Written by Boxcar Willy on 16.06.2014 at 01:23

Written by X-Ray Rod on 16.06.2014 at 01:20

"Rundgang" ain't a bad tune but it sure as hell can't be 25 mins long. This would have been a solid 9 for me if Rundgang was kept around 7 mins and serve as an intermission for "Gebrechlichkeit I" which should have been the last track (and the second part, as you say... couldn't be deleted alltogether). That would have left us with around 40 mins of one hell of an album.

Oops, I meant to add Rundgang in as well. I usually shut the album off right at the end of the first Gebrelesktikaiklalkeit song.

Heh, yeah I thought it was a bit odd. As I said, I actually enjoy that ambient tune but I'd keep it somewhat short but also before Gebrechlichkeit I since that one works for a good ending.
First 4 songs are all fucking brilliant though.

I can lose myself in the ambiance of this album. The atmosphere that this songs can provide is really outstanding. A solid start that takes you in a journey through the darkest corners of music, but at the same time is really relaxing.

It goes to long sometimes, but if you are like me, you will hear it on a loop many times and have nice dreams. A great work of the count, heavy, gloomy and somber, you know you'll have a good night.

Don't really get the criticism of the final two tracks on Filosofem. Considering the atmospheric and ambient tracks Varg had on the previous albums, Rundgang and Gebrechlichkeit II aren't so out of place. Varg had talked about it a while back saying the intention behind those kinds of tracks was to portray a kind of dream world/dream-like state. Personally, I always thought these sorts of tracks worked really perfectly especially on albums like Hvis lyset tar oss and Filosofem. The mix between raw bm and more atmospheric sounds is pretty good. Used to find those two albums in particular really relaxing to fall asleep to at night.

Written by Wingtorte on 23.11.2014 at 15:52

Don't really get the criticism of the final two tracks on Filosofem. Considering the atmospheric and ambient tracks Varg had on the previous albums, Rundgang and Gebrechlichkeit II aren't so out of place. Varg had talked about it a while back saying the intention behind those kinds of tracks was to portray a kind of dream world/dream-like state.

Would've been better if Rundgang was the last track. It puts me to sleep every time I hear it. Too repetitive.

He actually turned in a decent vocal performance. Wasn't expecting that since I didn't like the vocals on the other 2 vocal albums I've heard.

Cut 10 minutes off track 5 and I'd give this an 8. Tracks 2 and 3 are great.

Just one more album that loses a point for being 20 minutes too long. First three tracks are absolutely brilliant.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 06.12.2017 at 04:42
Just one more album that loses a point for being 20 minutes too long. First three tracks are absolutely brilliant.

Exactly. I always thought that if he kept "Rundgang...." as the last song clocking at around 5 mins and make the second Gebrechlichkeit shorter and merge it with the first part that it could have been 40-45 mins of extremely tight ambient bm.

Good album, but I swear there's like 4 riffs in the whole 64 min runtime.

Black Metal or not, this is repetitive! Still, Varg has captured a haunting atmosphere on here and doesn't become too monotonous IF (and a big IF) you're in the right mood.

I can understand why some of you like it, but its not for me at all. That 25 minutes song is a cruel torture. I will never like something that just repeating and repeating and repeating.

I feel like I'm the only one who loves Rundgang, as long and repetitive as it is it's just charming and hypnotic

Rundgang should have been cut to about 2-3 minutes as a sort of ambient interlude, not a full-fledged EP length track. Or at least what the Doc said about using it as a shorter outro.

Such a great unique sounding album a timeless ambient black masterpiece, although there is still a few issues, being the final track which dragged on way too long, should if been cut by at least 10 minutes! and Jesus Tod could of been a little less repetitive towards the end, the riff got on my nerves a bit but from the Beginning to middle, the song is stunning!

And Dunkelheit is and will always be one of the true great Ambient Black metal songs IMO. Whether you hate or love the guy you can't take away the fact that he is a great musician!

Just can't get past the production. Why do early black metal bands love this lo-fi production style so much

Written by Stunning Cactus on 11.08.2021 at 10:28

Just can't get past the production. Why do early black metal bands love this lo-fi production style so much

It's crazy. I mean they all had so much money from being so popular and successful in the mainstream music stratosphere to spend on big label recording studios and for some reason they chose to record this shit in their basements. I wonder what made them love this cheap and simple alternative considering they were absolutely rolling in the green at the time.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.08.2021 at 04:28

Written by Stunning Cactus on 11.08.2021 at 10:28

Just can't get past the production. Why do early black metal bands love this lo-fi production style so much

It's crazy. I mean they all had so much money from being so popular and successful in the mainstream music stratosphere to spend on big label recording studios and for some reason they chose to record this shit in their basements. I wonder what made them love this cheap and simple alternative considering they were absolutely rolling in the green at the time.

Well seeing as this production style pertains mostly to early black metal bands and like, no other subgenre, I'm not sure your hypothesis that only poor bands enjoy making badly produced albums checks out.

Written by Stunning Cactus on 15.08.2021 at 10:19
Well seeing as this production style pertains mostly to early black metal bands and like, no other subgenre, I'm not sure your hypothesis that only poor bands enjoy making badly produced albums checks out.

I think it was a matter of A leading to B. That amateur production value was born out of necessity, which then became adopted as part of the cult status of the genre, going so far as to cultivate that intrinsic DIY element.

