(House of Mythology)
Total running time: 01:10:32

New album, new “songs” and while it actually a live album, as it was recorded during the band’s appearance at the Red Bull Festival in Oslo, it doesn’t have the characteristics of a live album, like crowd cheering, or talks to the crowd etc. it is like it came out of a studio. So because the band released it as a live album, we will take it as such. If you read a few lines above, I wrote that there is no cheering from the crowd. I find this very logical. I wouldn’t cheer and I wonder why there was a crowd in the first place.

The album has 4 tracks (?), with a total running time of 1 hour and 10 minutes. As the album’s title indicates (“Drone Activity”), here we see a former Black Metal band with EPIC albums such as the huge “Nattens Madrigal”, the wonderful “Bergtatt” and the music seminar “Themes From William Blake’s The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell” (no need to mention any more right?), playing Drone! Please, if we have any Drone fans here, let us know if this is supposed to be a good release for the genre or not. For me, it was an hour of FX loops, without meaning, obviously place where they should be in those tracks, as I wouldn’t expect ULVER not knowing where to use those loops, but without meaning whatsoever and then… Nothing. At some points, the drums is playing something with the toms and the floor toms but that’s it.

Do you want to listen to it? By all means, please DO! We shouldn’t accept a review without listening to the material first. At this point, I must make clear that under no circumstances do I disregard the band for what they are doing. I am just sad and it is a matter of personal opinion, which of course it not obligatory to be accepted. I am glad though, that it is a live album and I don’t have to grade it. Now let’s listen to “Nattens Madrigal”, and listen to ULVER as they should be!

Nick “Yngve” Samios