Terminus Episode 156 - BURZUM

[@ceannairereibiliunach8133]

Death metal guys take on Varg and his relationship with his music is fucking spot on .

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

Glad you dig it man, he's been waiting to get that one out there for years. - TBMG ⚔

[@THEMEATMANOG]

Better not post a Burzum video BOYS. Gorgoroth

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

Uh-oh, we just did. Is it too late? Can we turn back?? Gorgoroth

[@lynnromanusa]

Better not do a referendum on Burzum in this BOYS

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

@@lynnromanusa shit am i gonna have to start watching King Cobra just to answer the comments on here???

[@lynnromanusa]

@@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast TWU

[@fume-yawng]

Gorgoroth

[@OutOfMana777]

Belus has been my favorite Burzum album for a while now, so it’s been cool to see it slowly get critically rehab’d (at least from the true extreme metal community) in recent years. As much as Varg bullshits about his own music, I 100% believe him when he talks about how Belus was always the true end game for Burzum. All of the most trancelike, pagan leanings of Hvis and Filosofem are still present on it, but they coalesce in such a uniquely relaxing (but also oddly energizing) way. As for this new one, I definitely enjoy it, but I agree that it’s goes maybe a little too far off into non-metal territory. Regardless, I do think that Varg has tapped into something very original with this and Belus, so I hope he we don’t end up with another decade long “Burzum is done with metal” hiatus.

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

Thanks man, always good to hear from another Belus appreciator. I like what you said about "relaxing but also oddly energizing." Black metal tends to be kind of consuming music, which isn't always a good thing. You can get so keyed up that you're useless for almost anything except, I dunno, walking in the woods or going into battle (and maybe not even that). You get swept up in this torrent of otherworldly passion that lacks a concrete object, so you claw your fist to the sky and thrash around and when you're done, you're drained, and even more estranged from a mundane world that can't live up to the excitement. Under the wrong conditions, at least, it can be dispersive, rather than fortifying. I think Varg is working against that. Hvis in particular was FRANTIC, which is something you could never say about this new stuff. Belus conjures energy, but in that centering, steadying way - it relaxes the will to unlock action. You could say the same thing about the new record, though it's obviously more tranquil. I tend to find that potent calm / relaxing energy in Dead Can Dance, neofolk, etc., more than in BM. Given his taste, I would be surprised if Varg WASN'T a DCD fan, though he obviously could draw similar ideas from electronic music. The other band that really rejects the "dispersive" aspect of black metal, is Spite Extreme Wing - music that creates and SUSTAINS supreme tension of the will, the mindset proper to effective action, rather than releasing that energy in climax after climax. It's no coincidence that SEW were also drawing heavily on DCD, neoclassical, martial industrial, etc. Ofc since Belus and the SEW records, a few other bands have tapped into that mood, e.g. Necropole. - TBMG

[@Haxprocess]

"BBBUUUURRRTTTZZZUUUMMMM" - Varg

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

We prefer to pronounce it, "Brozum."

[@damnddevo]

Better not shill yer Spite Extreme Wing episode again, BOY

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

uh oh 😰

[@theakkusor]

Oh Uncle Varg; Black Metal's reluctant rockstar... Bellus is peak Burzum, so underrated. I for one am here for the daffodils. Good job on this one boys DEATH STRIKE

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

Yeah I'm ready for True Daffodilian Fieldmetal. And thanks, man. Glad you enjoyed. DEATH STRIKE

[@theakkusor]

@@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast Hobbit BM = Gnome metal < TRVE DAFFODILIAN FIELDMETAL

[@EGHSRC]

G

[@faust8218]

A jolly record this, perfect for tending to my mushroom garden

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

Terminus Tested, Gnome Approved. 🍄

[@spazzriff_appreciator]

the death metal guy's giggle is really cute in the way that it shows his underlying homosexual urge after a few alcoholic beverages

[@JuanR20421]

😂

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

my underlying homosexual urge expresses itself in the syllable "uhm" - TBMG

[@SeanS1995]

Pardon, hard time hearing the name of the band: Which episode of yours should I listen to to best understand this concept or “Solar” themed black metal?

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

Spite Extreme Wing! Necropole and Fin were two of the first bands (outside Italy) to pick up this thread where SEW left off. - TBMG

[@SeanS1995]

@@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast Man you’re cranking out those responses, thank you and I hope the vacation was great. I’ll be sure to listen to your review of Spite Extreme Wing after Flaming Ouroboros

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

@@SeanS1995 thanks man, it was actually fucking awesome, and quite restorative. - TBMG

[@vårfågel]

Vrag be how vrag be, bless his little heart.

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

A wild Snufkin appears! Based and gnomepilled. - TBMG 🌲

[@ziragg]

I think the last-note-is-first-next-note procedure in consecutive phrases is mentioned by L Bernstein in basic compositional principles. Also found in Sepultura. Also I found greek vibes on Beyond the Gate, first Varathron maybe

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

Dude I love this comment, so many sides of the musical universe. Re. last/first - OK that makes sense, it's kind of unusual in metal, where you usually wanna drop/rise to the start of the next phrase, but then, I remembered a Slavic BM track that uses it, so maybe it's more of a folk-based thing. Re. Greek vibes - that's a great comparison, makes sense w/ the melodic palm mutes AND the misty, reverent atmosphere. I wouldn't be surprised if Varg never listened to that stuff but, then again, I don't think he's entirely honest re. his listening habits (you could say the same thing re. Quorthon, or any artist who skillfully builds his own myth). - TBMG ⚔

[@D14V0R05]

Burzum laid the foundation for atmospheric Black metal but that's about it, there were better artists among the 90s black metal bands whose works still would be great in the current year but Burzum's music just aged poorly.

[@Iron_Wyvern]

Aged poorly? Lol what? Three of his albums are still great in 2024.

[@ceannairereibiliunach8133]

Such a piss poor take....

[@ziragg]

Vocals here sound sometimes like a impression the witchking of angmar

[@TerminusExtremeMetalPodcast]

The windlike hissing, yeah, I hear that! Varg would probably love that comparison. Witch King possibly the coolest bad guy of all time. - TBMG ⚔

[@spazzriff_appreciator]

"this suffices as a microcosm of the record"