Hlidskjalf [Import]

1. Tuistos Herz

2. Der Tod Wuotans

3. Ansuzgardaraiwo

4. Die Liebe Nerpus

5. Frijos Einsames Trauern

6. Einfuhlungsvermogen

7. Frijos Goldene Tranen

8. Der Weinende Hadnur

Tracks:

Tuistos Herz
Der Tod Wuotans
Ansuzgardaraiw
Die Liebe Nerpus'
Frijinsames Trauern
Einfsvernt
Frijoldene Trn
Der Weinende Hadnur

Album Description

1999 album from the infamous Scandinavian dark metal act, recorded in prison as their singer was serving a sentence for burning churches & murdering a member of a rival black metal group with a sword. Eight tracks. Misanthropy Records. Digipak.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing Record!!.......2007-08-01

This an amazing record, but dont expect it to be a black metal album, this completely an ambiental type of album.
Now try to imagine, that varg didnt have much time to record this album and the guy could only play keyboards, so regarding those limitations i think its a pretty good album.

Wow..........2004-09-02

Well, this certainly isn't a bad way for Varg to end his twelve-year relationship with his Burzum project. From the start of his career, he made love to the music in a more aggressive manner with raw and dominating black metal. Comparing the start of his career to the time set of this album, Varg has slowed down and decided to nurture the music in a less impressionable manner and in more of an abstruse sense, rather than go to war with it in an enterprising and militant battery. For starters, the production is completely serene unlike all of his other releases. Although there are only keyboards at work, it's not as scruffy and sloven sounding as Daudi Baldrs.

Although the melodies are somewhat repetitive and show minimalism, they are very captivating and sometimes soporific. However, just because some tracks may induce the will to play this before sleep, don't think that this album is subdued into the realm of firmness and stability. Some tracks are very dark in atmosphere with some creepy effects and sounds (Tuistos Herz and Ansuzgardaraiwo are good examples of the dismal and swarthy sound I'm referring to). It's quite obvious that this wasn't an album that was made from skill, per say...but rather it was made from pure, raw, and uncontaminated emotion which had probably been dwelling in Varg for some time. It's impossible to lend your ears a brief listen to this album to be able to fully appreciate it; you have to sit and really listen to catch the twists, turns, and complexities.

This is the kind of ambient material suitable for a dark and rainy day, for when you can light a candle in the dark and brood until you lose yourself in the passion and intensity. If you're looking for some super, awe-filled piano shredding ambience, you shouldn't expect it from this. This is more or less for the cognitive musician who is able to think abstractly and not go ape over how grim or necro something is. If you can appreciate ambience and true passion, then this should be right up your alley.

Fantastic ambient music.......2004-04-03

In all honesty, I'm a huge fan of Burzum's metal work, but the Count's ambient synth music is simply incredible as well. It makes perfect atmospheric music; not something I listen to as stand-alone entertainment, but it's great for atmosphere and helps me during times of deep thought, creative writing, and even composing my own music (even though I'm writing dark-metal). The story line to this album is interesting even though I'm not an Odinist, and the music is perfect to bring images into the listener's mind while envisioning the tale that Grishnackh tells through his keyboards. Highly recommended to anyone who can get past Varg's "image" and concentrate on the important part - his musical genius.

Hliðskjálf! the throne which sits among all the stars, not 5.......2003-05-24

This is Folkish sound, pre-classical, rural medieval style (excepting some of the more epic tracks). Exclusively in the style of the northern european tradition of music prior to any admixture with other alternate musical influence from other cultures. This exclusivity was a conscious pursuit by the individual man behind this work, rendered, fully electronically (keyboards being, ultimately, evolved solely by european inspiration. which therefore does not truly detact from the spirit of this album but serves only to give it a fresh contrast).

Not only the music, but the message and content, take their roots from completely Nordic innovation. not even 'western christian culture' has any place here. this is what has been devised within the hearts, minds and traditions of those whose ancestry belongs squarely in Teutonic self-created history. it has a power which is unspeakable, it is unlike anything "musical" (the word 'music' seems alien to this) it is a sound which speaks only to whose who will to listen to the effort made in keeping it so much a thing in itself, and keeps it so very "true".

