Ultima Thulée

Well, Vindsval must look back on this with quite some nostalgia, and surely a bit of pride too. To say this was perfectible would be euphemistic, but the guy was around 15 or 16 at the time of writing and release of it, and what an amazing feeling it must be to have your first album actually released out for everybody to hear. Most musicians' earliest compositions from their teen years are rotting somewhere in a computer folder or at best on a four-track sitting still in a bedroom cupboard, but this teen right here had the hindsight and the fight in him to go and get his stuff released. Of course, it was a tiny label from central France that released a handful of albums (before changing its name, and releasing another handful only before calling it quits) but still, that label would be responsible for unleashing the sound of Blut Aus Nord onto the world. Everybody must start somewhere.

The synth and keyboard bits are endearing: who doesn't remember writing minimalist melodies (or poems, or whatever) at that age, thinking they were terribly deep and brilliant. They contrast in sound quality, strongly, with the distortion guitars and vocals which, as one would imagine, sound like ass. There's a recording error with the guitars around the start of 'Till I Perceive Bifrost' as the stereo chugs hit different timings on the left and the right channels. The guitar tone, as in the net sound that came out of the guitar amp and cab, actually sounds big and powerful, helped by the significant de-tuning of the guitar. But it's the mixing between guitar and drums that is problematic. The angry gremlin vocals are risible, and show the youthfulness of the artist - sometimes they're just random groaning.

But surprising maturity can be found on other tracks like 'My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap'. It's an a capela medieval chant, Gregorian inspired, heavy with reverb and overlaying a few harmonies to create that perfect fifth solemnity heard in sacred choir music. Otherwise the clean guitars sound nearly identical to the stuff he'd write much later in his career: that same plain and crystalline tone playing basic, almost ascetic parts.

In a broader sense, it's fairly amazing to hear that, even in a recording from 1995 with a domestic micro-label, by a 15-year-old Vindsval, both the patterns in composition and the character of the sound are so consistent with his later, adult stuff. Those power-chord progressions in the minor scale, generally melodic and epic but cold in a black metal sense, that eventually hit that one ominous chord (the repeating chorus on the opener 'The Son Of Hoarfrost'), or that very light delay/reverb at the back of the guitars that gives them that characteristic atmospheric gravity... it's all here already.

Some themes developed here are evocative and on the right path towards ultimate relevance, but even if the themes had been fully expressed and ripe, the production and vocals are too much of a barrier to really be able to reach into this and pull out anything on the tangible and fully credible level of his later releases.

Blut aus Nord begins their journey in a much more standard style for black metal, attempting to make a sound that's beyond frigid and heavy on the atmosphere. Ultima Thulée was written when the adept composer Vindsval was only in his mid-teens. Most of that statement makes me very impressed something like this could come from someone so young, but part of it does also show in how more than just the production is rough here. Ultima Thulée is chock full of freezing atmosphere and very dreamlike soundscapes, and for that, it's a commendable effort, but there's also problems with it feeling scattered and the album's parts feeling as though they don't coalesce as well.

Ultima Thulée is best at projecting a feeling of coldness and isolation. As though you were stranded in a vast ocean of glaciers with only the stars for company, that's how this feels. Synthesizers play in the intros to most of these songs and they do a lot for setting the stage for the guitars which are fuzzy to the point where the rhythm is distinguishable, but you can't tell many of the notes apart, creating a surreal blurring effect that, when coupled with the synths, creates a strong glacial soundscape that involves a torrent of airy blasts, only allowing small peeks of melody to come through. Ultima Thulée builds a feeling of coldness with melody being scarce, and stoic even when it does appear. That is the defining quality of Blut aus Nord's debut.

There are some challenges that come out with Ultima Thulée which also define it as well. Sometimes the songwriting outdoes the production and it's easy to get lost in this album. Perhaps that was the intention, but it still feels disorienting and sometimes I space out when listening to the fuzzy hail of tremolos. The songwriting is long and involved and many of the songs are split up into sections that involve setting up an atmosphere and make use of separate parts and under-layers, creating an airy, but dense sound. There are also some separate elements and parts of the songs that feel mixed a lot, but not blended well, with "My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap" being the most obvious with it only being a chant. It could've worked better if it were shorter and it led up to, or led off of something. Ultima Thulée is nice, but as that song, and many of the synthesizer-centric pieces demonstrate, it's challenging and feels a bit too piecemeal at times.

