album : Fallen
artist : Burzum
genre : Black Metal, Ambient
year : 2011
It is that festive time for traditional Burzum fans like me. According to my ritual I make it a point to buy incense sticks and flowers so I can get down to chanting my prayers for the black metal god – Burzum. Die hard is not enough to express the respect. Last year it was his release from prison and ofcourse the life-changing Belus that had given me a new lease of life. With Fallen‘s release – Burzum‘s eighth full length – this decade has already gotten me to mumble that everything is right, everything is bright.
The seven songs on Fallen accommodate a musically ripe Burzum who was amongst the first ones to write the black metal rules. Not caring how anybody judges his music, Burzum has yet again picked the right cards. With a minute of whispering on Fra Verdenstreet, the familiar raw riffing on Jeg Faller reminds me as to why exactly I could not wait for the release of Fallen till the month of March. On Fra Verdenstreet (as well as on Enhver til Sitt), Burzum can be heard speaking on and off while we are getting doped up by his screeches.
Fallen has a lot of clean singing being sprayed into our ears, and we can hear that on one of the richest tracks – Valen. Repeating the melody in bits and pieces ensues on Valen as well as the next tracks Vanvidd and Budstikken because seemingly that is what makes Burzum who he is. Infact Vanvidd is where exclusivity is bred as Burzum tries more depressive and possessed vocals. The custom of long tracks continues with Budstikken (which clocks over ten minutes) and Valen (over nine minutes long). The outro Til Hel og tilbake igjen has various beats and is more along the ambient lines.
It is a close call between Belus and Fallen, and with much mental suffering I have to say that Belus has that edge over Fallen. The madness that had followed the release of Belus had beaten the colossal effect that Det Som Engang Var had made, and Fallen very minutely settles to a close second spot along with the 1993 album. I’m unaware of this French artist Adolphe-William Bouguereau whose painting was chosen to grace the front cover of Fallen.
There is some kind of an emotional jolt when I have to think of winding up another Burzum review but not before I shoot my words in my own style. If there is a separate planet for all the black metal bands and fans then it would be Burzum who’d cut the ribbon following which he would call the shots. And the rest of us can be sure of dancing to his tunes as he helps our mind to flow along an indubitable path to nirvana.
Rating : 4.5/5
January 30th, 2011 at 11:38 am
Still have to listen to this but i can safely say, you have used all the right adjectives that i can possibly want to hear for a burzum release 🙂 Although little disappointed tht you have put it behind Belus, i was expecting this one to better Belus ! Heck, fvck this it’s a burzum release and he can’t do no wrong ! Next comment after listening to Fallen :D…
January 30th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
dude I cannot stop listening to ‘Valen’
January 30th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Good review, although I think this is a better album than Belus. It’s so fvcking great to hear those same cold chilly tunes again from Count Grishnakh!
January 31st, 2011 at 9:29 am
thanks Karthik.
I had gone nuts after listening to ‘Belus’ which did not happen in case of ‘Fallen’. probably because ‘Belus’ was a comeback. but I am loving ‘Fallen’ too, it is growing on me.
January 30th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
And he does it yet again !
A logical progression on Belus. My only grouch is with clean vocals, which is present in more than required quantity, but only because i miss those chilly screeches & Valen is my new top most favorite Burzum track. This guy just has that uncanny ability to take you to those deep dark places, where you would rather not dwell, with his music.
January 31st, 2011 at 10:38 am
infact I felt he is able to create the same effect with so much of clean vocals too. And that is why he is my god. 🙂
yea man Valen is the new addiction. I’m stuck to the kind of black melody he creates with two guitars.
January 31st, 2011 at 8:15 am
Good review man, i dont know why people criticize his clean vocals, I enjoyed Fallen the same way i enjoyed Belus, Vikernes FTW!
January 31st, 2011 at 11:09 am
thanks man.
the clean parts on Belus too worked well with me, as they do on Fallen.
January 31st, 2011 at 9:51 am
Even after so many years, he is still the GOD for Black Metal genre!
January 31st, 2011 at 12:31 pm
…and goddess too!
February 4th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
[…] respective genres) and we sure did await these releases with bated breath. If it was Burzum‘s Fallen last week, then it is Deicide‘s To Hell With God this […]
February 8th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
I’ve been listening to the album almost nonstop for a week now. Been a while since an album has had this effect on me.
March 12th, 2011 at 10:20 am
Crazy guitars. Atmospheric, intellectual stimulating
I’m looking forward to the next release already.
Pure art
March 13th, 2011 at 7:42 am
same here man. yea, it is fast becoming an yearly thing now.
March 15th, 2011 at 3:40 am
This guy is a musical genius. But surely no one can argue about the fact that he is the BIGGEST douchebag on this planet !!!
But ya, coming back to the album, I still prefer “Belus” to this.
March 15th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
You shouldn’t call god a douchebag. bad manners.
March 24th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
YOU THINK BELUS IS BETTER THAN FALLEN, MUST DEAF, NOT EXACTLY A RINGING ENDORSEMENT.I DONT TRUST FUN BOY’S!
March 24th, 2011 at 3:58 pm
YOU THINK BELUS IS BETTER THAN FALLEN, MUST DEAF, NOT EXACTLY A RINGING ENDORSEMENT.I DONT TRUST FAN BOY’S!,
March 26th, 2011 at 6:29 am
yes, I think Belus is better than Fallen.
March 24th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
HIS VOCAL’S SOUND A BIT DRY AND HOARSE.
April 10th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Belus couldn’t touch Fallen. I thought Belus was Varg’s weakest release ever and was actually pretty upset that he might’ve been losing his touch — besides the riffing, the production was ineffective in being transient and was just kind of mediocre the whole way through, minus a few tracks here and there.
Fallen is right up there with Filosofem or Det Som Engang Var. Unbelievable
April 11th, 2011 at 10:17 am
alright man. maybe you found ‘Fallen’ to be better than ‘Belus’ but the latter definitely ain’t his weakest release. anyways, at the end of the day we are all branches of the same tree that is Burzum.
March 31st, 2012 at 6:41 pm
[…] Vikernes better. The most read articles on Absurd History ever are the reviews of links : Belus and Fallen which are Burzum‘s last two releases. You can even go through them to get an idea about this […]