BURZUM – Belus CD review

BURZUM – Belus CD
Byelobog Productions


Last year while reading about Varg Vikernes’ release from prison I noticed one of his future goals was to be left alone and just spend time with his family. So when I first heard about this coming release I was surprised. Well so much for being left alone, especially if the title your latest release refers to “the white god”. Belus is the name for an ancient European solar deity of light and innocence, although each culture had another name for the same type of deity. According to Varg this release is about the myths of Belus, his death and journey through that realm as well as his return. For some reason I see this as art imitating life as in Varg playing the part of Belus the deity. In some people’s minds Varg is loved or hated with an almost religious fervor much like a deity would get. His incarceration could be looked upon as death and a journey. Now with this release we see the rebirth of Varg and BURZUM.

In 2008 when I reviewed the BURZUM Anthology put out by Candlelight Records I said the two most important songs on that disc were “Jesus Tod” and “Det Som En Gang Var”. For anyone wanting to get into BURZUM they had to get passed those two cuts since they represented both extremes of Varg’s ambient Black Metal style. They’re also from his two best releases, Filosofern from 1996 and Hvis Lyset Tar Oss from 1994. One could argue that Varg did create the Ambient Black Metal genre which so many others have been influenced by or just flat out copied over the years. I never cared for anything afterwards up until now. I’m saying this because personally I am a fan and not just another clown trying to get their two cents worth of an opinion in on what could be one of the more important releases of 2010. So if you’ve never cared for his work before then go away because you won’t like this one at all.

Not only is Belus a great release as well as a return to the Ambient Black Metal style of past, but I have to say this is Varg’s best work to date. For all those people who over the years have used Varg as a punching bag for jokes and scoffed at the idea of a new BURZUM release actually being good, it’s time for you to eat shit and die. Yes I know that’s not likely to happen but atleast Belus will always be a slap in the face to people who still haven’t grown up yet. I’ve been listening to this for over a week now absorbing every song into my psyche as if my life depended on it. This release washes away the sins of his prison bound Casio keyboard recordings and I consider it to be a true follow-up to 1996’s Filosofern.

Belus is musically a return to the ferocious past of Black Metal’s Second Wave but with a more mature and determined composer at the helm. The distorted riffs are in the same style of the past as is the monotone drumming but there’s some underlying majesty to it all which overcomes what could be mediocrity. After the short intro, the cut “Belus Doed” thunders forward with a riff reminiscent of “Jesus Tod”. Actually there are alot of riffs on here that could be looked upon as re-workings of the past but that’s ok. With BURZUM you expect something there which is familiar and that’s what a true fan wants and appreciates. If there is anything of a major change then that would be Varg’s vocal style. The days of his harpy like shrieking are long gone. On Belus he still adds some harsh qualities to his performance but along with that there’s clean spoken wording over-laid like on “Kaimadalthas Nedstigning” or “Glemselens Elv”.

Speaking of which, “Glemselens Elv” is also the longest cut out of the official eight on here coming in at just over eleven minutes. In the past the one criticism which did hold some truth to it was that some BURZUM songs were just too long and led into boring repetitive riffing. I’d say 90% of this does not fall into that category. The lone holdout would be the final cut, “Belus Tilbakekomst” but then again it is the conclusion of the release. Two standout cuts are the short Thrash like number “Sverddans” and my favorite cut on here “Keliohesten”. The latter opens with an epic sounding riff that simply suspends there, as if watching an approaching storm cross over a valley but then after a minute it kicks into gear like being overwhelmed by the onslaught of nature’s fury.

Even though there are atleast a dozen other individuals within Black Metal’s history who have lived or still live in infamy, Varg Vikernes will always be looked upon as the worst of the bunch. As always I don’t look too closely into what someone’s political/social beliefs are unless it’s staring you right in the face. I base my opinions on the music most of the time. It’s only once in a great while that I’ll comment on an artist’s beliefs if it is part of the music being played. In this case it is not. Secondly as I stated in an opinion piece last year about Varg’s release from prison and the repercussions of it. I wasn’t there in Oslo, Norway in August of 1993 and most likely neither were you. But there are plenty of individuals who were and are still around today in the music scene. They have chosen to remain silent on the issue of Varg Vikernes for their own personal reasons. I respect their decision on the issue. Who I don’t respect are those individuals who were not there or are not old enough to have been into the music back then but still choose to have a worthless opinion on the subject especially in Forums. Move the fuck on!

http://www.burzum.org/