Click on a link to hear a sample of the track.

01. Dressed in black
02. For the love of God
03. Christmas
04. Blinded by blood
05. It is not sound
06. The truth
07. In the red
08. Your call
09. Operator


Review in Dead Tide September 2005

A new Ulver album comes with a certain expectation of an ear-opening and mind bending experience, given their track history so far. If you've followed this band at all, you know already that they've long ago abandoned the frozen realm of black metal and moved into other musical territory. A full five years after "Perdition City", Trickster G (a.k.a. Garm) has remained true to his musical vision on "Blood Inside". Yes folks, this is one weird listen, as you've come to expect. My tolerance for this kind of music is pretty high, as I've always been a fan of progressive music. Basically, if you can't wrap your head around something that's not strictly heavy metal, I doubt you're going to find this much fun. But if you can, there's a big, strange world to explore on "Blood Inside".

My immediate reaction was that Ulver's gone and gotten all Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd on us. I mean, this one really cries out for headphones and hemp products, and I don't mean Woody Harrelson's pants either. Opening with the synth drone of "Dressed in Black", you know right off this is going to take it's own sweet time developing. Minimal chord changes provide an outline, drums and piano fill in some color, and the vocals are long, drawn out and sonorous. It ratchets up the intensity until a piano break at 5:52, then everything drops out at 6:10, leaving only a pulsing drone before returning to a thematic piece that brings the song to an end and also transitions it into "For the Love of God". The vocals really float through the music; brilliant job of production and mixing. There's a bit of guitar at 2:15 that works well with the almost jazzy drums. On this song, the outline is filled in a bit more, before fading unexpectedly at 3:52 into the percussion rich "Christmas". Musical themes repeat themselves periodically, giving all of these songs a larger framework in which to exist. "Christmas" has some jagged edges, symphonic moments which break up the sonority, before the whole thing collapses into Doctor Who-sounding keyboard breaks at around 4:20, finally bowing out on wings of percussion. "Blinded by Blood" starts off very still, almost soundscaping; and then the soulful vocal starts in and I don't know what to think about that. Incongruity seems to be Trickster G's specialty and he makes it work. The song ends on another percussive notes. "It is not Sound" starts off weird and almost cacophonous, but at 3:10 there's keyboard/organ work that strongly reminds me of Rick Wakeman's "Six Wives of King Henry VIII". "The Truth" starts loud, gets quiet, and then gets really strange with cyclonic drumming and Fripp-like guitars, before ending on an almost trip-hop vibe. The vocal delivery doesn't vary too much, which can get a bit monotonous, but it does work within the context of these songs. "In the Red" is almost menacing, but then breaks out in jazzy ragtime which takes it to the outro. "Your Call" is a warm bath of sounds, with the occasional corner tossed in to trip up the listener. "Operator" closes the proceedings with a percussive, sonic bash, a chaos of sounds.

One hell on an intense listen, for sure. You've got to have big ears. I know this won't appeal to everyone's tastes, but those who like should find a tasty treat. It's one very odd album, but also very interesting. Kudos to Trickster G for doing exactly what he wants and not compromising his vision.

By S. Gregory