Hliðskjálf (the 'Ð/ð' is a character called an "eth" or "eð", and is pronounced as a voiced 'TH', such as the 'th' in the following words: "thus"/"then"/"though"/"the", as opposed to the voiceless, which is also used on this album as the character 'Þ/þ', as in the song 'Die Liebe Nerþus', which is pronounced as: "thin"/"thought"/"thorough"/"think") is one of the greatest albums made for what it is, on a level which is not fully quantifiable in any terms like most music.

this may very well be Varg Vikernes' final album, for he is aware enough to know he is more visionary than simple musician. he is one of the founding members of the Heathenfront dot organization (though no longer directly affiliated) from which he publishes the occasional book.

buy this not for the digitally recorded media as something to like, but as something to liken yourself to, and for the man who created it.

Burzum brings us arcane ambient audial nectar........2003-02-03

Burzum's ambient followup to daudi baldurs is a success, and even surpasses the original experiment. The music is evocative, inspiring one to think of the cold, grey waters of scandinavia. The stark peaks are reminiscent of harsh white towers of ice, echoing the agony of eeking out a life in the hinterlands of yore. not for everyone, but if you liked daudi baldurs, or danzig's "aria", this is for you. ...i have my english class listen to their radio show sometimes, and they often play burzum and count grishnacht.

Average customer rating:

better than i expected
Dark, bleak and crushingly beautiful
Could Arguably be best Burzum album
The Most Atmospheric album EVER

Hlidskjalf
Burzum
Manufacturer: Dead Ringer
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Death Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Filosofem
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Daudi Baldrs
Det Som Engang Var
Burzum/Aske

ASIN: B0000B1A5J
Release Date: 2004-03-09

Tracks:

Tuistos Herz
Der Tod Wuotans
Ansuzgardaraiw
Die Liebe Nerpus'
Frijinsames Trauern
Einfsvernt
Frijoldene Trn
Der Weinende Hadnur

Album Description

1999 album from the infamous Scandinavian dark metal act, recorded in prison as their singer is serving a sentence for burning churches & murdering a member of a rival black metal group with a sword. Eight tracks (all listed in German only). Dead Ringer.

Customer Reviews:

better than i expected.......2005-01-09

while it is certainly too short at 33 minutes, hlidskjalf really is a good and diverse record, with a good booklet and atmosphere. some of the keys sound a bit cheesey, but i can forgive it because of the circumstance (done in jail).

the music is enirely keyboard driven, but with some good drums (electronic of course) in some parts. it isn't just a long midi rambling, there are some very different parts/songs on here, from the bombastic sounds of Ausuzgardaraiwo, to the very minimal and quiet tracks like Der Weinende Hadnur and Frijos Einsames Trauern. the entire thing is drenched with mythological themes, and comes off quite melancholy.

all in all, this record comes closer to the definition of minimal darkwave than it does to true ambient. i would recomend this as a first ambient or minimal electronic record as well, because it does have a lot of variation, and isn't as boring as some other albums i can think of (you don't have to be so much in an ambient mood to play it.) not that this is the absolute best, but it is a very good record.

Dark, bleak and crushingly beautiful.......2004-12-22

In my mind, this album is a testament to Vickernes' ability to single handedly make cold, bleak music that reflects his dark, warped mind. Now that he's incarcerated he only has access to a synthesiser to carry on making music, but I wondor if he'd have made this sort of music anyway. Burzum was one of the greatest black metal bands of the 90s, and it deserves that title due to its bleak emtional sound that so many black metal bands didn't have. And even though the distorted guitars and the tortured screams are gone, Varg still manages to convey those feelings with a digital synthesiser. It could have come off sounding cheesy (if not downright stupid) had it been attempted by most other people. But once again Varg proves he is capable of capturing moods where most people wouldn't know where to start.

The instrumentation is very sparse and simple for the most part, but then Burzum always has been. That's the beauty of it. What he does with it is what is important. Here he has created an ambient abstract album with an incredible feel. If you can get past the crude sounding keyboard, you'll find an album that slowly reveals itself to you over time and captures your imagination like few others.

Could Arguably be best Burzum album.......2004-06-14

In my opinion, any Burzum fan must get this cd. It is a very enjoyable trip into the darkness of the woods. This album is ambient and classical and is unlike any earlier Burzum which was straight black metal. I prefer this. I really do think Varg has found his voice in his musical output.

