Flowers Of Evil
JESTER
Norway’s post-black adventurers head deeper into 80s pop nirvana
Ulver reflect on twiddling while Rome burns
DARKTHRONE DIDN’T GO disco. Mayhem never went funk. Of all the classic bands spewed from Norway’s second wave of black metal, Ulver are the most experimental, and the most successful at it. Any tosser with a Roland can string a few notes together and call it ‘ambient’ - it’s so easy, Varg Vikernes did it from prison. Pop music isn’t easy, though. And following years of genre-hopping, 2017’s The Assassination Of Julius Caesar saw Ulver just make a great pop album. Embracing their love for 80 hit-makers like Talk Talk and Depeche Mode, they reinvented themselves once more.