Ulvestad – Fall (Album – Cyclic Law)
Genre/Influences: Dark-Ambient, Cinematographic.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Ulvestad is a Norwegian solo-project driven by Amund Ulvestad. Cellist and composer. The musician already worked with other projects like Svartsinn and Wordclock. This debut album features four tracks inspired by ‘the misty and ethereal to an intensely physical, almost violent presence’.
Content: The sound universe of Ulvestad is created by dark and dreamy sound sculptures. Some passages are monotonous, this way accentuating the anguishing mood hanging over the work. The tracks are pretty extended, but have been progressively built up. The last track (cf. “Fall”) is going crescendo this way creating a sort of apotheosis.
+ + + : The album first caught my attention by its simple, but intriguing cover. It perfectly fits the image of the dark-astral sonic trip created by the artist. We feel like embarking for an unknown place, but which from start on has something surprising. Crescendo constructed soundwaves are getting the listeners in their grip, which at the last track reaches an ultimate point of fear.
– – – : Some passages are a little bit monotonous, which mainly comes through during the longest track (cf. “Aisling”), which is going over 15 minutes.
Conclusion: I can’t say I was totally convinced by this debut work of Ulvestad, but there are some interesting elements running through the production so I hope the best is yet to come…
Best songs: “Fall”, “Pan”.
Rate: (6½).
Artist: www.facebook.com/amund.ulvestad
Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw
About Ulvestad
Ulvestad is the solo project of Norwegian cellist and composer Amund Ulvestad. Alongside his own work, Ulvestad collaborates as cellist and arranger with Svartsinn, the dark ambient project of Jan Roger Pettersen, and as cellist and string arranger with Wordclock, the ambient project of Portuguese composer Pedro Pimentel. “Fall,” his debut album under his own name, was released via Cyclic Law on November 27, 2020, in an edition of 300 copies on 6-panel digisleeve alongside a digital version on Bandcamp. The four tracks originate from ambient and textural works Ulvestad wrote for the theatre stage, later reworked into standalone compositions drawing on source material including Knut Hamsun’s “Pan,” the traditional Irish song “Aisling Gheal,” and contemporary texts on death and Norse ideas of youth. This review covers that same “Fall” release.
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