Ulver – Liminal Animals
Ulver – Liminal Animals
House of Mythology
Release Date: 29/11/2024
Running Time: 51:00
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
Sometimes an album finds you just when you need it. After a rough couple of weeks in the old noggin, I’ve found it difficult to get excited about and even take in any new music; and the prospect of blasting something heavy has not been one I have looked forward to. Thankfully Black Metal turned New Wave experimentalists Ulver popped up with a beautiful, slinky, melancholic slice of arty Synth Pop that’s just what the Dr ordered.
Before I heap praise on this excellent release I must pass my condolences on to the bandmates and family of synth player Tore Ylwizaker who passed away this year. Although composed prior to his passing, the album serves as a wonderful epitaph to his valuable contribution to music over a 30 year career.
Despite an undercurrent of brooding sadness, opener ‘Ghost Entry’ is pure, shimmering 80s joy, recalling peak Tears for Fears at their dark, sophisticated best. Pop is no dirty word around these parts, and when the band lean into the more commercial end of things the results are undeniably triumphant. Things get a little more intense on the Cure-like ‘A City In The Skies’, which has a driving pace and melodic sensibility akin to the more Progressive moments on “Disintegration”. The dystopian lyrics send a shiver up the spine, however the beats and killer vocal lines make you want to shake your money maker all the way to Armageddon.
‘Forgive Us’ is as delightful as it is tragic, with Kristoffer Rygg’s pleading baritone croon lamenting the death of a God over some of the smoothest bass work I’ve heard in a long time. It’s all capped off by some soul-stirring trumpet playing by revered soloist Nils Petter Molvær, who brings Pink Floyd-esque grandeur to the composition as each note soothes like a warm balm to weary ears. It’s followed majestically by the synth-heavy, textured, bliss of ‘Nocturne #1’, which feels like Vangelis treating you to a sound bath in a day spa for replicants.
The ominous, stalking tones of ‘Locusts’ bring us back into dark Depeche Mode territory, with intense whispers and robotic beats giving way to sweet vocal harmonies from the abyss and offering another example of Pop and pathos melding seamlessly in the hands of seasoned pros. To make music heavily inspired by an often parodied, and until recent years much maligned genre without sounding gimmicky or pastiche is no easy feat. ‘Hollywood Babylon’ with its scathing and paranoia-inducing take on American culture from an outside perspective is an even bolder example of this deftness of touch, lines sung with unashamed bombast like ‘Don’t Fuck With America’ should be overloading the circuitry of the cheese-o-meter by any conventional measurement, but it manages to sound slick and cool as fuck!
Capping everything off resplendently is the wonderful ‘ Helian (Trakl)’ which pulses and throbs with building intensity as the epic poem inspiring the title is read with unsettling serenity over the top. It’s a sprawling 11 minute experience that pulls you into another world, and when the album is over you’re left disoriented as you readjust to the outside world once more.
Some listeners may find the more extended instrumental passages a challenge, pining for the more technicolour Pop cuts, but I feel they’re beautifully placed and make for a gloriously immersive listening experience that builds its own sonic universe around your ears. For me “Liminal Animals” is the perfect kiss-off to one of the best years in my music-listening life and will be a comforting soundtrack to the dark winter nights ahead.
‘Hollywood Babylon’ ( Official Video)
TRACKLISTING:
01. Ghost Entry
02. A City in the Skies
03. Forgive Us
04. Nocturne #1
05. Locusts
06. Hollywood Babylon
07. The Red Light
08. Nocturne #2
09. Helian (Trakl)
LINE-UP:
Liminal Animals was written and arranged by Ole Alexander Halstensgård, Kristoffer Rygg, and Jørn H. Sværen, mixed by Anders Møller at Subsonic Society, mastered by Vegard Sleipnes, and performed by Halstensgård, Rygg and Sværen with Stian Westerhus (guitar, bass, strings and backing vocals), Ivar Thormodsæter (drums), Anders Møller (percussion and choir), and with special guests Nils Petter Molvær (trumpet), Sara Khorami (choir), Astra Eida Rygh (choir), Sisi Sumbundu (choir) and Torgeir Waldemar Engen (choir)
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
