Ulver - Themes From William Blake's The Marriage Of Heaven & Hell

Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is the fourth studio album by Norwegian experimentalists Ulver. Having been known for their more folklore-tinged black metal compositions on early studio releases, in late 1997, mainman Kristoffer Rygg invited keyboardist, sound conceptualist, and composer Tore Ylwizaker into the collective, and together they devised a plan for The Blake Album; an altogether far more adventurous endeavour than prior releases. What resulted was a seamless integration of electronic & industrial music, with elements of progressive metal & avantgarde rock, all fused with ambient passages, & following Blake's plates as track indexes. A work of deep and personal art, the album, while initially surprising to fans due to its complete shift in genre, has become a classic today, and a prime example of the boundary-pushing evolution beyond the confines of genre expectations through the latter part of the 90's.

Upon release, The Marriage of Heaven & Hell received widespread acclaim from critics within the rock, metal & alternative music press, being awarded Album of the Month in several high-profile magazines such as Terrorizer, Metal Hammer, and Rock Hard. The album notably includes guest vocal appearances from Darkthrone's Fenriz, as well as Ihsahn & Samoth; most known for their work in Emperor. This newly remastered edition of 'The Marriage of Heaven & Hell' is presented on 2CD deluxe digipack format, including full lyrics/text, plus a new article from writer and journalist Jeff Wagner on the background, nature & triumph of such an ambitious release.