Ulver - War of the Roses (2011)

I've been following Ulver since early 2001 when I introduced myself to the band through their 1995 debut, 'Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler,' which I absolutely still consider their finest accomplishment and truly one of the best black metal records ever.

Sometime after that I took notice of the fact that they had released a new album the previous year, which lead me to, 'Perdition City.' Expecting more folk tinged black metal I got something quite different, but something I still immensely enjoyed. The same could be said for everything Ulver has done since then and even before. Its been immensely enjoyable for me regardless of the fact that the band has constantly switched genres or made up their own while pressing onward.

Their 10th studio album, 'War of the Roses' is once again something quite different to their previous releases although after giving it numerous spins I'm really not sure how I feel about the whole thing. Its an interesting release since Kristoffer's singing is used largely throughout the record and as usual he sounds fantastic, although its often mixed with ambient, electronic and neo classical styled music with a pop/rock underlining to it all. As a result I think some possibility of catchiness exists within some of these songs, but since its Ulver it does still have a very unique flow to it.

The record does also seem to carry on in a similar dark and melancholic mood as their previous album, 'Shadows of the Sun,' although, 'February MMX' is an exception since it's light, active and to my ears sounds like a potential song to hit the charts (not here, there). 'Providence' is another interesting song since the female vocals of Siri Stranger sound very diva-ish (or something) and in any case are not really the sort of thing I'm used to hearing, but I can't say I dislike the way they sound either.

I think the album truly hits its peak with the last three songs, 'England,' 'Island' and 'Stone Angels' since this is where the album truly hits a point of melancholy. Stone Angels especially brings to mind some of the old Coil songs, such as, 'Batwings' from their album, 'Musick To Play In The Dark Volume 2.' Musically this one has an airy ambient backdrop (with random other instruments here and there) to it while someone calmly speaks over the music for nearly fifteen minutes and while that may seem boring its actually quite enjoyable.

Ulver records are never easy to get into and it could just be that I need to save this one for the autumn or winter season since its hardly summer music. Perhaps under the right conditions or mood this one will click into my system better, but for now I'm only slightly awed.