Norwegian black metal fiends take note: March 7 is your new day of reckoning, according to music distributor Plastic Head. That's the official release date genre luminary Varg Vikernes is purported to be issuing his ninth studio album under the Burzum banner.
UPDATE: Fallen is due out in North America on April 5.
For the uninitiated, Burzum is Vikernes's one-man band notorious for helping kick-start the early 1990s black metal scene alongside acts such as Mayhem and Darkthrone. During that time, many of the scene's members -- excluding Vikernes -- were alleged to have burned down churches. In 1994, at the age of 21, Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the 1993 murder of colleague/Mayhem guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth.
Entitled Fallen, the new Burzum album features seven new tracks and is the artist's second work since being paroled from prison in 2009. Its predecessor, Belus, garnered rave reviews and was seen as a strong return to guitar-driven music after almost 14 years of, well, no guitars in Vikernes's music. At that, Fallen is already being compared to revered 1992 effort Det Som Engan Var, mostly by Vikernes himself.
"Musically, Fallen is like a cross between Belus and something new, inspired more by the debut album and Det Som Engan Var than by Hvis Lyset Tar Oss or Filosofem," he said in a statement. "The sound is more dynamic. We mastered the album as if it was classical music and I was more experimental than I was on Belus in all respects. Lyric-wise it is similar to the debut album, in the way that it is more personal and focuses on existential issues but the mythological undertone known from Belus is still there. I have also included some ambient tracks: a short introduction and a longer conclusion."
Fallen:
1. "Fra Verdenstreet"
2. "Jeg Faller"
3. "Valen"
4. "Vanvidd"
5. "Enhver Til Sitt"
6. "Budstikken"
7. "Til Hel og Tilbake Igjen"
UPDATE: Fallen is due out in North America on April 5.
For the uninitiated, Burzum is Vikernes's one-man band notorious for helping kick-start the early 1990s black metal scene alongside acts such as Mayhem and Darkthrone. During that time, many of the scene's members -- excluding Vikernes -- were alleged to have burned down churches. In 1994, at the age of 21, Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the 1993 murder of colleague/Mayhem guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth.
Entitled Fallen, the new Burzum album features seven new tracks and is the artist's second work since being paroled from prison in 2009. Its predecessor, Belus, garnered rave reviews and was seen as a strong return to guitar-driven music after almost 14 years of, well, no guitars in Vikernes's music. At that, Fallen is already being compared to revered 1992 effort Det Som Engan Var, mostly by Vikernes himself.
"Musically, Fallen is like a cross between Belus and something new, inspired more by the debut album and Det Som Engan Var than by Hvis Lyset Tar Oss or Filosofem," he said in a statement. "The sound is more dynamic. We mastered the album as if it was classical music and I was more experimental than I was on Belus in all respects. Lyric-wise it is similar to the debut album, in the way that it is more personal and focuses on existential issues but the mythological undertone known from Belus is still there. I have also included some ambient tracks: a short introduction and a longer conclusion."
Fallen:
1. "Fra Verdenstreet"
2. "Jeg Faller"
3. "Valen"
4. "Vanvidd"
5. "Enhver Til Sitt"
6. "Budstikken"
7. "Til Hel og Tilbake Igjen"
