on later albums (his trademark ‘guitar-drone’), and riffs are very recognizable. Compared to most BM albums there is a lot of variation in the guitar sound too. There are two solos on the album, both really adding to the songs.

The vocals are screeched and sound incredibly inhuman and otherwordly. Most of the times you can’t make out the words, but the emotions are very strong. The lyrics are dark, sad and dreamy and handle a variety of subjects. They are definately worth reading and add to the songs.

The drums aren’t the tightest in the world but are very enjoyable and driving (Track 2). Fans of clean production and clear sounds will probably hate this release, but ugly sounding instruments are a necessity in dark atmospheric music. Varg even adds some sloppiness on purpose: the slips in the solo and vocals of the ‘Bathory influenced’ War add to the fun. The production is clear enough to hear everything. Burzum is quite subtle though, and only multiple listens will reveal everything the music has to offer. The speed differs a lot both between and within the songs. Slow-downs in the songs are well-applied and don’t interrupt the flow and feeling.

Burzum/Aske doesn’t contain just metal tracks: a gloomy keyboard song (the only use of keyboard on the album), a creepy noise track and two guitar-only tracks add more variation. This variation (a trademark of Burzum) is probably the strongest point of this particular release. Another trademark is the unity between the title, lyrics and music of the songs. For instance ‘A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit’ is a wandering, doomy composition with some frantic and desperate sounding moments, justifying the title.

As an aside, I think the cover art is inspired by that song. I really like it but most people don’t. The well-known cover art for the Aske EP, a burnt church, is used for the CD art.

The difference between Burzum and Aske is hard to notice. Aske has a slightly more muddled and darker sound, and if I would view it as a seperate release, I think it would come out on top, though by a very small margin.

Conclusion:
The high amount of variation, original and subtle songwriting and the unbeatable dark feeling of this CD make it an all-time classic. For a BM album it also has the very reasonable length of about an hour. This is the best album to start getting into Burzum, and one of the very best albums Black Metal has to offer.

This debut LP of early Scandinavian blackmetal is without a doubt a definitive release. Playing is somewhat raw and simplistic, as Varg (a.k.a. Count Grishnackh) has never been an aspiring technical wonder; on this album, as on most of the others, he handles all instrumentation as well as composition. Song structures, however, are quite complex, as the trademark structure of a Burzum song unfolds in its unique way. This album was quite innovative at the time for black metal, in its constant alteration between fast double-bass blastbeat sections and slower, more drawn-out passages; the overall impression is that of a primitive, evil work, as the tremolo-picked, blastbeat-accompanied passages, offset by the more accentuated, punctual power-chord riffing of the slower-paced ones create the framework for the communication of the message contained within this work: a feeling of omnipresent sadness bubbles to the surface, as the angst and nihilism projected by the artist through his utilization of the characteristic structure of his unique brand of music allow the listener to see into what filters through - emotive, immensely atmospheric music, effectively communicating at all levels the artist's message: a tapping of the listener's imagination, a subtle manipulation of thought, urging the listener to follow along the lines of the author's dream; eschewing reality by creating its own, in the musical and artistic wholeness of this work. Traces of this can be found in the blatant plugs to the works of Tolkien, such as the album/project name (meaning "darkness" in the Black Speech of Mordor) and in "The Crying Orc", and, naturally, in the lyrics.

Simple-by-comparison riffing gives way at most situations to a multi-layered sound, with single notes played over the riff accentuating either the melodic or atonal structure, which is inherently counterpoint music despite the relative simplicity of composition, with sometimes weirder tones blending into the mix in a far subtler manipulation of harmonious structure. Songs are composed in the way of a theme repeating itself in different variations, changing in nature and progressing to unfold the composition in its entirety. Simple drumming, minimalistic in the extreme, at times monotonic and droning, alternates with fast double-bass machinegun-drumming rattling crazily forward; then, a relative calmness permeates, as menacing acidic distortion oozes far above and all drumming stops except for the omnipresent double-bass rattle pounding underneath, as if gathering energy, momentum and tension, before springing forward again.

The approach to singing is quite extreme and unique, the vocals being the long, high-pitched hoarse screeches of a wounded demon, stretching the lyrics and making them hardly intelligible. The album is divided into two sides, each ending with an atmospheric dark ambient synth instrumental; the mood running like a thread through this entire composition remains that of wistful sadness and despair, yet of salvation in imagination, offering the sought-after alternative. Some of the more obvious influences by proto-blackmetal ancestors shine through on some tracks (Bathory on "War" or Mercyful Fate on "My Journey to the Stars"), but still this album offers enough uniqueness, being surprisingly consistent and coherent for a debut release. In a first glance this album might seem to be nothing but juvenile crap; people whose interest in blackmetal stems solely from the lilting musical beauty and aesthetic appeal of artists like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir will be handicapped when trying to stomach this release. People whose interest in music is that of artistic appreciation will praise this work for what it is - a winsome, remarkable piece of art.