Burzum - Filosofem (1996)
Now, who has never heard about Varg? That infamous black metal persona, the church arsonist and eventually a murderer, even though he always stated it was just a self-defense, spent some time in prison recording ambient passages, but before that he was a black metal musician - trv and kvlt to the core. After a hiatus lasting a decade or so, he decided to record music again and managed to spit out a couple of records in the last few years. One of them, Fallen, I found a really catchy take on atmospheric black metal aesthetics. It wasn't as well received by the die-hard fans as it isn't as cold and snow-coated as Varg's pre-prison era efforts, though. Varg is a very controversial guy and it's one of the reasons I've been keeping away from his music for so long, but all in all, it's just a music and listening to it doesn't mean I agree with musician's beliefs, so I decided to familiarize myself with arguably a very influential black metal musician. There was Fallen and now it's the time for Filosofem.
Apart from all that controversial ballyhoo, the music itself is pretty intriguing as well. The first track that kicks in has to be my favorite of the whole album. With its raw heavily distorted riffs and repetitious, almost hypnotic, atmosphere, Dunkelheit is a perfect harbinger of what comes next. And it's not an easy listen. Especially for people new to the genre of black metal. Varg throws his idea of what black metal is right in front of you and does not promise anything. Not only will a listener encounter an unpleasantly sounding noise and dregs of something to be called music, but also will have to endure a 25-minutes-long ambient track in the middle of the CD. If in the right mood, he will shortly discover a beauty hidden in those abrasive, austere notes and will be rewarded with even more of them. Personally, I've listened to more supposedly ugly albums and been able to find an element of beauty in them, but Filosofem is not a bad example of this. Lasting for over an hour, the album is a drag, but so am I...
Right now I feel like giving it a strong
, or weak
. I also believe that given more listens, this CD may grow on me, but the question is: Will I desire to return to this inhospitable, frost-bitten world? Time will tell.