Long, long time we had to wait for a new ULVER album. Curiosity and eagerness were even increased after the release of the band’s EP A Quick Fix Of Melancholy in 2003, which again turned out to be completely different of what ULVER came up to date.
And of course, ULVER remain true to themselves. Blood Inside cannot be compared with anything else these three whizzes have ever done before. Already introducing Dressed In Black sounds heavy, destructive and gets out of hands with a noisy, drum-dominated chaosium you would expect from a band such as Neurosis. While mastermind Kristoffer Rygg pushes boundaries with his voice in For The Love Of God, Christmas accents with orchestral counterpoints and captivates with disturbing singing. Blinded By Blood is again pretty quiet, contemplative and with unobtrusive choirs in the background. The middle part of Blood Inside (It Is Not Sound, The Truth and In The Red) nearly explodes, gushing into a splash/flood of experimental sound art. The band flirts with many sounds and influences, taking, twisting, subverting, distorting and abusing them. Reflected and added by various styles it all gets mixed into a crazy, abstruse and spacy sound picture one can hardly comprehend (you ever could at ULVER?) and elude at the same time. It seems like it is not a matter of music per se anymore, music is taken just as one of the forms of expression of abstract art. And you can be sure; they give you a run for the money! Following Your Call is lowering a little, a bit quieter but not less tricky, leading over to the grand finale Operator, putting everything into this one closing song Blood Inside has distinguished itself.
Experiments with instruments, sounds and samples reign the compositions. Tinkling and jingling tones bring back the latest EP in mind. Adopted melodies of assumed music boxes add an eerie undertone to the music. Blood Inside is definitely not an album for easy listening and even die-hard fans won’t have an easy access. And to be honest: I absolutely cannot pre-estimate what to expect next from this exceptional band. Well, that is what their music makes bloody interesting and thrilling, isn’t it?
Being a huge fan of ULVER I of course bought the limited edition box set (just 2000 copies and sold out) that suitably comes in a crimson velvet box and additionally features the video to It Is Not Sound. It is a great video, don’t get me wrong, but as the only special for such an expensive box, it is quite meager. I expected more.