Another post about Ulver. It's way past midnight but my brain is still working. I am listenning right now to Nattens madrigal and I remember that when I first heard it, I thought it was one of the most frightenning album I'd ever heard. In fact, I didn't listen to it all the way through because it made me feel ill at ease. Now, I can listen to it without any problem and I see it as another strong and excellent album from the first wave of Norvegian black metal bands. But still, there is something else. Bands that came from that era used a very raw sound to enhance the evilness of their music. But without this, the music is still great. Transilvanian hunger or De miisterys dom sathanas would not be as good with a clearer production. But on Nattens madrigal, there are parts that are very well produced and that clashs with the raw sound of the electric guitars. Also, some tracks ends with disturbing bass noises that would sound out of place on any other black metal record. But this is Ulver, and not Darkthrone. Not that Darkthrone are dumb musicians. I generally see Darkthrone as a band that tries to not overthink their music to keep it the most simple. They evolve more naturally this way and don't try to sound any other way than the way they feel at the moment. Ulver on the other hand is a band that has an history of working with concepts and complex record and Nattends madrigal was no exception to the rules. When their friends tried to sound evil and used a sound to go in the other way than the death metal bands of that era, Ulver also followed the same path but used it wisely to make a more diverse record that still had surprises and that would not reveal itself on the first listen. In fact, my first approach of this record disturbed me more than any other black metal record. And contrary to De miisterys which is a fine metal record, Nattens sound way more epic to my ears. This is not a ghost like atmosphere like on Transilvanian hunger, this is battle oriented metal who reflects the cold and metalic sounds of the swords on a snow covered battlefiled. A picture that has almost become a parody now. But when this came out, who could claim to explore this kind of musical landscapes ? And even now, who can do it as well ?
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