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Perdition City

Ulver - Perdition City Audio CD

A fair review of the Ulver "Perdition City" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Ulver reviews here, or go back to the Ulver tabs.

Band: Ulver
Title: Perdition City
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-05-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Lost in Moments 2: Porn Piece or the Scars of Cold Kisses 3: Hallways of Always 4: Tomorrow Never Knows 5: Future Sound of Music 6: We Are the Dead 7: Dead City Centres 8: Catalept 9: Nowhere/Catastrophe

A midsummer's night rain.
It was raining and that was perfect. One night two summer's ago I wanted to go for a ride in the middle of the night. I grabbed Perdition City. I turned my car on and put the album in. I left. I drove around downtown and let the rain accumulate before wiping it away with my wipers each time and with the music playing it gave it this sort of surreal feel. I didn't feel like I was apart of the world. It was odd. The lights had a different meaning as they were skewed both by the droplets of water on my windows, but also with my aural senses. It was a night I won't soon forget. I drove around and around and around, the greens the reds the yellows all filtering in so bright so alive. Ulver _Perdition City_ is the album to listen to while driving on a rainy night. It's epic and dark. Evil and uplifting. Free and concise. Everything is meticulously placed yet not forced. Imaginative. This is a masterpiece of modern music and highly recommended.

Ulver at their finest moment!
Electronic music composed with such simplicity but also with immense talent that creates an amazing soundscape. The first time I heard this album I couldn't believe my ears. I was convinced of Garm's genius after hearing Ulver's previous album and his work with Arcturus but with this he has proven that he can master any kind of music. Words cannot really describe how amazing this album is. This, as the title implies,is a soundtrack to an interior film and as so it should be viewed to totally comprehend its beauty. Very recommended album!!!.

What can be Said?
The melodies are so capturing, especially when put with the haunting vocals that seem to season this album. This CD is an ambiant, trance-like journey that will absolutely put you under a spell. If you like Industrial type rock music, this CD is for you. Please, be advised, there is nothing Black Metal about this album (I think that is what makes it, you know, good).

Moody Electronica
"Perdition City" is one of Ulver's electronic based albums, such as the most recent piece of work, "Blood Inside". To clear up any possibly confusion this is not a metal album, such as Ulver's earlier works ("Bergtatt", "Nattens Madrigal").

Ulver are simply a great band. Whether they are playing metal, folk or electronica, they create some wonderful music, and this is no exception. Even if you were directed to Ulver by their metal fame, I recommend trying this, as they create the same dark and menacing atmospheres found in their earlier releases, just without the instrumentation of metal.

Unlike most electronic music I have heard, "Perdition City" is not repetitive, monotonous, and doesn't contain silly robotic noises that become ultimately annoying. This album is something wholly different. With its dark and creepy atmospheres it is instantly engulfing and a thoroughly pleasurable experience (especially when following the instructions on the cover to listen with `darkness and headphones'). Generally the music is slow to mid-tempo, often minimalist, washing over the listener with a trance-like quality, only to be hit by perfectly executed climaxes. "Lost In Moments" is a fine opener, mostly consisting of soothing drum and saxophone playing. The song weaves in and out of solos and calming atmospherics until it breaks down into an eerie spoken section by singer Garm, followed by a huge climax with tasteful operatic vocals and crashing drums. "Porn Piece or the Scars of Cold Kisses" follows a similar pattern, its highlight being a wonderful vocal section in which Garm soothingly describes a cold, dark city. Such vocal style is visited again, but at its pinnacle with "We Are the Dead", a chilling piece consisting of Garm whispering about spirits and voices in dark desolation.

Most of the songs follow the progressive styling I mentioned earlier, and other solid album tracks include the somewhat trippy "Future Sound of Music" and the ethereal "Hallways of Always", both evolving around piano/synth themes that are constantly varied and progressed, eventually reaching climatic finishes full of lush drum loops and seemingly endless texturing.

This is not the usual electronic piece of work. For those that are new to Ulver, and were unaware of their electronic works, I strongly recommend this. Ulver can play many types of music sprawling various genres, but every album they put out contains their crucial atmosphere.
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Music for any city
Whether it is metal, electronic, classical, or country, it does not matter. I recommend this album to everyone who REALLY loves music. If you love good music and like to hear music mixed and done to perfection, this is a good album to invest in.

Everything on this album is perfectly flowed together.

From beginning to end, this musical masterpiece shows how much a metal band can evolve(who is still evolving far beyond this). There is NOTHING resembling metal anywhere on this album. However, being a huge fan of black metal (especially Norwegian), I can say that this is one of my favorite CD's.

Not having ever heard much electronic or ambient music I cannot compare it to anything or anyone else. It's better than ambient Burzum and the William Blake CD. Really, the only thing I like more than this is the Teachings in Silence album.

I recommend it for anyone who ever finds themselves looking for the perfect soundtrack to a late night drive through a busy city or something to make the pencil flow across the paper a little easier. It's great to hear while clicking away your life on a computer or just to have on while having a conversation. It will not distract you from what you are doing, but if you do find yourself sitting alone with headphones on in a dark room (as is recommended on the CD itself) you will be pleasntly surprised and amazed at what you hear.

The sound Ulver achieves is both one of simplicity and complexity. The overriding keyboards or beat box drumming on some songs may be all you hear the first couple of times, but when you really listen and hear the way everything is masterfully flowed together, you will (hopefully) appreciate the music for all that it can give you.

You can see a complete list of all Ulver discography, or go back to the Ulver tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.