Blut aus Nord - Ultima Thulée (1995)Release ID: 2750
Blut Aus Nord's debut is a beautiful and immensely atmospheric black metal album.
Like many others, I first came across Blut Aus Nord with their The Work Which Transforms God album. Saying that I was blown away by that album would be an understatement. It's an immensely disturbing and moving album that sounds like it was recorded in another dimension. Going back through a newly found bands discography can sometimes be underwhelming, with the result often being that you discover a less mature version of the album that got you into the band in the first place. Thankfully, that hasn't turned out to be the case with Blut Aus Nord for two main reasons. Firstly, this debut album is excellent all on its own and secondly, Ultima Thule is not very similar to The Work Which Transforms God at all.
What we have here is atmospheric black metal that relies heavily on ambient passages, freezing riffs and seemingly distant, tortured shrieks. It's much more likely to cause your mind to escape into distant forests and icy landscapes than dive into an abyss of blasphemy fueled hatred like the aforementioned gem demands. Others have mentioned Burzum while describing this album and I can certainly hear that (particularly in the use of keyboards), but I think Satyricon's Dark Medieval Times needs a mention also, particularly the way the album switches (not always neatly) between grand, raw black metal and outside influences. The difference here is that Blut Aus Nord went for entirely symphonic elements, rather than the more acoustic work on Satyricon's debut.
The musicianship doesn't really draw your attention to it, which is a wonderful thing for any atmospheric black metal album. The band obviously cared nothing for technicality and instead opted for simple yet hugely atmospheric passages. Despite this simplicity, I have to say it's a captivating and at times unpredictable experience. Many tracks shift halfway through down an altogether different path, which at times can be jarring and frustrating, but each part is effective enough that you soon settle into the metamorphosing proceedings and just let it wash over you. The vocals are extremely raw and agonized and while a few reviewers on this site seem to dislike them, I find them utterly enthralling. Once again, the closest comparison would have to be Varg's emotional outbursts in Burzum and that can only be a good thing in my books.
The opening track The Son of Hoarfrost, Till I Perceive Biforst and The Last Journey of Ringhorn are the highlights of the album for me, but there's much to be enjoyed within all 8 tracks, including the ambient instrumentals. If you enjoy albums like Dark Medieval Times, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and to a lesser extent the music of Drudkh, then you should hunt Ultima Thule down. It's by no means a perfect album but it's a consistently gripping and entertaining one.
After having gone through a ton of black metal albums to re-evaluate the way I see it, I've been doing a lot of rearranging, specifically for traditional black metal and a little of the atmospheric stuff, namely Blut Aus Nord. I found myself less satisfied with the Memoria Vetusta albums as they draw out despite their keen soundscapes. I need something that keeps me on my toes. When it comes to the more atmospheric stuff, that album is Ultima Thulee.
Ultima Thulee is aggressive and menacing, like the winter landscapes and blizzards themselves are out to kill you. But even as you can envision youself hiding in a cave or a cottage, you feel comfortable, as the album is very contemplative in its strong atmos. Whether it's shifting between soft and comfy or astral and cosmic dungeon synth, or shoving the blizzard down your throat and up your rear at the same time, the weather might always be snowing outside, but the weather's always changing. Honestly, this album does a much better job of drawing me into the winterworld than even Paysage d'Hiver ever did. Even though it's not the most diversified, it keeps throwing even old tricks at you in random but welcome places, and that's what makes it a good debut.
Trudging Through Frozen Wastes
Blut Aus Nord arrived on the Black Metal scene right on the heels of Varg Vikernes (Burzum) in the mid-90's and through this impressive debut created a new and different path for Atmospheric Black Metal that trudges through the same snow drifts as Burzum, but with better equipment and more aggression. While Burzum's Hvis lyset tar oss slowly trances the listener into experiencing a certain atmosphere, Ultima Thulée throws the listener directly into the storm with its more aggressive and raw riffs and less repetitive structure. There's more anger and spite as Vindsval constantly howls in the distance as harsh but intricate Black Metal riffing and a surprising amount of charming melodies transport the listener to a different world, as Atmospheric Black Metal should.
A lot of my amazement with this early Black Metal albums is how well these solo artists are able to use the low production quality to their advantage, creating a sound that should be awful to listen to, but somehow stands the test of time and just feels more despondent and emotional than most Atmospheric Black Metal of modern times. At this time Blut Aus Nord only had one member plus a session bassist, much like Burzum, so these two singular guys managed to create genre defining albums extremely early in their career that are still unique and appreciated to this day. That's pretty amazing in my opinion, since Atmospheric Black Metal has turned out to be a very difficult genre to really nail down how exactly to create a good atmosphere.
Blut Aus Nord's atmosphere comes from raw aggression and bleak synth melodies, a perfect example being the ending of "The Last Journey Of Ringhorn" with its rumbling chug riff and contrasting synth. This aggression and more direct approach is performed extremely well, with chaotic riffs somehow still having sweeping and memorable melodies to them, especially the second half of "From Hildskjalf" and "The Plain of Ida". Ultima Thulée strikes a perfect balance of being a loud lo-fi mess but still being perfectly clear and intriguing to listen to. The vocals can get to be a little much after a while, but they certainly fit the album's theme and only add to the experience if you're willing to sit through them. "My Prayer Beyond Ginnungagap" and "Rigsthula" are also fantastic intermissions that offer a much needed moment of respite and feel right at home in the album.
Since I didn't really enjoy Blut Aus Nord's 2019 release Hallucinogen, it's been quite the experience going all the way back to their roots and seeing how proficient Vindsval was in the beginning of his career. He created something special with this debut that made me realize that I definitely prefer this style of Atmospheric Black Metal over the Burzum style of Hvis lyset tar oss, even though I gave both albums the same score at the time of writing this review. There's something about the heaviness and increased complexity of Ultima Thulée that keeps me more engaged and drags me into its dark and bleak world.
