A solid album, worthy of purchase, but it changes nothing in terms of my top go to albums from Burzum. When I’m in the mood for Burzum I will continue to reach for Det Som Engang Var, Burzum and Hvis Lyset Tar Oss over any of the others.

First off the album starts off much better than the cheesy bottle clicking of Belus that will forever more have me thinking of warriors. “Fra Verdenstreet” is not a great intro but at least it is not “warriors come out to play.” Fallen avoids some of that keyboard loop drone that filled out the background on some of Belus, the Filosofem-formula, instead doing a similar thing on the guitar, which to me is more compelling. I like the drum sound on Belus better, it is more understated.

“Vanvidd” has fast paced blasting and combines harsh vocals with his spoken delivery. “Enhver til Sitt” has venomous vocals and harshly forced whispers with nice tension from the guitar line. “Valen” is proving to be a favorite. “Jeg Faller” is once again up tempo with a mix of vocals, though mostly clean sung with some harsh whispers. The drums keep the beat religiously and the guitar is nicely shrill. In “Budstikken” I like the power from the drums in the opening sequence, though the song rambles on too much. It is mostly the spoken vocals that I do not care for and some clean singing. “Til Hel og Tilbake Igjen” is the obligatory experimental art track. It grows on you, though no need to let it. It’s no “Tears in a Prophet’s Dream.” Then again, unlike Tom, he’s no prophet, just an outlaw.

I gave up hoping for if the light takes us part two as Varg is obviously not in the same mindset musically as he was then. He seems uninterested in appeasing the fans, praise him for that instead. He seems to be releasing music written for himself and then letting us in on it if we so desire. So many bands that try to make a comeback try to recapture that old magic, be it Kreator, Metallica, Kiss, and the ones that achieve it, like Kreator, are praised while the ones that do not are banished, like Metallica. Varg is trying to do a little of both. I imagine it would be a simple matter for him to blast out five or six songs in the style of Det Som Engang Var but what would that really prove?

“Tailgunner” will never equal “Aces High”. “Til Hel og Tilbake Igjen” will never equal “Tomhet,” but Fallen is damn cool where No Prayer for the Dying was not. Maiden proved themselves not to be dying, and so will Burzum prove not to have fallen. Each man gets what he deserves. Varg did his time and he deserves a fresh start. Help him pick himself up.

You could argue his music is awful uninspired drivel and you would be dead wrong, at least as far as his pre-conversion days, “some of the best black metal ever created,” and I’d agree, but post-conversion is another matter, and no matter what this album actually sounds like this album is bought for one of three reasons. 1. Varg is my idol, I wish I was as evil as him, in which case you have already ordered your copy. 2. Burzum is the very definition of true kult, I wish I had burned a priceless pagan church, murdered my friend and converted to Nazism, in which case you have already ordered you copy on vinyl. 3. Burzum is that overhyped one man project from Norway that produced three excellent albums and then got himself incarcerated for some reason, Norwegian Charles Manson or some such, and now he is out of prison so I am hoping for a return to form of pre-incarceration styled black metal, in which case you’ve probably already set the money aside to buy the album when it shows up at your local store.

It’s impossible for him to tarnish his image any more so it matters little if he continues to release ambient drone albums or he really comes through with his promised return to early black metal. What of the music of Belus though, for those out there not buying the disc automatically? Personally I can’t put the ipod on shuffle, have a Burzum song pre 1995 come up and not know it instantly, yes the first three discs are on the ipod permanently, and with Belus the initial immediate reaction is “that’s a Burzum song,” definitely identifiable as Burzum, quite readily so, and I won’t say the magic is gone, mush as I’d like to. There are a plethora of inspired moments but no inspiring ones. That is to say he has written some cool passages, he was inspired at the time of composition, but none of it inspires me.

It is definitely guitar driven, not keyboard, I thought he didn’t approve of stringed instruments anymore. The vocals are not the tortured wail. The dreamy distant clean vocals, NSBM pagan styled, if you will, are effective on “Glemselens Elv”. The blackened screams on “Kaimadalthas’ Nedstigning” are just not like the old days. There are also many spoken phrases and the dominate vocal style is the clean one. This song is also more keyboard centric. “Sverddans” is short and speedy with a happy bounce to the guitars and “Keliohesten” has a consistently harsh vocal style, buzz guitars and blastbeats, with an emphasis on rhythmic patterns. “Morgenrøde” drones on for nearly nine minutes. The idea was expressed in the first thirty seconds and the point was taken by four minutes. The nine minute concluding track, “Belus’ Tilbakekomst (Konklusjon),” takes up the above idea and extends it out on a parallel tangent. Bare bones guitar, minimal vocals, but not trance inducing drone. Instead it just fades into the background of my dreams, which sadly are unrelated to Belus, or Burzum.

Why rush this album out so soon after prison release? Take the time to do it right. It’s not like he was about to fade into obscurity off on some farm in the mountains north of Bergen. I will not call it ‘most disappointing’ or ‘worst of the year’ or any such thing because it is not bad and it does not disappoint because I had no expectations for it not to meet. I had already written off new Burzum as irrelevant. In all honesty come year end this album will just be forgotten. Not memorable is the tag. Varg says, “my ambition with Belus is to create something …[to] listen to for years without ever growing tired of it.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Her er eventyret ute. It is time for Kristian to settle down and raise a Nazi family of his own, and to pick up Norske Folke Eventyr for a re-read.