Ultima Thulée is one of those albums that is impressive, and shows potential, and delivers a sweeping torrent of frigid isolation in the form of blackened tremolo storms and brief flurries of synths. It doesn't realize all of that potential, but still delivers something that could be great if refined and unified a little more as a musical piece. There's a lot of separate elements that are very good on their own, which gives us a strong album, albeit one that feels rather piecemeal and could use more focus. Ultima Thulée is an interesting and oft engrossing piece, and it's great if you want to see more of Blut aus Nord's early progress as a frostbitten traditional black metal band, and it's goddamn impressive for something composed by Vindsval at only 15 or 16 years old.

Blut Aus Nord has been established for quite some time, beginning as the brainchild of Vindsval in the mid 90s. Ultima Thulée was written and recorded when Vindsval was only 15 or 16 years old. This album would be a tremendous feat for a black metal veteran let alone a teenager and it is truly a classic album from the most iconic era of black metal.

The keyboard pieces and ambience are astonishingly well crafted. This album stands out from others of its time with its frequent solo synthesizer passages. Vindsval clearly has a strength in building moods and experimenting with synthesizer patches. One such synthesizer patch, which can be heard at the beginning of track number two, sounds like a frigid, forlorn organ whose sustained notes conjure images in the mind's eye of unexplored wastes. The fourth track (My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap) is comprised entirely of chanting, further building on the dark solitude of the album's first three tracks.

When it comes to the more brutal sections of the album, the riffs are heavy and grim. The guitar tone is excellently crafted; the distortion is icy and hollow. This is the way black metal should sound. What's more is the ambience and the riffs fit together beautifully. When the distortion gives way to delayed keyboards (or chanting in the fourth tracks case) the album's mood only intensifies. The production is raw, and dense. Everything sounds like it's high on a snowy mountain top, forsaken in vengeful solitude.

The only complaints one could have, have to do with Vindsval's vocals and the drums. I don't mean for these criticisms to commandeer the positivity of this review as I do really love this album, but its shortcomings are worth mentioning. As was mentioned earlier, Vindsval was only a teenager when he made this album and his vocals aren't fully developed. He does a great job with what he has (more than many could achieve) often reaching inhuman realms of expression. But it's still a little on the scratchy side. In addition, the drums on this album are the work of a drum machine. Many won't take offence to this fact, but I have a hard time getting into drums that aren't truly acoustic. The beats are all really well crafted but when executed with a drum machine, the repetitive samples can be pretty distracting. Otherwise, it's an essential masterwork any black metal fan should have a copy of.

If I ever feel I need to put my ego in check, I remind myself that Vindsval wrote and recorded Ultima Thulée when he was fifteen years old. Sure, you don't need to look far to find black metal musicians who got their start when they were incredibly young, but a lot of the young teens mucked about with raw demos, putting out better-developed material once they were older. Vindsval had his rough demo period in his time working under the name Vlad in the years leading up to Ultima Thulée, but by the time of a full-length it's clear he already knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

Ultima Thulée is a painfully underrated and overlooked piece of work. Released in 1995, a year where the Second Wave was finally beginning to die down, Ultima Thulée is a burst of fresh air. Blut aus Nord would evolve into one of black metal's strangest entities in the years following, but even starting out there was already a weird Otherness to the atmosphere. First impressions had me thinking of it as a crunchier-sounding Burzum. Indeed, the fantastical, wintery atmosphere is here (albeit with far chuggier tones than master Varg is wont to use) but Ultima Thulée hints at the band's avant-garde destiny more than most of their fans lead on. Listen to the way "The Son of Hoarfrost" opens up the album with horror film piano before bursting into thick guitars, eerie synths, chattering drums and murky screams. They're not a great deal weirder than early Emperor here, but a lot of their defining traits were onboard from the very start.

