����� Just restocked the Back On Black vinyl reissue of Filosofem, originally issued in 2008 on black vinyl with the original album art.

����� 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 on CD and on Back On Black on vinyl, retaining their original form with no added bonus tracks or any other extraneous material; 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.

����� Burzum's Hvis Lyset Tar Oss is truly a masterwork of Norwegian black metal, but in my opinion, 1996's Filosofem is the band's finest hour, and possibly the best black metal album ever recorded. Recorded simultaneously with Hvis lyset tar oss, it's obviously a direct continuation of that record's epic-length mesmeric sound, again perfectly blending sprawling, droning mid-tempo black metal and minimal, haunting electronic sounds into a stunning blackened soundscape. But there's something about Filosofem that's imbued with a violent, sweeping majesty that's unique to this album.

����� Opener "Dunkelheit" sets the mood with its slow, deliberate pacing and miserablist atmosphere, the churning wall of fuzz emanating from his guitar flecked with a simple four note keyboard figure; it's a great Burzum song, but it's almost like an epic intro for the second song "Jesus' Tod". That song's invocation of windswept ferocity features one of the most infectious and infuriating black metal riffs ever racing over waves of double bass, that riff circling endlessly and furiously, creating an almost ritualisic feel that washes over the listener. It's my favorite Burzum song, his nocturnal magic sharpened and perfected. And it's all constructed out of what is essentially just two riffs.

����� Filosofem often reaches such heights. The other songs are swept up in a near constant fuzz-drenched fog, the vocals frenzied and spiteful, the simple but murderously effective riffs fused to emotionally stirring and equally simple leads, the songs blasting meditatively over the relentless pulse of the drums, shifting from that furious swarming blast to a head-nodding midtempo groove. Those drums sometimes disappearing completely (as on "Gebrechlichkeit 1"), leaving just a mournful fuzz-encrusted riff and eerie electronic melody to drift beneath the hellish, anguished shrieks and chthonic rumblings. Synths are more present than ever before, buried deep in the mix, usually a haunting, kosmische drone gleaming beneath the riffs, only occasionally blooming into one of those skeletal, dreamlike melodies.

����� The exception is the nearly half hour long "Rundgang Um Die Transzendentale Saule Der Singularitat", which sees everything being stripped away in favor of those synthesizers. Much like "Tomhet" off the previous album, this is a immersive driftscape heavily influenced by classic German space music, and indeed it feels much like some old Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze piece, a sinister, simple melody looping over an expanse of moody electronic drift. And rather than return to the furious black roar of the first half of the album, Filosofem's final song offers a second part to ""Gebrechlichkeit", a strange, sometimes abstract soundscape that revives those swarming static-drenched riffs, but not before the track unfolds into a mysterious clanking realm of minimal piano laid over industrialized rumblings and low, resonant drones, slowly swelling into a final, funereal riff that drifts languidly across the final moments of the album. Essential black metal, one of the best albums that ever came out of the Norwegian underground.