If Varg and other first wavers had access to Michael Wagener, let alone someone like Bernie Grundman, then this entire conversation would be radically different.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.08.2021 at 23:01

Written by Stunning Cactus on 15.08.2021 at 10:19
Well seeing as this production style pertains mostly to early black metal bands and like, no other subgenre, I'm not sure your hypothesis that only poor bands enjoy making badly produced albums checks out.

I think it was a matter of A leading to B. That amateur production value was born out of necessity, which then became adopted as part of the cult status of the genre, going so far as to cultivate that intrinsic DIY element.

If Varg and other first wavers had access to Michael Wagener, let alone someone like Bernie Grundman, then this entire conversation would be radically different.

See now that makes way more sense. Though, correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't it Varg who, in the studio, specifically requested the shittiest microphone they had for recording vocals (which ended up being a cheap headset mic)? I wish I could pinpoint exactly which album this took place on - surely he was either influenced by other early black metal artists already making use of low production standards or he had already been doing this?

^C'mon, man. Out of all people you are using Varg as an example to prove a point toward an entire genre?

Written by Stunning Cactus on 16.08.2021 at 01:18

See now that makes way more sense. Though, correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't it Varg who, in the studio, specifically requested the shittiest microphone they had for recording vocals (which ended up being a cheap headset mic)? I wish I could pinpoint exactly which album this took place on - surely he was either influenced by other early black metal artists already making use of low production standards or he had already been doing this?

Varg used whatever microphone the sound technician handed him when recording his albums. For Filosofem he asked for the worst microphone available, and ended up using the microphone of a headset. Almost everything was recorded on first take and the instruments used were nothing special or expensive. Many of the flaws could have been corrected with a simple second take but were left like that on purpose. This was not only due to lack of cash (we are talking about Norway after all, almost no one is poor there) but also - if not mainly - due to the fact that the second-wave of black metal in Norway emerged as a form of musical rebellion against "perfect" albums with "perfect" production; in other words, against what death metal was doing at the time.

And one more thing: Varg and Burzum were immensely influenced by Quorthon and Bathory's first albums. From production choices to the music itself.

Lo-fi production makes black metal what it is. It adds a lot to the atmosphere and texture of the music. Crisp production black metal like Dark Fortress is terrible IMO.

Written by nikarg on 16.08.2021 at 10:42

Written by Stunning Cactus on 16.08.2021 at 01:18

See now that makes way more sense. Though, correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't it Varg who, in the studio, specifically requested the shittiest microphone they had for recording vocals (which ended up being a cheap headset mic)? I wish I could pinpoint exactly which album this took place on - surely he was either influenced by other early black metal artists already making use of low production standards or he had already been doing this?

Varg used whatever microphone the sound technician handed him when recording his albums. For Filosofem he asked for the worst microphone available, and ended up using the microphone of a headset. Almost everything was recorded on first take and the instruments used were nothing special or expensive. Many of the flaws could have been corrected with a simple second take but were left like that on purpose. This was not only due to lack of cash (we are talking about Norway after all, almost no one is poor there) but also - if not mainly - due to the fact that the second-wave of black metal in Norway emerged as a form of musical rebellion against "perfect" albums with "perfect" production; in other words, against what death metal was doing at the time.

And one more thing: Varg and Burzum were immensely influenced by Quorthon and Bathory's first albums. From production choices to the music itself.

Yeah that's the impression I was getting - not that it was a lack of resources necessarily, but moreso a trend they were following begun by earlier black metal bands.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 16.08.2021 at 17:46

Crisp production black metal like Dark Fortress is terrible IMO.

I will respectfully disagree. I can certainly recognize that this production style defines the genre in many ways, but for the most part it's just unlistenable to me if it isn't well produced. I really enjoy Dimmu Borgir, but that's probably a bad example as they have symphonic death elements arguably.

Conversely, I do enjoy In The Nightside Eclipse a bit. I'm not sure what makes that one different for me, but something about it helps me see past the production. Any albums similar to that one would probably be a good recommendation for me.

EDIT: Just found this blurb on the page for In The Nightside Eclipse:

"All tracks re-mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, 2014."

Gee, I wonder if that's why I liked it so well

Written by Boxcar Willy on 16.08.2021 at 17:46

Lo-fi production makes black metal what it is. It adds a lot to the atmosphere and texture of the music. Crisp production black metal like Dark Fortress is terrible IMO.

While I generally agree with you, I definitely don't think lo-fi production is a necessity in black metal. Bands like Infestus definitely make the more modern production style work. That said, an album like Filosofem would lose all of it's charm with "better" production.

Real recognizing real:
lol I'm the 1349th visitor.

Written by Alex F on 17.08.2021 at 18:32

...

Woah woah woah... You gave this a 5? Since when?

I don't have anything smart to add that hasn't already been said about this album, but in "Dunkelheit" @5:28 when a change in the guitar riff coincides with the word "...Meaning" gives me goosebumps every time and is the coldest god damn thing I've heard in my life! Adore this song!

Dunkelheit is great but the rest of the record is painfully boring and the songs drag on for too long. Overrated album.

Why is this not in the top 200

Does anything else mix as balanced like this? Contender for the best sound recorded. Everything is truly in its right place.

Written by Alakazam on 14.08.2022 at 00:38

Does anything else mix as balanced like this? Contender for the best sound recorded. Everything is truly in its right place.

Lol so weird. I played Jesus Tod at work yesterday and was thinking how perfect the drums sound. Bands spend thousands of dollars in the studio to make their drums robotic and it sounds nowhere near as good as this.