That's not to say that Ultima Thulée should be seen as a step to something greater. My appreciation for many debuts often takes the form of admiring how a band go to a certain point, but I won't hesitate in saying Blut aus Nord's genius was already just about in full swing with this one; it just takes a different shape than what most listeners are used to hearing from them. The thick atmosphere is best expressed on "The Plain of Ida", where Vindsval builds amazing riffs beginning under a droning dungeon synth line that would make Burzum weep. Where the song might naturally stop some minutes in, Vindsval tacks on a spacey build that almost nearly recalls Voivod. Although the song titles might make Ultima Thulée out to be a more traditional black metal record, there are all sorts of oddities found in the music. For another example, the plodding riffs on "The Last Journey of Ringhorn" sounds like a death-doom interpretation of what life would be like on an asteroid mining colony. It's strange to hear such a strong sci-fi flavour on an album that's supposedly about Norse mythology. I'm not surprised Blut aus Nord ultimately changed their tune in that regard.

Ultima Thulée is consistently engaging and surprisingly varied in its efforts. I'm not surprised that Blut aus Nord could excel in more "traditional" territory (relatively speaking, at least) but it is incredible that they had their craft nailed from such an early stage. Excellence in youth can sometimes be attributed to luck and simple intuition, but I don't think that was the case for Vindsval. There was real vision behind this album. If you're having any trouble finding it, keep an ear out for the way Ultima Thulée is structured. Like a lot of the best black metal albums from that era, the album can take you on a journey if you let it. Ambient threads like "My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap" are allowed to take full blossom in the middle of the album. The end result may still be shy of the groundshaking perfection achieved on later albums like The Work Which Transforms God, but Blut aus Nord were out to break rules from the very beginning.

When Vlad were over, Blut Aus Nord emerged from their ashes. Vlad's music, however, was somewhat incoherent, lacking focus and unable to explore new ways of expression and musical ideas. On the other hand, give Vindsval a break! He was barely 15 years old when he wrote those demos, I mean, who can even write good music at that age? Apparently Vindsval could. And it was not only good but almost flawless, legendary, ethereal music. Ultima Thulee holds a spot among the ultimate classics of black metal and that shouldn't surprise anyone. Its unique sound and structure will suck you in from the very first second.

Most of the songs on Ultima Thulee feature at least one point that could be considered an album highlight. For me those are mostly some ambient breaks which occur quite oftenly and some of the song endings. Vindsval dared to experiment with clean guitars and even some solos, which were rare in the genre back in 1995. The flow of the music is impeccable and every track is in the right place to be. The music ranges from raw black metal to just pure ambient and everything in between, enclosing everything that black metal had been until then, in 52 minutes. The compositions are mature and not rushed, much thought has been put into them and there is hardly a single point where one might think that the music is bad or naive.

Apart from the compositions, Vindsval also did the recording and the mixing of the album. May I remind you that, he was 15-16 years old when he did all these tasks. Now if we judge the result considering his age... It doesn't make any sense. Basically a teenager created what might be the most amazing black metal album of the nineties (yes it might be). The guitars are perfect, both clean and distorted, creating melodies that stay in your head for days. The bass, performed by Ogat, is present in the album especially in The Plain of Ida. The drums, programmed by W.D. Feld, while not been extraordinary, certainly do their job as they should. As for the keyboards, done again by W.D. Feld, they are great at worst, with their innovative style. No lyrics have seen the light of the day, except from an accompanying text for My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap. Vindsval's vocals are a bit squeaky, but I do not mind that fact.

Twenty years after its initial release, Ultima Thulee is still a breathtaking album, an album that became an absolute classic. And it would be easy to presume back then that Blut Aus Nord might be an one hit wonder, but their next album which was totally different and just as good, led everyone to understand how truly special that band is. As for the original album cover, sometimes it's hard for an album to have artwork that feels like the exact depiction of the music. Max Gherrack though did it in the best possible way. For as long as the album plays you will feel just as if you were on that ship in the middle of the storm. In the end Ultima Thulee is an unquestionable timeless masterpiece and quite possibly the best debut album ever.

Favorite tracks: What's not to like on this album?

99/100.

Now we just need to find Ultrasound A.

