Varg Vikernes was released from prison on May 24th, 2009, and in less than half a year he was recording a new album. Belus turned out to be everything I could have hoped for and more. It’s hard to describe what makes Varg’s music so enthralling. It has a sort of power to it–a trance-like quality that forces me to never really contemplate what it is he’s playing and just soak in its effects. Whether it’s Han Som Reiste in 1993 or Kaimadalthas’ Nedstigning in 2010, each album reaches a point where I’m completely lost in the music, sucked into his demented little world. Some of the weirdest dreams I ever had have ensued from falling asleep to Det Som Engang Var.

Jeg Faller

Sixteen years in prison didn’t seem to detract from this. Belus felt to me like the perfect continuation to Filosofem, as though his long absence from the metal world did not negatively impact his talents in the slightest. Yet somehow, just a year later, everything has changed.

I want to say straight ahead that Fallen is pretty bad. Not only does it musically lack his long-standing ability to captivate me, it’s pretty obnoxious at times. First of all, the vocals are a train wreck. Maybe in response to criticism that his screaming vocals weren’t as demented on Belus as they used to be, or maybe because he’s just an old man who can’t pull it off anymore, Varg completely abandons screaming on Fallen. Instead he whispers with a mouth full of marbles–the most annoying spoken vocals I have heard since Rhapsody of Fire were visiting the court of king chaos.

And the opening track’s chorus… Well, to quote a friend of mine, “It’s so catchy. I think Varg has an unexplored career in pop music waiting on him. Ahhhhh ahhhhh ah ahhh, jeg faller. Oooo oooo oo ooo, jeg faller.”

Enhver til Sitt

Jeg Faller might be the biggest joke on the album, but a lot of the problems that plague it persist. His new vocal style is completely unconvincing, and that feeling that he’s trying too hard forces me to actually pay attention to the music, not just let it take me like his past works. You’re then left with the realization that he’s really not a very good musician at all. In the absence of any encompassing force, the boring repetitive simplicity of his riffs stand defenseless.

It’s always intrigued me that a guy as batshit insane and colossally egotistical as Varg Vikernes could write such brilliant music. No one but Varg himself honestly expected Belus to be any good, and that made its success all the more startling. Fallen, on the other hand, is pretty much what I expected Belus to be.

Budstikken

That being said, the album has its few sparse moments. Budstikken stands out as my favorite by far, being the only track I actually really like. But its uniqueness is too little, too late. If he’d released Fallen straight out of prison I’d have said “ah well” and not bothered much with it. It’s because he so recently proved himself that Fallen disappoints rather than simply living up to low expectations.

The weird thing is this album seems to have met a generally better reception than Belus. I don’t know if more people actually like it or if the critics aren’t even wasting their breath anymore, but my verdict is that Fallen just isn’t very good. Who knows, maybe his next one will be brilliant. He’s a pretty unpredictable guy. But for now, I’m going to keep listening to Belus and pretend this one never happened. Except for Budstikken. I really like Budstikken.