V/A - My Own Wolf (A Tribute to Ulver)

Speaking of Ulver, Aspherical Asphyxia Productions (say that two times fast), a Russian imprint, has released a two-disc tribute to Ulver - free for download. (The physical version is due out May 15, 2008.) I am normally not big on tribute records. But this one interests me, since the objet d'affection is Ulver, whose material seems especially malleable (see the remix compilation 1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines).

Ulver - Wolf and Hatred
Asmodée - Wolf and Hatred

This project is huge: 26 tracks totaling over two and a half hours, with artists from Russia, Finland, France, Ukraine, Australia, Israel, Germany, Latvia, US, Canada, Italy, Norway, Portugal, and Brazil (see lineup here). I am not familiar with most of the musicians (Joey Hopkins Midget Factory???). Some, however, I recognize on the cutting edge - France's Smohalla and Sael (France, as far as I'm concerned, is metal's cutting edge at the moment), Zweizz (ex-Dødheimsgard), Aidan Baker of Nadja.

Breakdown of albums covered: Perdition City and Kveldssanger at the top, followed by Nattens Madrigal. Perdition City makes sense - as Ulver's most electronic album, it's ripe for "remixing." Ironically, so is Kveldssanger, but because it's all-acoustic. From there, it's a grab bag, with some interesting choices - two tracks from the Vargnatt demo, two out of the three tracks of the Silencing the Singing EP.

Ulver - Catalept
Joey Hopkins Midget Factory - Catalept

The reinterpretations here are fascinating. Panacea Enterpainment turns the winsome melodies of "Porn Piece or the Scars of Cold Kisses" into beautifully blown-out, distorted ambience a la The Angelic Process. Aidan Baker's take on "Eitttlane" is a likewise massive, moving ambient sculpture. Jääportit morphs "Gnosis" into an 11-minute monster of menacing atmospheres, rolling beats, and female vocals; it's much, much stronger than the original.

Perhaps most intriguing is where the artists inject metal where there wasn't any before. The acoustic "Utreise" gets reworked twice - both times as melodic doom. Joey Hopkins Midget Factory reshapes the Bernard Herrmann-meets-RZA hip-hop of "Catalept" into a lush Tim Burton fantasy, complete with brief metallic guitars.

Ulver - Utreise
Avathar - Utreise
Bosque - Utreise

Not all the covers are revelatory, and there are a few downright clunkers. But smoothing the ride is the logical sequencing - weird stuff first, then straight black metal, then electronic bits leading to ambience, and so on. This release works on a stand-alone basis, but also sheds light on its source material. As a covers project, it's an absolute success. I can't believe the label is giving it away for free.

Download disc 1 here; disc 2 here; see here for the full list of download links and mirrors. If you like Ulver in any way, there is no reason why you shouldn't grab this.