What does it take in a person to write an exceptional piece of music? It's a question I think every reviewer must ponder at least once, especially when one looks at the diversity of musicians that can create something captivating. Rich or poor, smart or dumb, formally educated in music or not, anyone can write something of interest that can draw people into listening to it for years. One would think a worldly, experienced mind is a overlying trait of great musicians; a good album necessitates someone who has seen the wonders of the world and can express them in sonic form. Then, albums like this one pop up. Some musicians go their entire lives without even coming close to being capable of incorporating Ultima Thulee's sort of atmospheric presence-- how could Vindsval, at the age of 16, write something sounding so complete, otherworldly and fascinating as this? I couldn't even think about anything other than smoking grass and getting ass when I was 16! I still can't think about anything else now! Fuck!

Music is never born in a vacuum, but it could stand to reason that one-man bands are much more capable of pursuing a vision independent of the ebb and flow of trends influencing the given musical style at the time. Black metal easily falls victim to having too many cooks in the kitchen. Blut Aus Nord never suffers musically as a result of personal egos; the vocals and drums are mere background echoes on this album, with no intrinsic desire to stand out on their own, instead providing the textural base for the music as opposed to grounding the song rhythmically. There is no order in the pacing of this album; it is chaotic, and composed specifically to be as such. Amidst the chaotic noise and inversion of musical norms, though, there needs to be a central point; a structure to the chaos, a method to the madness. Through the swirling layers of hale, sonic winds, Blut Aus Nord's underlying purpose becomes clear: to give you the chills; to create a sensation of cold. "Cold" in this case, is not limited to the feeling of the simple sting of wind chill or a drop in temperature, though. There is emptiness, a complete lack of motion in the surrounding world, a certain solitude emphasized in the scratchy, hale guitars. Even though the entirety of the album is drenched in a reverberating echo, the guitar tone still feels very thin, resonating more through its slow, directionless drift with a gradual fluency in movement that defines the nature of cold itself. This doesn't just sound like a blizzard; it IS a blizzard in its essence. All it takes is an eerie little melody at the beginning of "The Son of Hoarfrost" to instantly hook you in; you will feel a sense of being surrounded while simultaneously coming to the realization that you are very, very alone, engulfed by a maelstrom of snow. Vindsval has said himself that the music of Blut aus Nord is meant to be a solitary experience- the kind of thing you put in your CD player, turn off all the lights and listen to just when the shrooms start to kick in. I've attempted to show this album to people in semi-social settings before, and it's just met with confusion and disinterest. You can't really expect to appreciate this album in the same way when there's tendency for personal distraction; it doesn't make Blut Aus Nord any worse at what they do, Vindsval just nailed what he meant to accomplish so thoroughly that the environment required to absorb Ultima Thulee is very specific. The care and simplicity in this album is meant to be appreciated in every note, and missing any piece of the puzzle ruins how necessary and complete everything feels.

But how does an album sound "complete", you might be asking? In Ultima Thulee's case, it mostly refers to the perfection in balance between the guitars and keyboards. Blut Aus Nord's ambiance is equivalent in quality to that of the riffs (they're perhaps the only black metal band other than Burzum who has achieved such a feat), sounding completely disparate in texture at first but coming together and creating this hale snowstorm of black metal. The entirety of this album isn't just a distorted assault on the senses, though. The keyboards are given plenty of room to breathe, sometimes for entire tracks- "Rigsthula" gives the same sublime, delicate chill that Burzum accomplished with "Tomhet" (with Vinny's own little extra-dimensional twinkle lining the surface). Indeed, one can see a clear connection to something like Hvis Lyset Tar Oss in this album, but never does Vindsval linger upon the same riff for quite as long of a duration as Varg. The music is constantly moving, churning, changing, pausing for moments to take in the scenery but trudging through the arctic winds; to stop would be death, to continue is toil. The riffing is varied, but the lack of more staccato definition within the riffs keeps them purely within the textural realm, and the music is all the better for it. There's not quite as much attention to detail as there came to be on later albums within individual riffs, and this is perhaps the one definitive trait that relegates Ultima Thulee to the role of an immature debut. Though the melodies certainly have a sense of personality and attempt to individuate themselves from other black metal, this album still adheres more to black metal's conventions more than any other Blut aus Nord release manages to. It's weird, but not THAT weird. The exploration of dissonance and linearity that is so thorough in Vindsval's music is present, but it's buried within the movements of ice-tipped riffing in pursuit of something a little more delicate and sublime.

