Burzum/Aske

Infamous Norwegian Black Metal made the extremely lo-fi & fucked up way. Crude guitar tones, dying macaw vocals, and a very dark presence. Burzum = ex-Mayhem bassist (Kristian) Varg Virknenes on vocals, drums bass & guitar. The first LP from 1992 (tracks 1-9) features Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) on 2 songs - “War” and “Dungeons of Darkness”. Whereas, tracks 9-11 are from the “Aske” EP (1993) and features the remains of Fantof Church in Bergen – which Varg was charged with burning down.

This deserves several listens to get sonically & aesthetically where Norwegian Black Metal first comes from. Instant gratification this is NOT! Rather good albeit at times tedious in places but a good start to his long, interesting and of course continually controversial. (Yes, Varg later killed Euronymous and 15 half-assed documentaries were born.)

((((1)))) Fast & blazing Norsk Black Metal with pounding drumming. Then pulls back a bit and roars across the plains of Gorgoroth. Drags on a little too long.
((((2)))) Raw but awesome punkish drum beat with a odd Thomas the Train “choo-choo” whammy bar effect. They vocals are utter hell but the riffing is a blueprint for the majority of Norwegian Black Metal (as is Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, and so on).
(((3))) Thick tone, sputtering drums, slow and doomy the start of all things “Burzum-ic” as Aquarius would say. Very uneasy listening vocally.
((((4)))) Airy synth piece foreshadowing his later ambient albums. Very cold, minimalist sound.
(((((5)))))) “This huh….WOWAR!” Loud & unforgiving Heavy/Black Metal that nicks a wee bit of ‘Priest underneath its savage attack on Christianity. Insane solo by Euron.
(((6))) Short guitar work out.
(((((7))))) Nice melodic riffing, with good punkish, drumming and roarin’ orc vocals.
((((8)))) Quiet interlude, interesting gong & electronic effects. Ahead of its time in a way at least before more “acceptable” stuff like Fuck Buttons or whatever.
(((((9))))) Excellent Bathory/Celtic Frost-like riffing, good bass lines & simple drumming. A lot going on while still being very direct.
((((10)))) Doomy tempo with a great opening scream, maybe Paradise Lost influence on the riffs (one of the few 90s Metal bands which Varg admitted to liking)
(((((11))))) Weird lo-fi, buzzy, tone, rudimentary drumming then fast, raw and blazing then unmerciful, epic Blackened Doom. A slightly more comprehensible vocals (helps to have the lyrics in front of you).