The Most Atmospheric album EVER.......2004-04-06

This is most definitely not the original black metal BURZUM, but it don't matter. Varg was seeing before he went to prison that everyone in black metal was doing pretty much the same thing. He took the format of black metal and mixing with the apparent story continuing life he has. The first song, "Tuistos Herz", is a gong (?) banging classical masterpiece, moving in and out of worlds. The second song and my favorite, "Der Tod Wuotans", is a indescribable song that makes me travel to the stars beyond the stars. The seventh song, "Frijos golden traunen", lets my mind travel to iced trees and sparkling rivers of unmoved crystal lakes while I taste the sweetest bush rippened fruits. The "lyrics" (altho there are none in the music!) in the booklet pages are (I thinK) meant for reading while listening to the music. Varg continues to show why he is, and always will be,the King of Black Metal.

Average customer rating:

Final masterpiece
Enchanting neo-classical ambient
Tear down your closeminded barriers, this is a masterpiece.
Poseur Black Metal
different

Hlidskjalf
Burzum
Manufacturer: Misanthropy Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00002JV0N
Release Date: 1999-12-07

Tracks:

Tuistos Herz
Der Tod Wuotans
Ansuzgardaraiwo
Die Liebe Nerpus
Frijos Einsames Trauern
Einfuhlungsvermogen
Frijos Goldene Tranen
Der Weinende Hadnur

Customer Reviews:

Final masterpiece.......2003-04-06

The last we will musically ever hear from Vikernes. Burzum's music has always been of higher artistic standard than anything within the original genre, and it continues this way. "Dauði Baldrs" was already way beyond what most metallers could take, and this is possibly even more so. The sound is better, deeper, but makes it more difficult to absorb the nuances of the music - these are few due to the simplistic character of composition, but fundamental for an understanding of each piece.

Since the last offering, Vikernes has left the anger of metal completely. His quest now is to guide his people to a brighter future through a new context, based in pre-Christian myth and psychology. This, Burzum's second electronically pure album, benefits from its keyboard simplicity to build emotion and create something greater - higher - much in the vein of Chopin's piano-centric ventures.

Yet another masterpiece, and his final.

Enchanting neo-classical ambient.......2003-01-25

In leaving black metal, Burzum abandoned a surface appearance in the metal genre in favor of shamanistic retelling of ancient symbolic histories, making a lush soundtrack-like keyboard album that soaks the listener in an environment in which a narrative is then told. Although this will be a bit much for most black metal fans, a selective few will recognize, behind the changed instrumentation, the same songwriting voice that crafted the first four Burzum releases. Arrangements are basic but vary structure specifically for each song, in themselves revealing the largest portion of mood. Simple in rhythm and often basic in melody, these minimalistic masterpieces convey emotion in a meditative and cathartic poesy.

Tear down your closeminded barriers, this is a masterpiece........2002-10-31

...

Burzum has run the gamut of black metal, from minimalist styles, to highly emotional ambient/black metal, and now to classically inspiredkeyboard/soundscape music.

Those who say Burzum is no longer black metal, I would agree to a certain degree. Yes, Aesthetically its not black metal, but as pure emotion and intent, it is still black metal in spirit. The songs are multi-layered, compositionally excellent proven by its bach inspired structures, and carefully uses silences as comparisons for those times when the music is reflective. For those who think this album is cheese, you need to listen to this album from an emotive standpoint and take the aesthetics as they are because its more than the music itself, but what the music invokes.

As for the people who discard anything Burzum does for his political views, I can understand that. However, the music should be appreciated outside of the beliefs. The music on its own stands alone and for those who are afraid of liking something done by a racist, then you might as well disregard a lot of music out today as many artists probably are racist, they simply don't say it.

All said, this album is highly recommended for its emotional range and power, technically aware sense of compositional excellence, and very good production. For those with the ability to appreciate the music and the music alone, this album will not dissapoint.

Poseur Black Metal.......2002-07-02

Fending off hordes of would-be sodomists in prison must really be distracting Varg from creating good music. Instead, he puts out this oh so dark lounge music. Summoning images of long ago battlegrounds and desolate Norse winter wastelands, the CD package does nothing to indicate the horrible music contained within. But what can you really expect from a convicted murderer and extreme racist? Do yourself a favor if you actually like this disc; stab a fork through your eyes and light yourself on fire.

different.......2002-04-13

i like the more classical-folk type sound. Shows that Varg is really multi-talented.

Rock Music: