I tend to not like when bands completely change their sound. Like... I'm not saying the new album is bad, but to me it's not "Ulver."
Maybe I'm off base, but I feel like that when a band releases an album that sounds nothing like previous ones it's like if a sitcom decides that their next season is going to be a gritty crime drama. It might be a great drama, but it's a different show now.
Ulver is one of the most diverse bands I know. Given that, it sounds pretty Ulver-ish to me.
I do think it sounds close enough to plenty of their older albums. Kinda reminds me of
Blood Inside.
...But I wish Wikipedia wouldn't put so many non-metal albums on their metal lists...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_in_heavy_metal_music
Riddle me this: if the next Game of Thrones season was a lighthearted romantic romp, would everyone be saying "Hey, let the artist create"? Of course not. They'd go "look I don't care if you make that, but it's not Game of Thrones."
Being a huge life-long fan of The Lord Of The Rings, I was surprised how I ended up abhorring Game Of Thrones.
Right. The musicians can make whatever the hell they want, but don't call it the same band in the same way you wouldn't call the rom-com Game of Thrones. Ulver's a black metal band. Do a side project that's all electronica or whatever else and I'll support it 100%.
Ulver
used to be a black metal band...from 1993 to 1997. If you want to label them by stuff they've done in the past, you could also say they're a dark folk band thanks to their album in-between their two BM albums...but it wouldn't be accurate. With over a dozen non-metal releases since then, I'd say they've solidified their identity as an avant-garde collective that does whatever weird crap they want. And yeah, I know your point was that a band's identity should be based on their origins, but that's not always how the world works. More often, a band's identity is more about what they've spent the most time doing. Personally, I like how diverse they are. I can't even think of another band that has done all the things they have.
Here's a link to their discography for those who have not heard it: http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Ulver/1208
@musicalchemist, what sub did you get? I'm starting research for my 5.1 system.
I have my eye on the one I linked to: SVS PB-1000...but I'm going to postpone it for awhile.
I played around with a spectrum analyzer and discovered that so much music has tons more sub-bass than I realized—including under 20 Hz! (I played test tones in the past and can apparently hear under 5 Hz.) But this type of thing is only a major issue with some electronic music where, for example, a bass line disappears when it shouldn't.
For the moment I'm having more fun experimenting with DACs. Got a Schiit SYS passive preamp so I could compare my two current DAC/amps (iFi micro iDSD and Schiit Fulla 2) as DACs only instead of as DAC/preamps. Can't believe how different all the combinations sound! ...And I bought a Modi Multibit tonight. (Oh snap. Just checked your profile and see you have one. Looks like we're both former Mojo owners as well.)