Ulver "Messe I.X-VI.X"

Messe I.X-VI.X is the ninth studio album by the Norwegian experimental collective Ulver and the Tromsø Chamber Orchestra with additional aid from composer Martin Romberg. Written and produced by Ulver, released on October 8, 2013, via Jester Records and Kscope. The album has been described as a "peace mass for Lebanon".

On September 17, 2013, a trailer was released, and on October 4, 2013 the track "Shri Schneider", was released for streaming via Pitchfork Media.

The music was commissioned in 2012 by the Tromsø Kulturhus (House of Culture) in Norway, in a cooperation with the Arctic Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra cultural institution. It was composed and first performed live by Ulver, alongside the Tromsø Chamber Orchestra on September 21, 2012. The band then took the recordings back to Crystal Canyon, Oslo and spent winter and spring in post-production, honing the material for its studio-equivalent.

Six compositions altogether written and produced, recorded and mixed by Ulver, this time consisting of Ole Alexander Halstensgård, Kristoffer Rygg, Jørn H. Sværen and Tore Ylwizaker, with additional aid and advice from composer Martin Romberg who also arranged the music for the 21 members of Tromsø Chamber Orchestra. The album also features contemporary composers/musicians Ole-Henrik Moe and Kari Rønnekleiv.

The band named some of their influences for Messe I.X–VI.X:

Gorecki's No. 3: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. It haunted us for years and probably always will. The Gustavs Mahler and Holst. Sound collages from When or Nurse with Wound. 70's kraut and synth. Ash Ra and Autobahn. 80’s pop scores. John Carpenter and Tin Drum. Terry Riley, again and again and again. Saint John of the Cross.

Opening song "As Syrians Pour In, Lebanon Grapples with Ghosts of a Bloody Past" was named after a news piece by Reuters concerning the flood of Syrian refugees into Lebanon following the ongoing Syrian Civil War. However, vocalist Kristoffer Rygg has stated: "This appropriation is not any more, or less, political other than an indication of concern. We live in troubled times. The song itself has a distinct Middle Eastern feel to it and coupled with sounds of vultures and war that title seemed both appropriate as well as contemporary. But we have no ideology for sale. Only our sadness."

Following its original performance at Tromsø Kulturhus in Tromsø, Norway, with Tromsø Chamber Orchestra, on September 21, 2012, Ulver have performed Messe I.X–VI.X in its entirety a further two times: On May 20, 2013 at Wave Gotik Treffen, Leipzig, Germany with the Stüba Philharmonie, Volkspalast and on November 16, 2013 at Teatro Regio, Parma, Italy with the MG_INC Orchestra.

Track listing

1. "As Syrians Pour In, Lebanon Grapples with Ghosts of a Bloody Past" 11:50
2. "Shri Schneider" 5:34
3. "Glamour Box (Ostinati)" 6:10
4. "Son of Man" 8:23
5. "Noche oscura del alma" ("Dark Night of the Soul") 5:25
6. "Mother of Mercy" 7:22

Total length: 44:52

"Much of this was recorded live, yet it is not a live album. We've spent long hours in the studio translating what happened that night."

The speech sample in "Mother of Mercy" is a Catholic rosary prayer in Italian.

Available editions:

• CD in a 7" folder (limited to 1000 copies)

• Vinyl 180g in a gatefold sleeve with spot varnis and gutter printing, 34-page booklet, poster and postcard

　- white vinyl

　- black vinyl

　- 300 solid silver mixed with black (including signed card)

　- 100 purple vinyl "deluxe lent edition" in handmade heavy leather gatefold sleeve (including poster, 7" booklet, CD and signed card)

• Digital