This is a partnership that works better on paper than it does in practice – given the fruitful marriage of Sunn O)))’s collaboration with Boris, the idea of them working alongside Ulver, a band that matches Sunn O))) in innovation (or arguably overtakes them), should produce results that are far more interesting than what the pairing actually manages to achieve.
This is by no means a bad record, if treated as a standalone Sunn O))) release – this would have worked wonderfully if Ulver had taken more of the reigns, however, this is not the case and, as a result, this sounds all too similar to 2009’s ‘Monoliths and Dimensions’.
Opener ‘Let There Be Light’ sheds Sunn O)))’s trademark droning guitar sound in favour of prominent brass sections, but ultimately it still strives towards the age-old wall of noise approach, making Ulver’s contributions almost unrecognisable. The drums towards the latter half breathe some much needed life into the track’s tired old bones, but do little to excite or entice the listener.
Moving onto the next song, ‘Western Horn’, there is still nothing placing Ulver in the frame and we are once more ground down by oppressive bass. Third and final offering ‘Eternal Return’ is much more interesting and kicks things up a notch, with lots more melody – this leans towards what Sunn O))) were trying to achieve with ‘Alice’, however, this particular track is far less contrived. Ulver have very much put their stamp on this and Garm even provides some hauntingly beautiful vocals for a brief period. If the entire opus had followed this dynamic, this partnership could have been a much more captivating one.
A fine effort as a single entity’s release, but this is not the case and sadly, due to the notoriety of both contributing artists it’s difficult not to get hopes up and this release will most certainly let them down again; a mournful glimpse of what could have been.
(5/10 Angela Davey)
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