BURZUM — Filosofem (review)

BURZUM — Filosofem album cover Album · 1996 · Atmospheric Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
Burzum's final album recorded before Varg's heinous crimes landed him with a long jail sentence was recorded a few months after Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, and represents a refinement of that album's fusion of the project's black metal and ambient aspects. As well as including some pure metal extracts and a long ambient piece - 25 minutes long, to be exact - the album also features several tracks which combine a dark ambient synthesiser line with Burzum's trademark buzzing wall of black metal noise.

The end result of this mixture is intriguing, and is all the better for Varg leaving his repugnant and cranky political views out of the lyrics (which, once again, revolve around extremely morbid and depressed musings on cosmology). As with much of Burzum's output, if you can separate the odious man from the music, it's undeniably ground-breaking, though at the same time enough groups have taken these ideas further whilst not having the same obnoxious baggage as Varg that I don't blame anyone who skips it for other atmospheric black metal fare. (I certainly think it's pretty silly how many people are happy to wear Burzum shirts at metal festivals - why celebrate a man who did material harm to the scene by killing Euronymous?)
Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
Doomster wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Agreed. Varg seems like the king of assholes in real life, but he makes some damn good music.

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us