12-03-10
013, Tilburg
Support act: Void ov voices

Yesterday I made one of the better choices in my life. I was supposed to enjoy carnival in Oldenzaal that evening, being a bit drunk and having a good time with family and friends. But at the last minute I actually thought of Ulver playing in the 013 in Tilburg. As Ulver is a band of not to many gigs I decided to go and get to the carnival festival the next day.

The evening started out with a beer while waiting for the first act to play. This was going to be Void Ov Voices a one man band, which is the brainchild of Attila Csihar the legendary vocalist of Mayhem. After a strange beginning with one man on the stage with a microphone in hand dressed in a black cape with its hood up, it only got stranger. The sound created by Attila is a vocals only layer upon layer of demonic tones with some singing in it. The problem with the band was that it totally missed out on the visual part of the music. As it was a seated concert you had to have something to look at. But that being said, I cant really say I loved it but I cant really say that I hated it. I actually don’t know what to do with it. Lets just leave it at strange and a reasonable support act as it did get you in the slower mood.

After a little stage rebuilding (mainly getting stuff out of the way) Ulver started. This being nowadays Ulver means the go more for the ambient sound than the old black metal style. Actually there is almost no connection to anything metal in it (which is strange as the whole audience consists of metalheads). After a few initial tones I decided this was going to be awesome and I wasn’t proven wrong. In contrary to Void Ov Voices there was a big screen showing a lot of visuals, starting with some nature film. The visual part was done great and really gave the music an extra dimension. The music itself totally rocked my little knowledge of ambient music and in the end left me flabbergasted and outside talking it over with a friend of mine. As I don’t know exactly which songs were played I can’t give you that information but the songs all had a different momentum which carried on into each other. Creating a mood of relaxed music combined with some climaxes which were done perfectly. The band or dudes on stage consisted out of a few musicians, a guitarist/bassist, a keyboardist, a drummer, singer/rhythmic instruments (Garm) and two guys on laptops/electronics department.
In the end I can only say if you are a metalhead with interests in other music genres (some experimental) go see this band. It rocked my world for a short evening (show only lasted an hour)and left me thinking for a long time. They are doing a few shows the coming month so try to get your tickets now.

Link:
Ulver myspace
Void ov voices myspace

Reviewer : Roel