Discography Deep Dive: Ulver - Ranking Albums & Key Works

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0:00 Intro
8:23 The Ranking

Time to branch out and open up some discussion on some non drum related things, starting with one of my all time favourite bands, "Ulver". What started as a simple idea of ranking a selection of their discography spiraled into a 1 hour+ deep dive, discussing their releases and history but also some compositional concepts. Hope you enjoy!

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Instagram: @rob_brens

[RobBrens]

If even just one person gets the "Killing of a Sacred Deer" reference, I'll be happy. Another note I forgot to add was referring to "Nattens Madrigal" as one of Meadow Soprano's poster bands. That was always weird to me. Also today I found myself relistening to both Flowers of Evil and Assassination again, and I reckon I may have overstated the similarities a little and as anticipated, I am enjoying "Flowers" even more than previous.

[pdude]

Thanks man, great video, great band. Saw them live 3 times, my favorite is the Blake album. Salute from The Netherlands 😊

[marialitsa]

these guys are practically musical shapeshifters but your ranking made sense so kudos for that, and for keeping the video 68 minutes long. i hope you do it with other bands too.
it feels super weird watching a stranger on the internet articulate the things that i've had in my head all these years that i've been listening to ulver. that was a rare internet experience here.
ulver is my favorite band yet it's one of the bands i rarely listen to. they provide a full experience and that demands a certain place, time and mood, which elegantly protects them from being overused in my ears; something which i appreciate so so much.
my top 3 would be the blake album, shadows of the sun and svidd neger, as their most unique releases and as the most intense listening experiences.

[curioponics]

Very enjoyable video! Ulver has probably been my favourite band for over 20 years now, so cheers from a fellow fan. Everybody is going to have a bit of a different list, but a lot of great points here. As to the transition in So Falls The World, the metallic knifey sounds right after the techno kicks in always makes me envision the actual assassination of Julius Caesar as a kind of rave. Which is morbidly hilarious. And also very much in line with their blending of roman history and modern times on this album (like the Diana stuff in Nemoralia for instance).

[nava_ryan]

Great video! I really enjoyed hearing you talk about all the releases. I'm really sad I missed out on the Dark Mofo performance (I'm in Brisbane). My favourites are Blood Inside, William Blake and Messe.

[danteruivo]

Great video and loved your analysis. My list is not the exact same, but close enough. Ulver are also my favorite band 🔥

[radewar]

Great job, congrats for this video.
Greets from Mexico.

[Yamari]

you ranked one of my favorite bm albums at the bottom of the list, good video.

[ConnorProductionsinc]

I like hearing takes on Ulver that don't just throw the BM albums at the top of the list. Good shout out on the live at the opera house album too. I might go as far to say that it's my favorite ulver album to listen to on a regular basis.

[scottrill]

Nattens Madrigal is my favourite of theirs and one of my favourite black metal albums, was sad to see it make bottom of your list. ImAlexo put it top of his list even beating Bergtatt, I found NM much more "fun".

[Blaze-wbbk]

Bergtatt is one of the best albums ever made. If youre into black metal you know.

[Broederlam]

Nice list! I agree with most of it, though I think Bergtatt and A Quick Fix of Melancholy deserve a higher place. My ranking would be something like: 1. William Blake 2. Perdition City 3. Shadows of the Sun 4. Assassination of Julius Caesar. So pretty similar.
If you're looking for recommendations, the Japanese band Boris also has a very diverse and large discography. Would be cool to hear your thoughts on it, but it might be hard to get into if you haven't heard of them before.

[alexanderjorgenson]

I will say I think Vargnatt serves as an album of sorts especially with the more recent unearthing of if that makes any sense. I don’t even know my ranking. Probably Themes from William Blake is #1. as it’s one of the most batshit beautiful things I’ve ever heard. #2. Would be Assassination of Julius Caesar. #3. Bergtatt #4. Flowers of Evil #5. Live at Norwegian Opera (it’s like a better rendition of the ambient era albums which I can’t really get through, but live they all just work perfectly) 6. Vargnatt (it’s just weird and fucking great, see the recent version release) 7. Perdition City. This list could also change haha.

[MasaTheSlayer]

But nice video all and all. Just finished, for some reason, I left it hanging. I think that Perdition City is my favorite Ulver album ever, but sometimes it's Shadows, have been listening both much, but still something makes me put Perdition City on player more often. And I really love both albums. Some way it also weird to see Themes so up and people have been hyping, it but I have not ever gotten into it, for some reason.
My list aat least for today would be Perdition, Shadows, Nattens, Bergtatt, Kveldssanger, Teachings, Assassination, Svidd Neger, Lyckantropen, Blood Inside and the rest just top of my head. Maybe should give some records that I have not listen for years a spin.

[toprak]

Blood Inside is absolutely brilliant. Perdition City is very good.

[ricardosilva-cyxe]

If humans ever launch a probe bound to find other civilizations in the universe again it HAS to have either "Son of Man", "Silence Teaches you how to sing" or "Apocalypse 1993" in it.

[nordriket]

My ranking:
1: Bergtatt
2: Nattens madrigal
3: Kveldssanger
4: The rest
Because of the first 3 albums they will always be one of my favorite bands. I will get that book you reccommended.

[goodknight]

Flowers of Evil so so good. It’s like the best 80’s music with amazing production.

[alexanderjorgenson]

Your lack of emphasis on the Solitude cover is disturbing :)

[MasaTheSlayer]

Disappointing to see one of their the best works at bottom. Trilogy would be always on my top5 or if not top5 then top10 at least. Don't anymore have a favorite of them tho, cause that order has been changing always, depending my mood and seasons. Same kinda goes to Ulver discography also, cause can't really say which is even better Perdition or Shadows, but those five would probably be my top5 most of the time.
Still remember when they dropped Metamorphosis and first listen of that, one of the greatest wtf moment with my friends.
Also need to get that book at some point.