Therein lies the beauty of Ultima Thulee. It wanders, but only follows the direction of the wind. It searches, but knows not what it will find--hell, it probably doesn't even think anything will be found in the first place. Vindsval, as a mere bright-eyed young lad, may have simply wanted to write a great atmospheric black metal album, but he ended up writing one of the French black metal scene's greatest classics simply because of the honesty and innocence in his searching for something more. That's really what black metal is supposed to be about, isn't it? Breaking boundaries, treating conventions like playthings, accepting (perhaps even actively affirming) that there should be more to this existence than we have and therefore trying to create something that liberates us by exploring new musical territory. Burzum, Darkthrone and Mayhem really don't sound that much like one another when you stack them up side-by-side, but together they form an established ideal for a musical genre. Blut Aus Nord's position in that black metal ideal is perhaps much smaller, but no less significant. The solitary wanderer who looks to the stars for meaning has never been a stranger to black metal, and Ultima Thulee captures that feeling of cold, beautiful emptiness we get when we first contemplate the stars better than any album I've ever heard. It may not have been the first album to attempt to grasp such a concept, but never before and never since has it felt so genuine.

Blut aus Nord don’t need any introductions, since they’ve been one of the most qualitative bands through all these years. They have constantly evolved and have always been pioneers as they integrated new elements to their music. This time I will try to capture the greatness of their first full-length work, “Ultima Thulée”, where they first showed us that we’re dealing with a very special form of expression in the field of black metal.

To be honest, in the beginning I really struggled to fully perceive what I was listening to. But as the listens were progressing, I realized that this record was actually a journey towards Thule. It consists of 8 tracks and, except for an interlude, all of them are relatively long but this is exactly the purpose. The atmosphere created through the compositions and the properly chosen production is really unique. Of course the perfect combination of guitars and keyboards contribute majorly to this phenomenon. Guitars have some variety, but most of the time are following a relatively slow pattern, except for some fast outbreaks that give a more intense edge where needed. As expected, drumming follows practically the same tempo, but also offers a decent performance with some very nice fillings and changes.

To be honest though, the element that amazed me the most was the extraordinary use of the keyboards. They boosted the quality of the record to really elusive levels with all these eerie melodies that can make your mind travel to distant and unknown lands. Sometimes serving as intros and others accompanying the guitar work, they were always perfect. Furthermore, it would be an omission not to refer to some acoustic passages and the psalms that can be heard in the mysterious “My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap“. Speaking of that track, it was the only one that had some lyrics available and they seemed very deep and philosophical, so it’s really a shame that lyrics for the other songs are not known.

Blut Aus Nord followed some groundbreaking paths in their debut album and really made a difference in the genre of atmospheric black metal. Of course this was only the beginning since they offered us more great albums in the future. But still this one remains between their top works and made me see black metal from a very different perspective. Don’t waste any time, Thule awaits you.

Originally written for: The Lair of Storfeth

(Originally posted by me to the Metal Music Archives: http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/)

Look at either versions of this album's artwork. The original, a pencil drawing of a grim, wintery landscape. The re-release, a surrealistic, colored portrait of a grim, wintery landscape. That is what Blut aus Nord is trying to convey with their debut album, Ultima Thulee, and they do it much better than many of their contemporaries. Ultima Thulee was actually my first exposure to Blut aus Nord and remains my favorite of the whole legacy.

If you've read my review of Paysage d'Hiver's Steineiche, you'll recall me stating that that particular album/demo's take on the winter theme will never find an equal. I guess I kinda have to eat those words as this album will get a slightly higher score than Steineiche, but in my defense it's worth noting that this album has more of a heathen flavor to its approach with titles including Hlidskjalf, Ginnungagap, and Bifrost. Therefore, it would be fair to say that Vindsval intended the theme here to be more about heathenism and such (which he would continue with on Blut aus Nord's sophomore album) than just winter in general.

