Search - Burzum :: Hvis Lyset Tar Oss

Best black metal album ever.

Bill Lee | Florida | 12/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Because black metal has in recent years been somewhat stagnant, listening to old classics is a great consolation for the fact that most of what is new out there is relatively terrible. Although this album is more than a decade old, neither its effect nor its relevance are lost. Make no mistake about it: this is powerful music in a tradition that is of woefully negligible prominence in "The Scene" today. Of course, maybe that's not such a bad thing: endless emulation is what tends to hamstring all movements of any significance, be they artistic, musical, political, or philosophical. This album -- and Burzum's music in general -- was a revolution in all four realms in terms of what it did for black metal.



The shortest song on this album is slightly less than 8 minutes, so there's plenty of time for one to absorb and ruminate on each of the four tracks. Vikernes has discarded the traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure, if indeed he ever subscribed to it in the first place. The music itself is violent, brutal, and generally not for the faint of heart. But this is calculated chaos; the album has an internal logic all its own and it tends to betray large outpourings of emotionality that are not typical of black metal. Citing influences as divergent as Bathory and Dead Can Dance, it's not difficult to see where these come into play. The music is of course guitar-based, but the riffs are backed up by subtle keyboard passages that enhance the effect without being overbearing (see some of Emperor's later works and everything by Dimmu Borgir for this problem).



First-time black metal listeners are encouraged to listen to this album alongside Darkthrone's "Transilvanian Hunger" and the legendary Emperor/Enslaved split "Emperor + Hordanes Land." This Unholy Trinity is the best introduction to Norwegian black metal that one is likely to find and it is a grand starting point for the curious. The logical progression from there includes Graveland and Beherit, and although all the other bands and albums referenced are excellent, "Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" is the best there ever was and it seems as if it's the best there ever will be. This is truly symphonic black metal: each part is a section of a coherent whole that functions like a real symphony rather than a few tracks with absurdly intricate keyboard parts woven into it, which is what you'll often find under the tag "symphonic black metal." For sheer importance devoid of posturing and false airs of depth, this is THE album to have."

Varg Vikernes - A Genius!

Anders | Norway | 10/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Hvis Lyset Tar Oss" is the absolutely greatest Ambient Black-Metal album ever! When you listen to it, you will be in Norway before the christianity took over our pride. Varg's vocals express total pain and sorrow, and he sounds like an unholy ghost - brilliant! The guitar-riffs and drumming are brilliant to, especially the keyboards("Tomhet"), it makes me seriously sad. It is only four tracks here, but it would be wrong to increase the amount. All the tracks here are amazing in their own way, but my personal favorite track is "Inn I Slottet Fra Droemmen" - Maybe one of the greatest tracks in the history. You have to understand norwegian if you want to know what he sings about. But forget it, it is the music that counts, not the lyrics. Well, if you are curious about Black Metal, or if you love it: Buy this album or die!"