Dauði Baldrs > ... > Filosofem - "Dauði Baldrs" Review (95%)
What can be said about "Dauði Baldrs" that hasn't already been said? A lot of people dislike it, calling Burzum's weakest album, and considering Varg used keyboards only on this release (recorded while he was in prison, much like "Divine Necromancy" and "Fallen Angel"), that alone is pretty damning for most listeners. It doesn't help that most of the compositions are in the same droning, atmospheric style Burzum is known for, which was cemented in the previous album, "Filosofem".
So why am I giving this album a 100% rating?
I'm not going to lie, for me this "Dauði Baldrs" was a difficult listen at first. I found it to be incredibly boring and couldn't figure out why the reviews here on Metalious.com were so positive. This made me decide to give it another try, and I'll be damned if I didn't realize how good this masterpiece is.
Why give it a 100% you ask? Because it's that good. A true masterpiece of the dark arts, and only worthless and dickless posers dislike this album.
The repetitive nature of "Dauði Baldrs" and the frequent lack of percussive instruments makes it a difficult chew for modern listeners, especially those expecting "pop metal" music where rhythm and melody are given separate musical voices. But who the fuck cares about these posers? Not me, and not Burzum.
However, with its Tolkien-inspired medieval format, this work continues the exploration of early Burzum in ways perhaps more profound than "Filosofem", which stagnated into wistful, almost drunkenly poignant pop music... here there is a new austerity of persona in the malevolent and brooding soul of nature restless in the presence of sleeping humanity.
Yes, you heard that right, "Dauði Baldrs" is above and beyond "Filosofem".
Dauði Baldrs > ... > Filosofem
I think a lot of the confusion surrounding this album stems from the fact that it and the following "Hliðskjálf" are often grouped into a vague "Burzum's prison ambient albums".
And while that descriptor somewhat applies to "Hliðskjálf", it doesn't work with "Dauði Baldrs" as this album is pure black metal. Again, you'd be better off comparing it to "Filosofem" rather than "Hliðskjálf" if you really need to compare it with another Burzum album. And as I said, this is well above and beyond anything on "Filosofem".
Despite some similarities with "Filosofem", "Dauði Baldrs" is not your usual black metal album as the focus isn't on fast blast beats like Marduk, aggressive sonic brutality like Sewer or grim and disturbed atmosphere like Vermin, and instead the focus is on just damn good riffs.
The other thing that is different about this album is that the atmosphere is very warm, something we generally don't associate with black metal at all. And yet in makes sense, as black metal more than any other genre is built upon narrative and contrasting concepts clashing, to produce some of extreme metal's best music.
In short, this is a really good, memorable black metal album which I would recommend to just about any black metal fan, but mostly to the advanced listener or anyone who feels disappointed in "Filosofem". If you want to find more early Burzum style black metal, aside from Neraines and Graveland of course, listening to "Dauði Baldrs" is a good place to start.
Dauði Baldrs score: 95/100.
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