Songs like "The Son of Hoarfrost" and "From Hlidskjalf" are the best examples of the typical tones set forth on this album: rawer sounding black metal with keyboards to generate the cold feeling and plenty of variation to keep the listener hooked. Variations come in the forms of both music played, which Vindsval has written exceptionally well; and tempo, an early example being the faster sections of "The Son of Hoarfrost", an otherwise slow to mid-paced song.

Another nice treat for many of the songs here is the period of quieter ambiance featuring keyboards and/or cleaner sounding guitar in the middle of the song. These sections provide excellent amounts of beauty to this wintry soundscape. On some songs, however, Vindsval made some welcome variation on this. "Till I Perceive Bifrost" doesn't feature one of those breaks at all (unless you count the intro), "On the Way to Vigrid" features clean guitar played alongside the rawer sounding guitar, and "The Plain of Ida" is centered around being more atmospheric with the keyboards in the simple but bleak and beautiful sounding intro and later the series of dark sounding pulses that lead to the eerie sound of the guitar fading back in.

Vindsval does the vocals well here too. The main style he uses is a sort of black metal screech; but amid the black metal blizzard here, it reminds me of howling wind. He does use some cleaner sounding vocals on "The Son of Hoarfrost" during the ambient break as well. I'd love to see some lyrics to go along this; but as most of you know, Blut aus Nord just don't do that.

The flow of the songs on Ultima Thulee is arranged with such skill that it feels like some epic wintry journey. "The Son of Hoarfrost" feels like a journey across the rocky mountainside during a blizzard. Then across the calmer, snow covered "Plain of Ida" to ascend a great mountain at "From Hlidskjalf". A pause at the top of the mountain while the choral howling of "My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap" plays through is followed by a descent to the beat of "Till I Perceive Bifrost" and it's strangely distinct sound of whale calls (wtf?). Then, we go "On the Way to Vigrid", stop for a pretty ambient break with "Rigsthula", and make our final approach to our wintry grave in "The Last Journey of Ringhorn"'s beautiful sounding finish.

The scenic bleakness and majesty of Ultima Thulee is what makes listening to winter themed atmospheric black metal so enthralling. Now that I'm in this icy prison, I don't think I want to find a way out.

To me, Blut Aus Nord is probably the best black metal band that there is out there, even if they aren't the "true" type.

It's shocking to think that this is BAN's debut album. The composition of the songs is simply incredible, as is the musicianship. There is a massive influence from Immortal and Burzum in the guitar layering, and definitely Bathory with the sheer epic scale of everything. BAN mixes these together and takes it a step or two further. The songs are quite long, with many parts, yet flow smoothly. They suceed in creating an ambiance of cold and unforgiving vistas, not unlike their Norwegian peers.

The guitar work is great. Slightly muddy, with a warm tone not unlike Immortal's Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism, it weaves quite a simple, atmospheric layer with a few flourishes of melody liberally sprinkled throughout. The bass is there. Nothing special. This album, I believe, features real drums...they certainly sound more real than the programmed stuff that BAN would use later on.

The vocals are a tortured, incomprehensible rasp, and sometimes a clean chant. "My Prayer Beyond Gigungagap" is nothing but chanting, and quite enjoyable. Very epic! I'm not a huge fan of the harsher vocals, although they are arguably necessary. This album could have been instrumental, and it still would have been excellent.

Overall, this is not the most original BAN album. As much as it is enjoyable, it seems almost unoriginal by BAN standards, yet still blows away easily 95% of the black metal out there. And it is, however, an excellent debut, and their most "orthodox black metal."

Blut Aus Nord is a mixed bag for me, which is truly a shame since the albums considered “good” are spectacular. This debut has an atmosphere still untouched by many black metal bands and this band itself, who figured experimenting was worth more of their time than pursuing this essence. Ultima Thulée stands on its own, like a mountain in the Alps wounded from battling the elements for millions of years; solitude, diminishing grace, retired, empty yet passively vigilant are the feelings invoked. The guitar tone is menacingly heavy, sinister, and decimates anything that treks through its territory unannounced. The keys bring about an ominous, foreboding atmosphere echoing high and far in the range of mountains – forgotten by the world and tempted by prevailing years of wind and snow. This is black metal in its most pure, endured form – untainted by anything before and, to an extent, after.

