Label: Back On Black
Reissued 2019, Originally released 2005
Varg Vikernes, the musician behind the one-man band Burzum, is without question one of heavy music’s most controversial figures. Currently serving a 21-year prison term for the murder of Mayhem member Euronymous, Vikernes has also had widely reported dalliances with fascism, and was partially responsible for several church arson cases. In spite of, or perhaps because of all of this extra baggage, Vikernes’s releases as Burzum remain some of the most highly regarded Norwegian black metal ever. DRAUGEN-RARITIES was initially only available as a bootleg, but Candlelight Records has re-mastered it and given it a proper wide release. The recordings are extremely raw, with harsh, battery-acid guitars and Vikernes’ scorched howl buried in the mix, but the dark power of the material cannot be denied. The music sounds forbidden, like something never meant to be discovered.
Track listing:
- A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit
- Stemmen Fra Taarnet
- Dominus Sathanas
- Lost Wisdom
- Spell of Destruction
- Channelling the Power of Souls Into a New God
- Outro
- Et Hvitt Lys Over Skogen
- Once Emperor
- Seven Harmonies of the Unknown Truth
- My Journey to the Stars
- Lost Wisdom
- Dunkelheit