Ulver have created some brilliant albums over their twenty five year career but “Shadows of the Sun” is something truly special.
Starting as a black metal band, Ulver have slowly changed their sound, adding more classical instrumentation and electronics whilst keeping their dark aesthetic. This experimental mix of instrumentation works incredibly well on Shadows Of The Sun. Classical string instruments created hundreds of years ago sit side by side with white noise and synthesis harmoniously.
The mood the album creates is at times all consuming. Eos opens the album and takes you into infinity. It manages to be the soundtrack to the unknown, The feeling you get when you look up at a clear night sky and realise just how lucky and yet insignificant you are in this beautifully complex universe.
For me this song is transformative. I was once driving along Lake Conniston in the Lake District on a winters night. Thick fog hung low and I had little visibility as the road wound up and down along the lake. Suddenly, as I climbed up the crest of a hill, the fog cleared and I was welcomed to a crisp cloudless night with a sky full of stars. At this moment my Ipod on shuffle loaded up this song to accompany my car as it dipped between these two worlds. Every time I hear it it takes me back to that magical moment. An event that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Without my experience, Eos would be a great track, but with it, its a seminal one.
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