Production for this gem leans towards raw, but doesn’t go further than how the guitars are distorted to a point where they aren’t effervescent, but incredibly bleak; castled in a cold, dark frame. The music, like the fantastic album art, draws upon mere black and white to depict the land that you’ve ventured upon. The first track that protrudes all of these signs comes from “From Hlidskjalf,” a track that bears that scars of war. It’s an incredibly blared song that entails the vicious, tortured screams of Vindsval; the winds keep up their rampant storm, never giving up the colossal tone of the album. The song eventually dives into a captivating ambient / riff break, where we witness (in ethereal subsistence) the keys painting a dreamworld. In no way are these keys cheesy or butchered like with many other bands; here they are beautiful, haunting, and completely coat the melodic, wretched outerworld that we perceive.

Not one song on this album takes away the spirit that builds and builds with each passing second. Its one long expedition with great variation and attention to detail naturally brought out, not embedded synthetically. It’s a unique experience that personally holds dear to the listener; while you're listening, it doesn’t even come off as something that was recorded in a studio with electricity, beer, and some computers. No, everything flows at a steady pace without forcing anything upon the listener. Its almost sad to hear something so gorgeous buried so far from civilization; sanctioned from the eyes and ears of those who’d rather go by their day listening to music so artificial and processed. The cold, clean intro from “Till I Perceive Bifrost,” the chilling prayers heard throughout the Alps in “My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap,” the ambient aurora “Rigsthula”… all bear witness to the powers held by the mountains – a part of one whole entity, Earth, withstanding the creation of life and likely to continue withstanding until an age when all life ceases and this world becomes a fragment in space and time. This album brings out this perception and completely distances the listener from everything the world, as perceived by man, is known for.

The ending to this crossing concludes with my favorite track of the whole album, “The Last Journey Of Ringhorn.” It’s a forsaken song that encompasses skullcrushing riffs, agonizing screams, and a deeper meaning hidden within. Bass on the album is deep and gloomy, but here it's extensive and vibrates in desperation. Vindsval himself gives a very emotional performance with subtle, clean crooning in the background, and drumming is precise and catchy as it hurdles through the snowstorm. Blast beats and the like are kindled like a burning flame in small doses through the album, but it’s the production allows it to remain on top of its game. The outro lays down the real wrath as the riffs rush down the peaks like an avalanche, overwhelming everything caught in the pass without mercy.

This is black metal at its very best: natural, convincing, frosty, melodically forgiving, and emotional enchanting. It’s an experience that the band still hasn’t replicated with any of their works (yes, that includes the Memoria Vetusta albums). It was my introduction to the band and I recommend it to any fan of black metal.

Ultima Thulée was the first of a long list of full-lengths by the now legendary Blut Aus Nord. It's grown to be a particular favourite of mine over recent months. I initially never took much interest in it, and considered it subpar in comparison to Memoria Vetusta I - Fathers Of The Icy Age, the full-length which followed it. After several listens I grew to truly love Ultima Thulée. It's unique atmosphere and fantastic electronic moments serve this up as a real treat.


Blut Aus Nord have hit hard times recently. The fans were unhappy with MORT and perhaps justifiably so. Considering the material on Ultima Thulée and the following full-length, fans had every right to be aggrieved. MORT lacked the atmosphere of Ultima Thulée and the melodic prowess of Memoria Vetusta I - Fathers Of The Icy Age. It was like watching your favourite film with all the good bits cut out. Disappointing. The early era of Blut Aus Nord represents the time when the material flowed like a fine wine. It was sweet and delighted the senses beyond all belief. The way in which the keyboards created a dark ambience and how the guitars followed up with a vast selection of tremendous melodic riffs was breathtaking. The Last Journey Of Ringhorn is a particular case for this.


The way the music flows towards a dark outcome. Depicting a variety of negative emotions and mysticism. The music is as much of an enigma as the band members are. It's incomparable to anything else. The major positive is how the keyboards are put to use. The way they create that divine sound that acts as the blanket over the other instruments is amazing. The emotion they draw from the listener is incredibly. A feeling of isolation, desolation and solitary confinement. The music zaps the listener and drains them to a point where they're simply overwhelmed. This is where the vocals come in with rasping growls to finish you off. Much of the music reminds me of a funeral procession, especially the keys on The Plain Of Ida. Blut Aus Nord's greatest era.

