Burzum – Belus (2010)

Disclaimer: Many things can be said about Burzum’s mastermind Varg Vikernes and while we DO NOT SUPPORT in ANY means his political and ideological affiliations. We will review his music like any other band that we would get a promo/cd from.

Back in 1992 when Burzum’s self-title album came out it was one of the most interesting releases of it’s time. The band kept getting better and better with time, releasing their best album with “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss”. After that the Burzum style was refined and “Filosofem” was released amidst Varg being in jail.

Fast forward 14 years and two terrible ‘ambient’ albums, Varg has been released from prison and it’s taking the metal scene by surprise by releasing another Black Metal album by the name of “Belus”. Varg mentions that he has kept away from the whole Metal scene for the last 16 years and this sounds very accurately when you listen to “Belus”.

Featuring 50 minutes of music, “Belus” is a very interesting landmark album in Black Metal history. While the whole fame/infamy precedes Varg, one thing can be said, he can still write very solid music that will evoke emotions from people. The whole album is like a time capsule buried in time, it sounds exactly like what would have naturally followed an album like “Filosofem”.

We get all this very dense riffs that are a trademark of the 90’s Burzum sound and very similar song structures as before. Varg claims to have grown musically, but we can’t really tell this from listening to “Belus”. He has learned how to sing, instead of just screaming like before, but nothing else has been added to the music.

The ritualistic and emotional state induced by the guitar work is something that only creative mastermind’s like Varg can do. This atmosphere is magically created to transport the listener to a different time and place. You can follow the lyrics that have been posted and translated on Burzum’s website.

The clean vocals in this album add a very nice touch into the whole narrative of the album creating very interesting passages like on “Kaimadalthas Nedstigning”, where you can hear distant mystical voices accompanied by minimalistic drumming and the very eerie Burzum traditional riff. This song is by far in our opinion the best song of the album since it captures the traditional Burzum sound with a few different elements and works wonders for this release.

Overall “Belus” is a great Black Metal release. While it’s nothing revolutionary, the album is a darn good addition to any collection and to the history of the genre. Varg can still make great music and should stick to only doing this.

Release: March 9th, 2010

Country: Norway