Ulver

Ulver is a Norwegian experimental electronica group from Oslo, active since 1992. The group begins as a black metal act and then changes direction repeatedly, moving through ambient music, art rock, atmospheric black metal, avant-garde metal and electronic styles. It is associated with House of Mythology.

Formation and early black metal work

Ulver forms in Oslo in 1992 and is led by Kristoffer Rygg, also known as Garm. Early membership includes Håvard Jørgensen, Hugh Mingay and Carl-Michael Eide, with AiwarikiaR, Tore Ylwizaker, Jørn H. Sværen and Daniel O’Sullivan also appearing in the group’s line-up history. The band’s name is Norwegian for “wolves”.

The group’s first releases appear in 1993, including the demos Rehearsal 1993 and Vargnatt. Its first album, Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler, follows in 1994 as a folk-themed black metal record. It includes the acoustic song “Een Stemme Locker” and uses material linked to Norwegian folklore, with the title referring to being “mountain-taken”. Kveldssanger follows in 1995 and moves away from black metal, using classical guitars, cello and chamber chants while keeping a folk theme. Nattens madrigal - Aatte hymne til ulven i manden, released in 1997, returns to black metal in a more abrasive and deliberately under-produced form.

Shift into experimental and electronic music

The 1998 album Themes from William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell marks a major change in style. It blends electronics, industrial elements, progressive metal, avant-garde rock and ambient passages, and sets the full text of William Blake’s poem to music with guest vocals. The record receives strong critical attention in the rock, metal and alternative press.

Ulver then becomes more minimal and electronic on the EP Metamorphosis and the album Perdition City: Music to an Interior Film. The following releases, Silence Teaches You How to Sing and Silencing the Singing, focus on sparse ambient and glitch-based material and are later issued together as Teachings in Silence. The track “Silence Teaches You How to Sing” becomes the band’s longest composition at more than twenty-four minutes.

Film music, collaboration and later releases

The group is also commissioned to make music for film, contributing soundtrack work for Lyckantropen, Svidd neger and Uno. A Quick Fix of Melancholy appears in 2003 and adds a more symphonic element to the band’s minimalist approach. Blood Inside follows, bringing back guitars and acoustic drums alongside real and synthetic classical instruments, brass and sound samples.

Ulver collaborates with Sunn O))) on two releases: a 15-minute track for Sunn O)))’s WHITEbox box set and the full-length Terrestrials. The 2014 box set Trolsk sortmetall 1993-1997 collects the group’s early black metal material, including Vargnatt and the first three albums, plus unreleased rehearsal versions. The 2016 double album ATGCLVLSSCAP is built from live improvised soundscapes recorded at twelve shows and later studio overdubbed into structured pieces. Riverhead, a soundtrack, also appears in 2016.

Later releases include Shadows of the Sun, Wars of the Roses, The Norwegian National Opera, Childhood’s End: Lost & Found from the Age of Aquarius, Messe I.X-VI.X, Live at Roadburn, The Assassination of Julius Caesar, Sic transit gloria mundi, Drone Activity and Flowers of Evil. Across its career, Ulver remains known for moving between black metal, dark ambient, progressive rock, synth-pop, drone, avant-garde and related forms.