What an album. This puts 99% of black metal to shame. It's too bad Blut Aus Nord didn't stick with this style of black metal, even though I love all their other stuff. This album is just the best one though. What is amazing is that Vindsval did everything on Ultima Thulée and recorded it all as well. It definitely sounds as if there are more than one person playing. Ultima Thulée reminds me of Filosofem, in the way the keyboards are used along with the brilliant riffs and the cold shrieks of agony. The Son Of Hoarfrost is the first track on the album, and has some very great keyboards and riffs that remind you why black metal is so great. The Plain Of Ida is the second song on here and definitely my favorite. It has an eerie repeating keyboard part that repeats for 2 minutes before one of the greatest black metal riffs comes in. It's very beautiful, since the keyboard is kept in with the guitar and repeats perfectly with it. Vindsval's vocals are razor-sharp and somehow fit into the whole equation. From Hlidskjalf is also an amazing song. It begins with a Vindsval shriek and some heavy guitar. The keyboards in this song are also excellent and perfect. Near the end of the song, it fades out. But all of a sudden when you think it's over, it slowly fades back in before ending. I've always liked that for some reason. My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap is simply beautiful. It must be heard to understand. I've always wondered how Vindsval made that song. The rest of the songs are all brilliant as well. Till I Perceive Bifrost and On The Way To Vigrid are two more incredible songs with some excellent guitars and vocals. Rigsthula is a keyboard only track, and it leads to The Last Journey Of Ringhorn, which is an excellent closer with some great guitar work. The whole CD screams out perfection and originality.

I was first alerted to Blut Aus Nord with the monumental release of “The Work That Transforms God” sometime last year. While that release is excellent in its own unique way nothing could have prepared me for what dwelled further back. Plain and simple this is the most inspired release that I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. This album reaches me deeper than any other music has done.

I bought the candlelight reissue of this album about a month ago and from the first listen I thought this was a fairly decent release, nothing special but the more and more I have listened to it the more and more it has grown on me.

The cover art is a drawing of a snow mountain while the booklet only contains drawings of more snow covered mountains. This fits the atmosphere of the album perfectly.

This release is dark yet extremely beautiful and epic at the same time. This album cannot be described as a full black metal album but more of a hybrid of black metal and dark ambient with a touch of industrial. The songwriting is phenomenal. The music just flows together beautifully with haunting keyboard passages coming and going with perfection..

The music is the rawest production that BAN has done. However it is not raw in the sense of waves of static that black metal is notorious for but just raw in a muddy sense as if the music is washing past your ears in a calm wind during the ambient passages or a full grown Blizzard during some of the more aggressive songs. The blizzard technique is not too dissimilar to Immortal’s “Battles in the North” but contains a much darker and isolated feel to it.

The keyboards are used to great effect here and do not sound at all cheesy but add to this eerie feeling of being isolated. Echoing effects are added onto the keyboards to hold onto that note and create that haunting effect. There are many keyboard passages here but unlike countless black metal bands that fail to accomplish anything with it except for filler BAN manage to greatly strengthen the atmosphere and create enough variation so the album sounds fresh from start to finish and it just leaves you craving for more. The vocals on this album are horribly pained wails that blend in with the music perfectly but at the same time not sounding abrasive.


There are always some background guitar riffs (except during the ambient passages) going on that create the wind or blizzard effect making it difficult to discern. The rest of the instruments seem to fall into this sea of riffage for the most part. Every now and then the guitars become slightly catchy creating more discernable riffs above the blizzard. At other times the guitars play very mournful riffs. All this changing in the style of riffing just toys with the listener while at the same time not making them feel as if they are detached from the music but just flows right along with the journey. This journey does not seem to have a clear path or a beginning or end but is just some isolated wandering through an endless snowy mountain range.


Upon finishing this album, the only logical thing to do is to replay it. Never before have I ever felt such an urge to do so. This album should be purchased by any fans of dark ambient or black metal. Heck I cannot see how anyone should not purchase this work of art.

Standout tracks, From Hlidskjalf, The Last Journey of Ringhorn