Burzum- Hvis lyset tar oss

[Laeth MacLaurie]

Whether one views him as an intentional genius, an idiot savant or even a media whore, it is hard to deny the creative legacy of Varg Vikernes and his artistic outlet, Burzum. Like a looming mountain range, shrouded in mist and legend, he has cast a dark and forboding shadow across the face, not only of black metal, but all subsequent extreme music. And, among those mountains, Hvis lyset tar oss stands as Everest, towering above all that came before it and dwarfing all that has passed since.

Metal, as a genre, has excelled beyond all modern forms of music in its passion for transcendence and its embrace of the epic spirit of the glorious past. But where most metal found the epic in grandiose gestures, pomp and circumstance, Hvis lyset tar oss wraps itself in the mystery of the Void, becoming metal's most sublime expression by reaching inward, into dream and memory, to find both eternal sorrow and joy in that which has been lost.

Hvis lyset tar oss is the suspension of time set to music. It is that simple. It is that complex. The infinite past is reimagined as the eternal future; the future is the endless present that never was. Nothing is hurried, nothing is forced. Four songs are stretched across 44 minutes, and while none lingers too long, all echo through the imagination long after they are finished, each unfolding naturally, in its own time. This is an album that entrances with through sheer grace; driven by deceptively simple, but gloriously beautiful melodies and harmonies whose motion is the purest of elegance, themes evolving so subtly that even the attentive listener is quickly enveloped without ever discovering quite why.

But the magic of Hvis lyset tar oss is as much about the space between sound as sound itself. The album opens with the dreamspace echoes of the intro to "Det som engang var," perhaps the greatest single masterpiece of metal ever produced, a song built of the controlled but explosive energy of longing and the almost unbearable weight of eternity condensed into its many contemplative pauses. It closes with the fading heartbeat and forlorn keyboard melody of "Tomhet," a prayer offered up to the darkness within, the very essence of its sound hinting at the crushing silence of the void without. In between, the title track and "Inn i slottet fra drømmen" seethe with rage against a world that has turned away from the beauty of its past and burn with hope for a rebirth of ancient wisdom.

Always, Hvis lyset tar oss is locked in struggle. Between silence and sound, despair and hope, defeat and victory. Struggles that do not and cannot end, but form the very basis of any life worth living or universe worth living in. This is its genius, and its curse, to pose the questions and wrestle with answers that never quite come.

10/10

[byrne]

Originally Posted by Laeth MacLaurie

Four songs are stretched across 44 minutes

stretched being the key.

Originally Posted by Laeth MacLaurie

The album opens with the dreamspace echoes of the intro to "Det som engang var," perhaps the greatest single masterpiece of metal ever produced, a song built of the controlled but explosive energy of longing and the almost unbearable weight of eternity condensed into its many contemplative pauses.

Killer song, although "greatest single masterpiece of metal ever produced" really doesn't need to be pointed out as being a total exaggeration of its quality.

Originally Posted by Laeth MacLaurie

It closes with the fading heartbeat and forlorn keyboard melody of "Tomhet," a prayer offered up to the darkness within, the very essence of its sound hinting at the crushing silence of the void without.

And this is 1 of the 3 reasons the album achieves nothing but mediocrity. 14 minutes of uninteresting "ambience" which really goes no where and sounds like the end (or start) of the soundtrack to a b-grade 80's movie about a journey through fucking space. There is a rumour "Tohmet" translates to English as "dull", but perhaps I'm just reading what I want to read.

[Laeth MacLaurie]

Yes, but you're a confirmed fag, so no one really cares.

[Moon of Amber]

Call this review pretentious or over the top if you want, but this is easily as close as I've seen somebody get to capturing this album in words - well done.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by Moon of Amber

Call this review pretentious or over the top if you want, but this is easily as close as I've seen somebody get to capturing this album in words - well done.

I'm pretty sure you're only saying that because you (not so secretly) want to make out with Falco

[TylerTheNuke]

great review. Ultimatly, I think, words are futile against music this beautiful. Although the last three songs are great songs, I think the first song is on a completly different level, spiritual and personal, like the soul speaking or something. I agree that it is the single greatest metal song ever made, that I've heard. I am kind of a noob though, so that doesn't say much.

[Cythraul]

Yeah decent review but I wonder if I'm the only one who gets annoyed by nonsensical pseudo-profundity like this

Originally Posted by Laeth MacLaurie

It is that simple. It is that complex. The infinite past is reimagined as the eternal future; the future is the endless present that never was.

and this

Between silence and sound, despair and hope, defeat and victory.

[Necuratul]

I dunno man, I hear a lot of silence within the sound.

[Laeth MacLaurie]

Originally Posted by Cythraul

Yeah decent review but I wonder if I'm the only one who gets annoyed by nonsensical pseudo-profundity like this



and this

It's pretty straightforward, it's not my fault you're not all that bright.

[Erik]

There is a rumour "Tohmet" translates to English as "dull"

oh man that's a pretty juicy rumour where did you find it



p.s. it's "emptiness"

[Cythraul]

Originally Posted by Laeth MacLaurie

It's pretty straightforward, it's not my fault you're not all that bright.

Are you fucking kidding me? Maybe it's straightforward in your own private world but last time I checked language was a public phenomenon. If something doesn't make sense or is completely irrelevant to the subject at hand (the music in this instance), then that's just the way it fucking is, cocksucker.