''Umskiptar'' (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

for ''Metamorphosis'') is the ninth studio album by the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

one-man band

Burzum Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black m ...

, released on 21 May 2012 through

Byelobog Productions Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black m ...

."Burzum "Umskiptar" 2012"
burzum.org. 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2012-02-05. It has been described by

Varg Vikernes Louis Cachet (born Kristian Vikernes; 11 February 1973), better known as Varg Vikernes (), is a Norwegian writer and retired musician best known for his early black metal albums and later crimes. His first five records, issued under the name Bur ...

as a "return to the roots", with a priority on atmosphere. The album's lyrics are taken from an Old Norse poem entitled ''

Völuspá ''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and ...

''. The album was leaked two months before its release date, due, according to Vikernes, to a former PR agent of his having "sent promotional copies of the entire album to left wing extremist magazines" without his knowledge or consent.Grimmsberg, Kai (2012-04-29).
Interview with Varg Vikernes
. ''HeavyMusic''. Power Studio. Retrieved 2012-08-10. The cover art is taken from the painting ''

Nótt In Norse mythology, Nótt (Old Norse: , "night"Orchard (1997:120).) is night personified. In both the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', composed in the 13th century, Nótt is li ...

'' by Norwegian painter

Peter Nicolai Arbo Peter Nicolai Arbo (18 June 1831 – 14 October 1892) was a Norwegian historical painter, who specialized in portraits and allegorical scenes from Norwegian history and the Norse mythology. He is most noted for ''The Wild Hunt of Odin'', a d ...

. It is Vikernes' final heavy metal album.

Music

Despite featuring "a stripped-down"

viking metal Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cr ...

sound that "pays homage" to the likes of Bathory and early Enslaved, ''Umskiptar'' retains "the fuzzy riffing and low production values" of Burzum's previous

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

releases.

SputnikMusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

's Kyle Ward described the album's style as "an odd bastardization of the usual

sound". The album also rarely features

harsh vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

. The track "Alfadanz" features a "submerged" piano intro and repeating simple riffs.Currin, Grayson (2012-06-08).
Burzum: Umskiptar
.

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

. Retrieved 2012-08-10. "Gullaldr" is a ten-minute-long

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

track, overlaid with guitar plucking. "Níðhöggr" finds Vikernes whispering over

field recordings Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibrat ...

, a

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...

and a "distant, wobbly tone". The vocals are buried "between sheets of black-metal guitar screech" on the track "Heiðr", while "Valgaldr" is described as "an eight-minute bog in which he wraps ghoulish harmonies around distorted riffs", with a sound compared to "

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Thorazine Chlorpromazine (CPZ), marketed under the brand names Thorazine and Largactil among others, is an antipsychotic medication. It is primarily used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Other uses include the treatment of bipolar dis ...

Critical reception

The album generally received negative reviews from music critics.

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technolog ...

's staff critic Troy Killjoy wrote: "Rather than beautifully composed epic melodious black metal anthems, encouraging atmospheric tales of fantasy and historical wars, or even the traditional grim and frostbitten stylings of the second wave (of which Burzum was a significant part), Varg presents the world with his least imaginative work to date – even taking ''

Dauði Baldrs ''Dauði Baldrs'' (Old Norse for "Baldr's Death" or "The Death of Baldr") is the fifth album by the Norwegian solo act Burzum. Unlike Burzum's previous work, which was mostly black metal, this is a dark ambient album. It was recorded using a sy ...

'' into consideration".

Track listing

Personnel

Album personnel as adapted from official Burzum website. *

– vocals, all instruments, production, design, layout *

Pytten Eirik Hundvin (born 8 February 1950), also known as Pytten, is a Norwegian producer and recording engineer for many classic black metal albums, mainly by Norwegian bands, nearly all of which were recorded in the Grieg Hall in Bergen. Hundvin is ...

– production, mixing *Davide Bertolini – production *Naweed – mastering *Dan Capp – design, layout

References

External links

* {{Authority control Burzum albums 2012 albums Viking metal albums Self-released albums Concept albums