sorry, i haven't ben following this whole thread, but in case they
weren't mentioned i thought i should bring up ULVER.
they started out as a sort of "romantic" black metal band, meaning
they had as many acoustic passages and melodic singing as thrashing
and screaming. then their second album was entirely
acoustic/vocals/cellos, and their third was 100% raw black metal.
after that they changed, doing a 2CD based on william blake's
'marriage fo heaven and hell' which strayed towards more accessible
rock forms while simultaneously adding in electronic textures and
beats a la trip hop etc. then the band fragmented, the remaining
members immersing themselves in studio techniques. they recorded a
masterpiece of an album called 'perdition city' which reminded me of
peter gabriel and his electric piano gone electronica with a prog
sensibility (think pink floyd).
since then, there have been several glitchy EPs, an album of remixes
by electronica artists, a few soundtracks of minimal electronic
themes, and finally a new full-length this past june that seems to
wed the best of all their worlds together. they're the metal band
that wasn't afraid to change and embrace the future, and became so
much more than what they were. interestingly, another black metal
band called bethlehem tried to follow suit with a double CD of new
songs and remixes marrying their old sound to dark trip hop, but i
don't think it was anywhere near as successful (artistically or
commercially).
d.
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