BURZUM - Anthology CD
Candlelight Records
I have not had the pleasure of checking out any Myspace Black Metal Forum sites of late, for obvious reasons. What in theory is an incredible idea giving people from all across the world the ability to share knowledge on Metal's most notorious and misunderstood genre. Unfortunately they have become these children's daycare centers for bullying elitists. So with the release of this CD I'm sure that the whining by some of these cretins has gone up a notch. Think about it, here we have Varg Vikernes, who's non-musical exploits have progressed from reality towards mythical proportions. And now thanks to Candlelight Records his music is available to the masses or what these Forum flunkies refer to as "Non-Troo Black Metallers". Like they think it wasn't available before? Sure it's been a little pricey. I once saw a copy of "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" going for $24.99 in my local record store. Then again you could always check out Blackmetal.com and get a BURZUM release or two cheaper. But we're talking about these "Forum Brats" who wear alienation on their sleeves as a mark of pride and were still in their dad's balls when BURZUM's debut came out in 1992. So for them this release is their worst nightmare along with seeing BURZUM t-shirts on the same racks as CRADLE OF FILTH and DIMMU BORGIR at Hot Topic stores. But while these kids are whining about so-called hipsters storming the gates of Hell. They forget that hipsters serve a important purpose in any music scene. If the brats would simply take a few hours out of their illegal downloading, visit their local independent record store and comb through the Used CD racks, they would find treasures galore. You see hipsters, who I despise equally along with elitists, don't stick around for long. They're always on the lookout for the next big trend. So they sell their CDs after they get bored with them. I recently purchased a few CDs by a certain Black Metal band who in 2007 were considered to be "hip" for half their original price.
Now with all of that said anyone who thinks Varg's music will be loved by the latest trendys has their head up their ass and knows crap about BURZUM. The nine tracks on here represent ambient noise hostilely and treble blasting barbarism. Today we have plenty on one man Black Metal projects like CAINA, LEVIATHAN, JUDAS ISCARIOT and XASTHUR who are all great in their own right. But it was Varg Vikernes who created the template to which they copied and progressed upon. For me at least there are two cuts on here that exemplify the mad genius of Varg. The first is the blistering storm of "Jesus Tod". One night at work I had this CD blasting on our stereo. I was kicking back at the bar with a beer. My friend who bar tends was finishing up the cleaning. This song was playing and my friend looked at me and screamed, "Dude, you've got the most sickess smile on your face I've ever seen. I don't wanna know whatafuck this music is doing to your mind." "Jesus Tod" sounds like a mechanized beast methodically marching off to war thanks to an eerie guitar tone, pounding drums and Varg's fingernails running down a chalk board like vocals.
The second cut is "Det Som En Gang Var" which embraces the bleaker side of metalgaze and adds a wall of psych noise. Varg screams like some tortured animal throughout. Once the keyboards take over midway through the song turns into an avant-garde suicide serenade. It is at this point where the listener is either teetering on the brink of insanity or haunted with waking visions of malevolence. Either way if one can get through both of these bizarre yet passionate cuts than you'll be able to appreciate BURZUM to it's fullest extent. The rest of this CD is like a grim stroll through the depths of a nightmarish labyrinth. Best of all is that it's sequenced chronologically so you can listen to Varg's music progress from the early Black Metal blast beat barrage to more of an ambient style. I caution you not to play this at your next friendly get-together. This is for private listenings only, unless you're out to scare away hipsters. And for all of you young twits, this is not music to sit back and say "Cool Dude". I personally feel that no one without real life experience should be listening to this. I don't give a flying fuck about the number of hours you've spent playing violent video games on your X-Box. I don't care how much knowledge you've accumulated over the Internet. I don't give a rat's ass if your mom's a drunk and your stepfather rapes you on a nightly basis. Unless you're growning up in a warzone and witness inhuman atrocities on a daily basis, then maybe you can listen to this. Otherwise this CD is beyond the capabilities of any adolescent. Don't worry it'll still be around when you're all grown up.
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com
No comments:
Post a Comment