Burzum – Filosofem

It’s filosofem what is need to say? Classic black metal in his most raw form.
+ Former Album for every atmospheric BM musician.

The best philosophical album ever made on this planet and Varg's most powerful work! Period.

Say what you want about Varg Vikernes, yes he's a convicted murderer and an overt racist, but damned if he didn't record the single greatest black metal album of all time. If you're a fan of black metal in any way, shape or form, Filosofem is mandatory. Not owning this record is like being a fan of Slayer and not having Reign In Blood in your collection.

Legendary. My favorite Burzum album is Umskiptar, but this is one of the two best. An album to listen to while meditating. 90/100.

Despite the fact most people venerates "Det som engang var" as Burzum´s best, it is in reality with "Filosofem" when he achieved his most powerful work, or at least his most memorable in of elaboration. Filosofem is very centered and balanced, equals force with harmony and rivals the creativity that gave Burzum its legendary status. Its a middle point between "Det som engan var" era with the posterior refinement of his more experimental works such as "Dauði Baldrs" and "Hliðskjálf".

The context of the making of this album also takes the work into a completely different dimension and enriched it with the aura of anger and resentment so present and certain while been created, drama fills this album with a fire so strong that one cannot but accept its own purity. This aspect is especially noticeable in the overly epic track "Jesus Tod", a distillation from the epicness and virulence of "Det som engang var" in just one track, potent riff, obsessive rhythm, simple, yet so utterly powerful and memorable. All this explosiveness is balanced by the mid paced, melancholic ladden opener "Dunkelheit" that also takes partial inspiration from "Det son engang var" in form.

After this opens the next album's chapter, one that as i recall in 1996 was certainly not understood at all by a majority of fervent Black metal maniacs. It was too strange and dissimilar from anything not only Burzum ever did before, but anything anyone elses ever did, with perhaps the exception of excentric Beherit in the Black metal camp and Mortiis outside of it.
Nevertheless, this album was dismissed and to certain degree still is by the lovers of "kvlt" black metal, they never understood "Filosofem" as a rapture and a progression, they didnt get the elegance of adding synths, playing with atmosphere or simply keep the blast beat out of the equation, it was too much for their fossilized minds. So after the initial two songs it was uncharted territory.

The meditative and often profound synth lines in the second part of the album is too much for a simpleton, this simply trascends any definition, black metal, or else, its a music that is more contemplative than exorcising, a dark and subtle beauty certainly for an elite. The interplay of a layer synths with the riff creates a cascade type sound, a deep trance like atmosphere that is ever absorbent.

In here we also observe a clear constrast, the one between the pure strength and violence from the beginning of the album and the melancholic character of the more atmospheric rest of the album, repetitive yet mesmerizing, simple to the point anything else added would have been superflous. Deep and intriguing.
This is truly one of the most incendiary albums ever made in the history of music and without a doubt Burzum´s masterpiece.

Love it or hate it, this is the most legendary and controversial album of extreme music ever. 20 years after its release, i still listen to it on a regular basis (never bored by it, how could one get bored with this, really?). These frozen archaic melodies are truly a mirror of psyche, listening to it is like listening to your innermost Self, a centripetal vortexing towards the Center.

Everyones' own music taste. Right?

I've the CD version with norwegian tracktitles and norwegian credits on the back. On the back is no barcode. I guess it's unofficial. Is this version already in discogs? Can someone give a link?

Everyone has different tastes but that negative review is so off. I think Filosofem is absolutely their best work to date.