Burzum - Filosofem (1996) Reissue [2008]

Varg Vikernes recorded the first four Burzum albums between January 1992 and March 1993 at the Grieg Hall in Bergen. However, the releases were spread out, with many months between the recording and the release of each album. During this time, Vikernes became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and met Mayhem guitarist Euronymous. He also allegedly took part in burning down four churches, along with other members of the scene. In August 1993, Vikernes stabbed Euronymous to death outside his apartment in Oslo. He was arrested a few days later and, in May 1994, was sentenced to 21 years in prison for both the murder and the church arson.
The opening track on Filosofem, "Burzum", was the first song Vikernes wrote as Burzum. It had been recorded in September 1992 for the Hvis lyset tar oss album, but Vikernes was unhappy with it and re-recorded it for this album six months later. According to a statement made by Vikernes on burzum.org, the master tapes for the version of "Burzum" meant for Hvis lyset tar oss were lost by the Norwegian prison system.
The album was recorded under purposefully bad conditions in order to retain a raw lo-fi sound. No guitar amplifier was used; instead Vikernes plugged his guitar into the amplifier of his brother's stereo and used old fuzz pedals. For the vocals, he asked a sound technician for the worst microphone he had, and ended up using an old helicopter headset.

The music of Filosofem continued Vikernes' experimentation with minimalism, repetition, and ambient music within black metal. The tracks are all quite long (the shortest being just over seven minutes), and are typically composed around very few musical motifs. For instance, "Jesu død", a track of over eight-and-a-half minutes, is primarily based around variations of a single riff. The epic "Rundtgåing av den transcendentale egenhetens støtte", Burzum's longest ambient song to date, repeats a simple melody for nearly the entirety of the runtime, switching from a bass ostinato to a harmony ostinato midway through the piece. Furthermore, the first three songs are in the key of E minor.
"Burzum", the opening track, features a prominent melody played by a synthesizer that sits atop the distorted guitars and vocals. The two "Decrepitude" tracks compliment each other, with ".i." featuring vocals and keeping the guitars in the foreground; while ".ii." is instrumental and instead focuses on the sound effects and keyboard melody in the background of ".i.".
The album cover and booklet contain artwork by Theodor Kittelsen. The front cover is named Op under Fjeldet toner en Lur (Norwegian for "Up in the Hills a Clarion Call rings out").

2 × Vinyl, Reissue, Gatefold.

-Tracklist:

Disc 1

Side A:
1.  Burzum     07:05
2.  Jesu Død   08:39

Side B:
3.  Beholding the Daughters of the Firmament     07:53
4.  Decrepitude I     07:53
         
Disc 2

Side A:
1.  Rundtgåing av den Transcendentale Egenhetens Støtte     25:11 

Side B:
2.  Decrepitude II     07:52

 

-Line up:

  • Varg Vikernes: All instruments, vocals, lyrics 

 

 

Label: Back On Black.

Recorded at Breidablik Studio in March 1993 (actually recorded by Pytten in Grieghallen, but this fact was not credited until the Byelobog Productions 2010 reissue).

Here is the German tracklisting as printed:

1. Dunkelheit

2. Jesus' Tod

3. Erblicket die Töchter des Firmaments

4. Gebrechlichkeit I

5. Rundgang um die transzendentale Säule der Singularität

6. Gebrechlichkeit II

However, contrary to popular belief, the more accurate tracklisting is the "Norwegian version", in which the Norwegian-titled tracks have Norwegian lyrics and the English-titled tracks have English lyrics. This is the version found on the back of the booklet, and the version that Varg considers to be correct, as reflected in an interview:

"The "Filosofem" ("Philosofem")* album: this album contains the first real Burzum track, titled "Dunkelheit" on the album (but the real title of the track is "Burzum". "Dunkelheit" is just the German translation of "Burzum"), that I originally wanted to include on the Hvis lyset tar oss album (but the recording was very poor, so I didn't use it). I changed the name to Burzum from Uruk-Hai when I made this song (I think in August 1991). The album is a bit weird, and far from perfect, but it is okay. Unfortunately, this is the album that sounds the most like the new Burzum music."

* correct English should be "Philosopheme".

"Burzum" (meaning "darkness") is a word from the black speech of Mordor, a language created by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The album cover and booklet contain extensive artwork by Theodor Kittelsen. The front cover is titled 'Op Under Fjeldet Toner en Lur' (Norwegian for 'Up in the Hills a Clarion Call Rings Out'), which features a woman playing a birch trumpet.

"Rundgang um die transzendentale Säule der Singularität" is one of the songs on the Gummo soundtrack (as an edit).