Just when you thought Ulver had strayed far enough with predecessor Liminal Animals, the band released album number 19 (!) at the turn of the year, titled Neverland. The artwork of the previous records still allowed you to draw some links to the occult, but it almost seems as if these Norwegians are going surfing on the new album. A strange choice for the cover, and of course we have long known that the musical choices will be no less strange. We keep covering them because they once were a metal band, but also because here and there some dark atmospheric passages still come at you. And because this new wave/synthpop/electronica is, quite simply, still very good.
Don’t be alarmed if this is your first encounter with the band, or if you haven’t given them a try for 25 years. Ulver is one of those bands that has undergone some of the most radical metamorphoses and continues to reveal new faces. The sticky synthpop on this album has become almost instrumental, and here and there I sense a bit more menace. Quite a lot of bass, no characteristic poppy vocals, and therefore a great deal of floating electronica with a new wave timbre. At times it remains somewhat superficial, but a track like Hark! Hark! The Dogs Do Bark is genuinely beautifully constructed. All the metalheads will immediately say, “What on earth is this guy writing now…”, but of course they all clicked away already after reading the genre tag.
I should also say that the atmospheric waves on this newcomer dare to sound quite experimental. A menacing sense of layering that doesn’t always feel immediately accessible interacts with ambient elements and in that way creates a decidedly dark atmosphere. Fine examples of this are tracks like Horses of the Plough or Pandora’s Box, which gives me a certain Massive Attack vibe. Perhaps fans of warm Pink Floyd-style synths might also find something to enjoy here.
I may be repeating myself when I say that you need to let this Ulver record mature for a while. Not that it would have ended up on my year list, but perhaps this album is ideal for closing off a year like 2025 and disappearing for a moment into an electronic vortex of dark synthpop. Better than the previous one!
Score:
80/100
Label:
House of Mythology, 2025
Tracklisting:
- Fear in a Handful of Dust
- Elephant Trunk
- Weeping Stone
- People of the Hills
- They’re Coming! The Birds!
- Hark! Hark! The Dogs Do Bark
- Horses of the Plough
- Pandora’s Box
- Quivers in the Marrow
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Fire in the End
Line-up:
- Kristoffer Rygg – Vocals, drums, percussion, synth, elektronica
- Jørn H. Sværen – synth
- Ole Aleksander Halstensgård – synth, elektronica, programming
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