S“l Austan, Mƒn¡ Vestan [Digipak] by Burzum (CD, May-2013, Byelobog Productions)

Varg Vikernes returns to ambient landscapes with his newest album, Sôl austan, Mâni vestan. (Translation - East of the Sun, West of the Moon.  Fans of black metal may be disappointed as this one as Varg himself states "can best be described as relaxing, slow-paced, contemplative and very much original."  He goes on to say that this album is his pagan spirit roaming free. Those familiar with Varg Vikernes, the one man force behind Burzum, know that he is very fond of his Norwegian heritage and is quite fascinated by Norse mythology. His music has always gone back and forth from black metal of the buzzing guitars and screaming vocals to the ambient instrumentals lke Daudi Baldrs (The Death of Baldur, a prominent Norse myth) and Hlidiskjalf (The throne of Odin) that he recorded in prison.

Myself, I don't expect Varg to release the same things. That said, this seems to be Burzum's mellowest album to date.

Hero with a Thousand Faces lives again

I was fasincated by Varg's own comments on the album from his site burzum.org because as he tries to discuss his new album he stated, "I have still not been able to leave behind the Pagan religious-spiritual concept of a descent into darkness and the following ascend back into the light; the Pagan initiation, the elevation of man to the divine, the enlightenment of the mind, the feeding of the elven light in man"

Why did I find this so interesting? Well I finally purchased Joseph Campbell's famous book, the Hero with a Thousand Faces at about the same time that I got this album.  Campbell is a highly acclaimed professor of comparative mythology, and his well known work Hero with a Thousand Faces describes the essential 'monomyth' shared by all cultures and civilizations.  Indeed, Varg's journey expressed in electronic ambient music seems in Varg's own words to follow the footsteps of the Hero so excellently described by Campbell over 50 years ago.  Of course the pagan myths that Varg is so fond of are quite similar in cultures of the Norse, to cultures of the Pacific Islands and even the native American Indians. The myth of the hero is present today in stories like Star Wars and Harry Potter.   I found that Varg in his originality has in fact followed the path taken by many a hero before.

Songs and translations:

Sôl austan ("East of the Sun")
Rûnar munt þû finna ("You shall find Secrets")
Sôlarrâs ("Sun-journey")
Haugaeldr ("Burial Mound Fire")
Feðrahellir ("Forebear-Cave")
Sôlarguði ("Sun-god")
Ganga at sôlu ("Deasil")
Hîð ("Bear's Lair")
Heljarmyrkr ("Death's Darkness")
Mâni vestan ("West of the Moon")
Sôlbjörg ("Sunset")

Album Art

Growing up in the age of LP records, I miss full jacket folds with epic art like Varg has chosen for his newest Burzum album.  This one is a  painting by Spanish artist Ulpiano Checa entitled "The Rape of Proserpina" and it depicts a warrior  holding a woman as he riders her off in his horse driven chariot to the Underworld.  Of course, this is a popular subject of painting and sculpture because it is part of Roman mythology in which Prosperina, the daughter of Jupiter and Ceres is abducted by Pluto riding on his chariot led by his four horses and taken to the underworld. It is also told in Greek mythology as Perserphone is taken by Hades to the underworld.  Yes, if you read Joseph Campbell, these myths all fit together.  Both myths explain why we have Spring, when Persephone or Proserpina was rescued from the Underworld Hades or Pluto made her eat pomegranite seeds so she would have to return part of the  year to the underworld. When she is in our realm, we have spring, when she is in the underworld we have winter.  I thought it was an interesting album cover choice, and the small jpeg file that shows up on my iTunes playlist doesn't do the work of art justice. Of course the rescue of this goddess from the Underworld is another telling of the hero's journey.


The Music itself

I found Varg's newest hour of music to be quite relaxing. This is music I use to meditate or relax, a far cry from his other black metal albums that I use more for cathartic listening.  The songs blend from one to the other, and seem to mostly be recorded on electronic keyboards and synthesizers. I heard a hint of bass line in a couple spots, but that could be easily done on a keyboard as well.   No particular melody stood out for me, this album is more of a background music that offers no distractions, but more as white noise for blocking out distractions.


Summary

Did I envision myself on some hero's journey, covered with war paint and sacred symbols descending into darkness to face monsters and emerge the hero, a god myself?  Could I visualize myself in Hell rescuing the Goddess of Spring from the devil himself?  Well, actually no, not really.  This didn't really seem to be epic soundtrack music.   Nonetheless, the songs here are part of the soundtrack for a film by his wife and himself called Forebears which is the visual acompanyment of Varg's pagan hero's journey. (No, I haven't seen it)  Truth be told, the epic idea behind the album, depicted in the album art and discussed by Varg himself is far more fascinating than the resulting music.  I enjoyed the music, but meditative music isn't what the Hero's journey calls for.  I did give it three stars though, as I liked it.


Other Burzum Albums

Hlidskjalf
Burzum / Aske
Filosofem
Daudi Baldrs
Umskiptar

If you want to learn more about Burzum and black metal check out my review of the documentary

Until the Light takes Us

Recommend this product? Yes