Ulver — Flowers of Evil

Rising from the ashes of church fires from the Norwegian Black Metal scene of the early 90's, Ulver has continued to change and grow as their creative development deemed fit, putting a vast chasm between their current output and their roots. Passing through many genres on the way to their latest, Flowers of Evil, Ulver has shown how malleable their sound can be, as long as they continue to reach onward. Ulver's newest album sees the band discussing the themes of good and evil, once again through a poppier lens.

Quite a distance from their metal roots, but still feeling very comfortable, Ulver's Flowers of Evil is pop that fits in quite well with 2020: dark, a tad futuristic, and somewhat hopeful. While not quite synthwave, there are elements that hearken back to synthesizer driven, forward looking soundtracks of the 80's, sometimes with a Zombi-esque vibe. Opening with some self-referential notes on "One Last Dance" ("we are wolves (Ulver)," "One last dance in this burning church"), one gets a feel for the somber tones on Flowers of Evil. It's this overly somber approach that unhinges the album somewhat. Musically it works, but the vocal delivery is a bit stilted, and the extreme focus on the lyrics overemphasizes this, creating a divide between the music and vocals. However, that aside, Flowers flows really well and stands up to repeated listens, which is more of a test than anything else. With new elements jumping out on successive spins, Flowers of Evil showcases its hand, and while simple, it's effective. Allowing the music to speak for itself in a fairly unadulterated way, Ulver doesn't overcomplicate their album and lets subtlety reign (outside of the oft unwieldy lyrics), and this gives a more natural reaction to the listener and encourages different pathways to be enjoyed in each subsequent listen.

Flowers of Evil sees Ulver continuing on their synth based, dark pop path. Sleek and modern, this latest album continues to build on Ulver's career of growth and experimentation. While not as drastic as many past changes, the sounds on display still move the band into new territories. Never content to stay put, Ulver will continue to push forward until they decide to call it quits.