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BURZUM  Daudi Baldrs  CD   (Byelobog Productions)   17.99
Daudi Baldrs IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE FOR ORDER

����� It goes without saying that the original early 90's Burzum releases remain among the most potent and influential black metal albums ever recorded. While the criminal exploits of sole member Varg

Vikernes have always threatened to overshadow the music itself (just read Lords Of Chaos for the whole sordid saga), the impact that these records had on underground metal (and beyond) is still being felt. Ferocious, sometimes

experimental, Burzum's early discography includes works that are undeniable masterpieces of black metal profanity steeped in Scandinavian mythology; regardless of how one feels about the notorious character behind this music, several of

these albums are required listening for anyone who is truly interested in the sonic black arts. All of these albums were reissued a while back through the Candlelight sub-label Byelobog, retaining their original form with no added bonus

tracks or any other extraneous material, each disc housed in jewel case packaging enclosed in a printed slipcase; we now have all of these in stock, some at lower prices than before, and all are highly recommended to those truly

interested in the evolution of Norwegian black metal and the malevolent aesthetics of genuinely sociopathic art.

����� The oft-maligned Dau�i Baldrs was the first in what are called Burzum's "prison albums", a pair of records that came out in the late 90s while Vark Vikernes was settling into his prison sentence handed down for his murder of former bandmate �ystein "Euronymous" Aarseth. Written and recorded using relatively low-tech MIDI software inside of Bergen Prison, the album naturally alienated many fans who were expecting another Filosofem. It's definitely not a black metal album, and the sound is somewhat primitive, but it's hardly an extreme deviation from what Vikernes was doing before his imprisonment. Dau�i Baldrs simply extrapolates on the sound of earlier Burzum songs like "Tomhet", and if approached with that in mind, listeners will find a unique, antiquated atmosphere with this music that, along with Mortiis's albums from around the same time, stands as the finest examples of the "dungeon synth" aesthetic. The songs are all based around minimalist repetition, the melodies often laid over various orchestral percussion sounds. That repetition weaves of strange, otherworldly vibe on the title track, the endlessly repeating synth-strings melding with weirdly honking "woodwinds" and a ghostly xylophone-like melody all creating an odd broken majesty that carries through the rest of the album. The limited instrumental voices that Vikernes used are often obviously synthetic, and there is definitely a chintzy feel to these synth sounds, but that's what makes this album so appealing to me. And there are plenty of moments of genuine beauty here, revealing the same songwriting process that produced the droning, mesmeric black metal of those earlier albums. "B�lferd Baldrs (The Fire-Journey Of Baldur)", for instance, feels like an electronic interpretation of themes from "Jesus Dod" off Filosofem. And one of the best tracks appears with "Illa Ti�andi", where everything is stripped away and we're left with a lone mournful piano figure that plays out over a softly wavering bed of choral synth. It's obviously not for everyone (especially black metal purists), but for those us with a taste for Burzum's earlier synthesizer arrangements, and the sounds of dungeon-synth and low-fi neo-classical darkness, Dau�i Baldrs is recommended listening.


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