Umskiptar (Old Norse for Metamorphosis) is the ninth studio album by the Norwegian one-man band Burzum, released on 21 May 2012 through Byelobog Productions. It has been described by Varg Vikernes as a "return to the roots", with a priority on atmosphere. The album's lyrics are taken from an Old Norse poem entitled Völuspá. The album was leaked two months before its release date, due, according to Vikernes, to a former PR agent of his having "sent promotional copies of the entire album to left wing extremist magazines" without his knowledge or consent.
The cover art is taken from the painting Nótt by Norwegian painter Peter Nicolai Arbo. It is Vikernes' final heavy metal album.
Despite featuring "a stripped-down" viking metal sound that "pays homage" to the likes of Bathory and early Enslaved, Umspkiptar retains "the fuzzy riffing and low production values" of Burzum's previous black metal releases. SputnikMusic's Kyle Ward described the album's style as "an odd bastardization of the usual black metal sound." The album also rarely features harsh vocals.
The track "Alfadanz" features a "submerged" piano intro and repeating simple riffs. "Gullaldr" is a ten-minute-long spoken word track, overlaid with guitar plucking. "Níðhöggr" finds Vikernes whispering over field recordings, a bass drum, and a "distant, wobbly tone." The vocals are buried "between sheets of black-metal guitar screech" on the track "Heiðr," while "Valgaldr", is described as "an eight-minute bog in which he wraps ghoulish harmonies around distorted riffs," with a sound compared to "Iron Maiden on Thorazine."
Artwork presents Peter Nicolai Arbo's painting of the goddess Nótt, the night is personified.
English translations of song titles:
1. Soaked in Blood
2. Deities
3. Elven Dance
4. The Sacred Tree
5. Honour
6. Esteem
7. Song of the Fallen
8. Gallow Forest
9. Black from the South
10. Golden Age
11. Attack from Below
Recorded in Grieghallen Studio in Bergen in September 2011.
Mastered at Whitfield Mastering, London.
From the Depths of Darkness is a compilation album by one-man musical project Burzum, released on 6 December 2011 through Byelobog Productions. It consists of newly re-recorded tracks from Burzum's first two albums, Burzum (1992) and Det som engang var (1993), along with three new tracks.
From the Depths of Darkness is a re-recording of Vikernes' favourite tracks from the first two albums, Burzum and Det som engang var. Vikernes does not consider it to be a regular album, and lists it as a compilation on his official website.
Released on the 25th of November 2011 in Norway, and on the 28th of November worldwide.
The artwork is basically a redrawn close-up of the gate on the cover of Det som engang var.
The album is dedicated to Pytten.
Recorded at Grieghallen Studios in March 2010.
Lyrics on "Ea, Lord of the Depths" taken from "The Book of the Dead".
Fallen is the eighth studio album by the Norwegian artist Burzum, released on 7 March 2011.
The cover art is taken from the painting Elegy (1899) by French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
Fallen was recorded and mixed during two weeks in Grieghallen studios, using a Spector bass with alembic electronics on a VOX AC50 amp from 1965, a Ludwig drum kit (with a 26-inch kick) from 1975, a Neumann M149 microphone and stereo Schoeps CMTS 501 U microphones for vocals, an OBH Nordica Harmony 6487, a custom Stig instrument and a Peavey 23 guitar on a Peavey 6505 (120 Watt) amp.
According to Varg Vikernes himself, "Musically Fallen is like a cross between Belus and something new, inspired more by the debut album and Det som engang var than by Hvis lyset tar oss or Filosofem. The sound is more dynamic – we mastered the album as if it was classical music – and I was more experimental than I was on Belus in all respects. Lyricwise it is similar to the debut album, in the way that it is more personal and focuses on existential issues, but the mythological undertone known from Belus is still there. I have also included some ambient tracks – a short introduction and a longer conclusion".
The album title means the same thing in Norwegian and English. Varg Vikernes has stated that the Norwegian word is the intended title.
Track translations:
01. From the World Tree
02. I Am Falling
03. Fallen
04. Madness
05. Each Man to His Own
06. The Message
07. To Hel and Back Again
Varg has given the translation to track 3 as 'The Fallen/Chosen (on a Battlefield)'.
Recorded in Grieghallen Studio, November 2010.
Belus is the seventh full-length album by the Norwegian one-man band Burzum. The first studio album to be recorded after a near 11-year hiatus, it was released on 8 March 2010 through Byelobog Productions.
Belus was the first album to be recorded and released after Varg Vikernes' May 2009 parole from prison. He had served almost 16 years of a 21-year murder sentence. The album was originally called "The Return of Baldur", but Vikernes announced the album in November 2009 as Den Hvite Guden ("The White God" in Norwegian). In December 2009, he announced that the name was being changed to Belus because some in the media speculated that the album might have racist undertones. He stated that the former name had nothing to do with skin colour or racism, but that it was merely a common name for the Norse god Baldr.
Vikernes suggests that Belus is the oldest known (Proto-Indo-European) name of the life-death-rebirth deity that is reflected in the Norse Baldr, the Greek Apollo, the Gaulish Belenus and the Slavic Belobog, among others.
The other Proto-Indo-European theonyms used in the lyrics are "Lukan" (equivalent to the god Loki), "Kaimadalthas" (equivalent to the gods Heimdallr and Hermóðr, which Vikernes believes were initially the same god, Haimaþellar) and "Kelio" (equivalent to the god Hel).
The album is just over 50 minutes long. It originally contained nine metal tracks (though this was later reduced to only six metal tracks) and an ambient intro and outro. The song names "Besøk til Kelio", "Alvenes dans" and "Alvegavene" were removed from the track list, as the original was only a "working track list". The album endeavours to explore the ancient European myths about Belus: his death, his journey through the underworld and his return. Although he described modern black metal culture as a "tasteless, low-brow parody" of the early Norwegian black metal scene, Vikernes did not change the style of his music for Belus and likened it to Hvis lyset tar oss and Filosofem. Nevertheless, he claimed to have "evolved" over time. Belus includes two reworked songs: the unreleased "Uruk-Hai" from 1988–1989 (with lyrics and title changed to fit the album's theme), which became "Sverddans", and "Dauði Baldrs" (which appears on the album of the same name as an ambient song), which became "Belus' død". The album's lyrics are wholly in Norwegian and were uploaded to the official Burzum website.
All songs written and performed by Burzum.
Translations:
1. The Intrigues of Leuke (Introduction)
2. The Death of Belus
3. The River of Forgetfulness
4. The Descent of Kaimadalthas
5. Sword Dance
6. The Horse of Kelio
7. Dawn
8. The Return of Belus (Conclusion)
Recorded in Grieghallen Studios, Norway.
Anthology is a compilation album by Norwegian Black Metal band Burzum, released March 3rd, 2008.
This is not a re-release of the Anthology compilation from 2002, but rather a new compilation.
The "Dunkelheit" video comes as a bonus.
