The show we have planned for tonight was meant to have an opener. Meant to, mind you. For some mysterious reason there is none, and only the Norwegian Ulver will play after a very lengthy period between the doors opening and the show starting. The great hall of the 013 venue is separated into two parts: below seats are put in for the seated part of the show, and on the balcony are standing places. With Ulver you’re never sure what kind of a set you will get and when the vocalist and electronics man step up to a big square block with effects, to start the show we’re thrilled. The visuals start with an old man in a bed and a crow flying over him as an almost religious sort of heavenly, yet eerie mix of sounds fill the room.

After a while the percussionist joins in dropping chains on drums and even whipping them dramatically over a huge gong set beside him. Then after a few minutes the whole band joins in and the atmosphere explodes into a much more intense thing.

Throughout the show the visuals stay incredibly captivating, the low lighting on the band itself helping you focus on the different visual stories being told. These images really manage to add a new depth layer to the emotional message of the music. The set seems to be mostly newer work, with more vocals involved and hardly any traces of the bands black metal roots. The sound is balanced surprisingly heavy yet not loud, Conversation of people a few feet away can still be heard, which is surprising.

Sadly the strong voice of vocalist Kristoffer Rygg sometimes skips and wobbles a bit on the high ends and the vocal lines seem a bit disjointed from the music in general, like someone improvising over an instrumental piece, instead of vocals written for said piece of music. This doesn’t bother the crowd though, who are clearly enjoying themselves so much that by the encore a good deal of the people on the seated area get up and start dancing in front of the stage, much to the baffled appreciation of the band. It was a wonderful gig and night out to remember.

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Words and Photos by Susanne Maathuis