Ulver & Tromsø Chamber Orchestra — Messe I.X–VI.X (released 21/09/2012)
What we have here, gentlemen, is the first of two collaborative Ulver albums we’re checking out, and a very interesting one at that. It was commissioned, yes, by the Tromsø House of Culture, and was first performed and recorded live, then post-produced and tweaked for the album release. That all makes it a quite unique release in more ways than one, and I was pretty intrigued going into it.
It’s definitely one of Ulver’s most ambient-focused works so far. The first track, with the incredible title As Syrians Pour In, Lebanon Grapples with Ghosts of a Bloody Past, is mostly composed of a weirdly processed dark ambient intro of sorts, which eventually develops into some orchestral noodling and shit, which continues in the next track before morphing into arpeggiated synth that wouldn’t be out of place in a tacky 80s movie score, trip-hoppy drum loops, distorted guitars in the background, and so on and so forth. That’s what fundamentally defines Messe to me: it’s about combining variations, different sections that naturally meld and bleed into each other, and I must say that they did some magic with the production and composition, because it really sounds very cohesive and seamless.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a fair amount of cheese distributed all throughout, as befits Ulver, mostly in the epic triumphant orchestral sections and Garmy singysongy parts. And some of the most gloomy ambient sections can feel a little navel gazey and self-satisfied. But the general feel of it is pleasant to the ears and intellect, and the thing as a whole has a very nice taste. I feel like the band X orchestra crossover really potentializes Ulver’s whole thing with mood and sound design, and they manage to make the most of it in here.
It’s hard for me to come up with a whole lot to say about this, just like it would be hard for me to write a long essay about, I don’t know, Koyanisqaatsi or something like that. It’s about the vibe, the feeling, and I’m not particularly good at dissecting that. It sounds great, the journey it takes me on is great, it’s mostly solid and feels good to listen, be it doing something else or paying close attention. It makes me think of Shadows of the Sun a lot, and I honestly feel like most of what I said in that review applies here too:
It’s a remarkably dynamic and everchanging album, at least considering how cohesive it is, how much like one continuous thing it feels […] it’s a work that can easily fade into one hazy mass, which is something that I admire, but will also reward an attentive listen with delicious little morsels here and there, both sound design and composition-wise. Simple, unambitious, but concise and effective lyrics and vocals are the frosting on the cake.
DOES IT PULVERIZE? Yes man.
