Ulver

Ulver (loup in Norwegian) was created in 1992 on the initiative of Kristoffer Garm Rygg. This is probably the most adventurous group in the entire Norwegian metal and assimilated scene. Their first album, folk-inspired Bergtatt, preserves the fast rhythms and screaming voice of black metal, while incorporating acoustic passages. Kveldssanger , the second album, contrasts by showing off folk and acoustics to support Garm's clear song. In Nattens Madrigal, the sound is brutal and aggressive, recalling the demo Vargnatt, with a deliberately raw production, which evokes the style of Darkthrone. All the lyrics on these albums are in an archaic Danish.
In 1998, the surprise came when Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell came out. With composer Tore Ylwizaker, Garm pushes his aesthetic limits to create a definitely enchanting album. Electronic sounds are similar to the superb text of William Blake's poem, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. The album is also rich in guests such as Fenriz, Ihsahn and Samoth. Boiling fans, but enthusiastically welcomed by critics, the album is followed by two more experimental releases: EP Metamorphosis and a new album, Perdition City in 2000, ambient and ethereal. The band moved, heading towards much more electro regions, away from the rock and metal roots of the early days, closer to a band like Coil. With the classics and minimalists Silence Teaches you how to Sing and Silencing the Singing (regrouped in 2004 in Teaching In Silence), Ulver conquers the cinema and composes several BOs including the Lyckantropen Themes and Svidd Neger.
Blood Inside, their last album was released in 2005. This one goes back to rock instruments, be it guitars or the "classical" drums, but combines them with an elaborate synthetic arsenal, classical instruments, samples, and even the sound of the horn, so that the album is of great richness and truly apart from modern music, and the avant-garde in particular. Among the group's projects are a collaboration with Sunn O)))) and the reprise of Strange Ways by Kiss on the album Gods Of Thunder - A Norwegian Tribute To Kiss . Garm also released a first alternative rock album with his band Head Control System, and participated in The Adversary by his friend Ihsahn in 2006. And if you're a hard die fan, you'll have to look at Arcturus, Garm's other avant-garde metal band (which he left in 2003), and Borknagar (Garm sings on the first two albums). In 2005 Blood Inside came out, a sort of enigmatic reconciliation with Christendom (Garm changed its pseudonym and called himself "John Paul 2" for the occasion) but especially with health. Some songs, "For the Love of God", "Christmas", bear witness to Ulver's return, after his extraordinary journey, to a soothing music, a new maturity, yet with a sound resolutely more rock than the previous opus. No denial, but a syncretism of the various past influences, presided over by Garm's work (which one feels hard) with singing, which has never been so present in Ulver. 2007 sees the arrival of Shadows of the Sun, which marks the return of classical instruments (violons and cello) without forgetting the electronic penchant: one will notice the presence of the theremin played by Pamelia Kurstin, invited especially on the album. Dark and intense, it is sung in a more restrained way by a Kristoffer G. Rygg all in nuances (spoken passages even whispered on "Vigil"). On this album we can note the cover of a title by Black Sabbath , "Solitude", lighter than other compositions. A fantastic opus, and probably one of the most accomplished and personal works according to the group members. In 2009 the band, however exclusively "studio" for 15 years, announced that it would give its first concert on May 30, 2009, at the Lillehammer literary festival. A rare event that will be repeated later at the Brutal Assault festival but also in more chic places such as the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. 2009 will have been a turning point for the band, which has been enriched by a new member, Daniel O'Sullivan, and which announces projects for the future: a European tour in 2010 (including a participation in Hellfest), a collaboration with the Sunn O group)) and an album of covers of hippie songs from the 1960s. Wars of the Roses , released on April 11, 2011, is finally a studio album, contrary to what the band had originally suggested. It opens new horizons for the group, including a more art Rock orientation, but while preserving the electronic and ambient elements dear to Norwegians for many years. Wars of the Roses appeared during a tour of the band, during which the album was played in full during the concerts, and available in vinyl format in advance of the release date. On 10 February 2014, Ulver released with Sunn O)) the album Terrestrials from recording sessions held in 2008 in Oslo, Norway.