Despite how wacky things get here, there’s a constant sense of personality, wit and style that pervades each track on A Umbra Omega, drawing together what could otherwise be disparate musical elements into a genuinely effective whole.Īs I observed in my recent review of the new album, being weird is ultimately a fool’s quest – each year it gets harder and yields diminishing rewards. This is by no means a criticism – indeed, D ø dheimsgard remind us of the one thing that the newer style of “experimental” Black Metal bands often forget to include in their time-shifting trans-dimensional horror character. The face of “avant-garde” Black Metal in 2015 is very different to what it was in 1996, and D ø dheimsgard’s approach still owes more to the carnivalesque playfulness of Arcturus or goth-tinged drug babble of Ved Buens Ende than DeathSpell Omega or Blut Aus Nord’s chaotic black-hole worship (this review brought to you by ). It will doubtless anger some fans to say this, but there’s something almost backwards-looking or quaint about A Umbra Omega’s approach to progression.
The songs move jaggedly but with surprising fluidity through Jazz breaks, modern classical music, more restrained electronics and some good, old-fashioned box-of-angry-wasps Scandinavian Black Metal. I point this out simply because I’m about to lose my shit over A Umbra Omega (Peaceville), and I want to make it clear that I’m not just buying into the general consensus here – with this one, they’ve finally caught my attention.ĭespite opening with the glitchy, fragmented electronics of ‘The Love Divine’, one of the first things that becomes apparent about A Umbra Omega is that the “cyber” elements of the last two albums have been dialled down noticeably, replaced with a much broader selection of influences. The “progression” seemed too forced, the electronic elements awkwardly realised and the whole thing just a little too redolent of the Emperor’s new clothes. Their third album 666 International created a considerable wave in the late 90’s Black Metal scene, heralding a cyber-future that had the fans wiping off their panda-paint and buying glowsticks and leather trench-coats, but neither it, nor its equally feted follow-up Supervillain Outcast (both Moonfog), really clicked for me. By the early 2000s, Elde had announced the formation of a new band, Virus, which he said would mark a continuation of his work with Ved Buens Ende.I’m going to just come right out with it – I’ve never really seen the appeal of D ø dheimsgard (I refuse to call them DHG – that’s non-negotiable).
However, despite rumors circulating in the late '90s that the group would get back together to record another album, nothing ever materialized (perhaps because the musicians were so busy with their other projects). Those Who Caress the Pale was later released in 1997 with a couple of bonus tracks added on. Following a demo, entitled Those Who Caress the Pale, Ved Buens Ende signed to the British Misanthropy label, on which they released their first (and only) full-length album, Written in Waters, in 1995. Fixit and, at one time or another, also a member of Dodheimsgard and Aura Noir) as well as bassist Skoll (aka Hugh Stephen James Mingay, also of Ulver and Arcturus). Along with drummer/lead vocalist Elde - who has also gone by the name Czral and played in the groups Dodheimsgard, Aura Noir, Cadaver Inc., and Virus, among others - the group's lineup included guitarist Vicotnik (aka Aggressor and Mr.
Their style blended aspects of so-called post-rock (especially in terms of the guitar playing) together with eerie crooning vocals and jazz-influenced drumming and bass playing, resulting in a sound that was as much subdued and mysterious as it was aggressive or forceful. One of the many bands involving multi-instrumentalist Carl-Michael Elde, Norway's Ved Buens Ende (whose name roughly translates to "beyond the bow" or "beyond the rainbow") were an experimental black metal band whose sound remains heavily distinct and unusual years after their last recording.
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