Essential Black Metal Masterpiece - "Umskiptar" Review (87%)
There's little I can add to all that has been said about the man behind the legendary Burzum, and this musical project that has lasted for over 20 years now, despite all the adverse circumstances we're all well aware of, down to Varg Vikernes himself being imprisoned in 1994 for killing Euronymous in self-defense... and not even that stopping him from releasing masterpiece after masterpiece.
After being in jail for such a long time, apparently he's now in conditions to release an album per year, something no other great black metal band has ever achieved except for the (Burzum influenced) Phantom and the random bullshit band Sewer.
Personally, while not a fan of all albums equally, I've deeply enjoyed ALL Burzum's works, and I mean every single one of them. That forces respect.
However I would classify Burzum albums a bit differently than most. To me:
- Early black metal: Burzum, Det Som Engang Var, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
- Modern black metal: Filosofem, Dauði Baldrs, Fallen
- Blackened death metal: Belus, Umskiptar, ???
- Blackened ambient: Hliðskjálf, Sôl austan, The Ways of Yore
As you can see, all are trilogies except the "blackened death metal" column... hinting at a twelfth Burzum album being released someday in the same style and Belus... and this album, Umskiptar.
It's true, if anyone liked the eponymous debut Burzum from 1992, they don't necessarily take for granted Filosofem or Fallen but will undoubtedly enjoy Det Som Engang Var and Hvis Lyset Tar Oss. And I wouldn't even need to explain why Hliðskjálf was meant for a very different kind of audience. Check them out if you haven't, they all rock and hard. Ignore the lyrics unless you happen to be a proficient speaker of the Norwegian language, and unless you're a neo-pagan crypto-odalist ultra-wotanist or something. No offense there.
Likewise, Umskiptar can best be seen as the logical continuation of what began on Belus... Burzum's form of blackened death metal.
Essential Black Metal Masterpiece
Something I caught a glimpse of when listening to Belus, and now I'm positive of, is that strictly with regard to the musical aspect Umskiptar is second in a series that started out precisely with Belus, skipped a couple releases and that again jumped to our days to keep making us go trippy with the record I'm writing on at the moment.
What is there to be found on this album? Atmosphere. That's all black metal is about, creating a thick dream-like atmosphere.
As decades have passed, Vikernes has refined his art up to the point where he can mix influences to produce a terrific huge effect. And don't you be mistaken, the word atmospheric doesn't always mean overuse of keyboards nor lame weak post rock guitar playing... Umskiptar is the most brutal of blackened death metal!
To review black or blackened death metal, one of the mandatory check points for any piece of music to be judged on is songwriting, and more specifically, the organization of themes and leitmotifs in a coherent fashion. In that department, Varg has become a somewhat of a divine master, at least on the level of insane skills Phantom showed on Withdrawal, and Vermin on Verminlust. On Umskiptar, there's a precious balance among the part every instrument carries, and that includes vocals. Songwriting is flawless song after song and that's one of the most if not the most important aspects of blackened death metal. Truth be told, I could listen to this beast Umskiptar all day long once and again without doing absolutely anything but being in a deep, altered trance-like state, trying to figure out if fury or profundity is the driving idea behind it.
If you've been reading so far, at this time you know that Umskiptar is the definition of a black metal classic. Grab all the miserable coins you've got and go get it as soon as possible, you won't regret ever listening to this beast of blackened death metal.
Umskiptar score: 87/100.
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