Movimenti sonori che scorrono come un magma ribollente sotto la crosta terrestre. Si sa: le press-release il più delle volte esagerano con le descrizioni. Eppure, questa volta le suggestioni sono sicuramente calzanti, perché le tre composizioni raccolte in questa collaborazione tra i drone-doom master guidati da Stephen O’Malley e i norvegesi Ulver (che in venti anni di carriera hanno più volte mutato pelle, passando dagli esordi black-metal alle più recenti ed oscure infatuazioni cameristiche di “Messe I.X–VI.X“) sembrano proprio suggerire la visione di un sottosuolo ribollente, carico di informe potenza.
Tuttavia, i primi otto minuti di “Let There Be Light” lasciano che gli strumenti scivolino, senza colpo ferire, uno accanto all’altro, salvo risolvere il mistero con un climax sinfonico tutto sommato scontato, oltre che poco “esplosivo”. Sostanzialmente, “Western Horn” si muove sulle stesse coordinate, anche se la componente drone-doom diventa predominante, mentre lo sfondo libera, in rapida successione, tutta una serie di sonorità minacciose. In coda, ecco le trame post-rock di “Eternal Return”, in cui la voce di Krystoffer Rygg evoca, nella seconda parte, le antichità della Bibbia, della Grecia e dell’Egitto, in un lento vortice di malinconico abbandono che è sicuramente il momento migliore di un disco complessivamente deludente.
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06/02/2014
This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Francesco Nunziata, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.
Tracklist
- 1. Let There Be Light
- 2. Western Horn
- 3. Eternal Return
Ulver on OndaRock
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ULVER
Shadows Of The Sun
Ulver 2007. The Norwegian band's umpteenth metamorphosis
ULVER
Wars Of The Roses
The umpteenth metamorphosis of the Norwegian wolves, chasing ever darker, dreamier and more autistic sounds
ULVER
Childhood's End
Ulver celebrate 20 years of career with 16 reworkings
ULVER
The Norwegian National Opera
The surprising meta-work live album celebrating the Norwegian legend
ULVER
Messe I.X–V I.X
The Norwegian Wolves in an orchestral ritual of deviant, unhealthy spirituality
ULVER
Trolsk Sortmetall 1993-1997
A remastered box set celebrates the cult of the historic Ulver trilogy
ULVER
ATGCLVLSSCAP
Twelve "free" live sessions make up a return of many souls
ULVER
Riverhead (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Norwegian project returns to scoring films after more than a decade
ULVER
The Assassination Of Julius Caesar
Among the collective's most ambitious projects, a work that charts a course through temporal and spiritual history
ULVER
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
A new synth-based EP from the Norwegians, dark and melodic
ULVER
Drone Activity
Commissioned for the occasion, the Norwegian outfit shapes four atmospheric suites live
ULVER
Flowers Of Evil
For their 25th anniversary, the Norwegian wolves stick to the synth-pop vein of their previous album
ULVER
Liminal Animals
The Norwegian wolves pick up again from the melancholy, refined synth-pop already glimpsed in their recent releases
ULVER
Neverland
The Norwegian wolves rediscover themselves as castaways on renewed ambient-electronic territories
Sunn O))) on OndaRock
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SUNN O)))
Sunn O)))
The dark glory, between drones and Rothko, of metal's black priests
SUNN O)))
Life Metal
The drone priests return with legendary producer Steve Albini for their brightest album yet
SUNN O)))
Pyroclasts
The sister work to "Life Metal" rounds off the drone gods' prolific 2019
SUNN O)))
Eternity’s Pillars b/w Raise The Chalice & Reverential
The new (short) black mass from the priests of drone
SUNN O)))
Monoliths And Dimensions
Structural grandiloquence and esoteric spirituality in the American band's masterpiece
SUNN O)))
Altar
The drone-metal masters meet the fearsome Japanese
SUNN O)))
The Iron Soul Of Nothing
Nurse With Wound "reinterpret" Sunn O)))'s "ØØ Void"
SUNN O)))
Kannon
Anderson and O'Malley return with a gaunt sound laden with spiritual meaning
Live reports
Sunn O))) - The apocalypse that never came
An event to take stock of contemporary Western noise, amid high expectations and fog machines going full blast
Live reports
Sunn O))) - The cloud of unknowing made Sound
Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley's creature returns to celebrate its "Life Metal": a perpetual hymn to total Sound and transcendence
Live reports
Sunn O))) - Live at the Labirinto della Masone
The ultimate pagan celebration from the drone-doom outfit
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Sunn O))): listen to “Butch’s Guns”, the new single previewing the self-titled album
Sunn O))) announce new self-titled album: listen to the single “Glory Black”
Sunn O))) – Listen to the new EP on Sub Pop. Live in Italy for two dates in October
Sunn O))): the gods of drone-metal in Italy for two shows in October
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