lista zespołów Dark Ambient Ulver A Quick Fix of Melancholy

I still stand by the fact that Ulver haven’t been able to top their first three albums. It isn’t necessarily because their first three albums are metal oriented; it’s more to the fact that they haven’t been able to release any consistent releases since. Blood Inside came close for me, but there were only a few songs there that I liked. I still haven’t heard Perdition City, and I’ll get to that eventually, but for now I’ve found the closest thing to an Ulver album that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed since their metal days. There are only four songs on it, so it isn’t a full-length release, but it’s still really enjoyable.

The EP is called “A Quick Fix of Melancholy”, and while I don’t physically own a copy of it, I’ve heard every song on it via the Internet, and I can say that it’s my favorite Ulver release since Nattens Madrigal in ’96. The first song here is Little Blue Bird, and right from the off, it creates a surreal and minimalistic feeling that I liked so much in Ulver’s song “Blinded by Blood”. The vocals come in loud and clear, and, despite being altered by computer effects, they sound great and you can really feel the range on them. They warble in and out and echo through your head, and really ad to that sense of detachment from reality that this and all the other songs help create.

The emotions of each song change as the album progresses, from the sort of panicky and eerie Little Blue Bird to the more melancholic and peaceful Etttliane, which, coincidentally enough, is a remix of one of my favorite Ulver songs from their folk album, called Nattleite. (Etttliane is Nattleite with rearranged letters). It opens up in the same way as the original song, but continues on to add drums and expands on Garm’s vocals. That’s another good thing about this album. Garm utilizes his vocals excellently utilized in the album, going from Gregorian chants to a rock n’ roll undertone. The digital effects don’t detract from them a bit when they are used.

In the end, this is a haunting and creepy EP that doesn’t fade from my mind quickly. While it is slow-paced, it is only 23 minutes, which in my opinion is the perfect running time. Because of the short length, and because each song is quite unique from the others, it doesn’t get boring or feel stretched out. Sitting back with your eyes closed and feeling the music is a great experience, and I’d recommend this to anyone who thinks Ulver lost all their appeal after Nattens Madrigal.