Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is the fourth album by Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 experimental

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

 band Ulver

Ulver

Ulver is a musical group from Norway. Since their first, folklore-influenced black metal release entitled Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler , Ulver’s musical style has been fluid and increasingly eclectic, blending genres such as rock, electronica, symphonic and chamber traditions, noise and...

. It is a musical setting of William Blake

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...

's book The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell is a book by the English poet and printmaker William Blake. It is a series of texts written in imitation of biblical prophecy but expressing Blake's own intensely personal Romantic and revolutionary beliefs. Like his other books, it was published as printed sheets...

, featuring guest vocals. The actual CD booklet contains the plates of Blake's scriptures, which are contained in the lyrics.

The album is a drastic change in sound to that of its predecessors, the title alone being a loud signal that Ulver had changed somewhat. The album and the band in general got a great deal of back-lash from the black metal

Black metal

Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

 community for abruptly changing musical styles, though the band expressly claimed to not be part of the "so-called black metal scene" in the liner notes of the booklet.

The music on this double album

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 consists of elements from drum and bass

Drum and bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

, progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

, spoken word

Spoken word

Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....

, industrial music

Industrial music

Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...

, and black metal

Black metal

Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

, fused into a somewhat ambient

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

 new style.

Disc one

1. "The Argument, Plate 2" – 4:03
2. "Plate 3" – 2:48
3. "Plate 3, Following" – 1:33
4. "The Voice of the Devil, Plate 4" – 2:49
5. "Plates 5-6" – 2:31
6. "A Memorable Fancy, Plates 6-7" – 4:24
7. "Proverbs of Hell, Plates 7-10" – 9:06
8. "Plate 11" – 2:01
9. "Intro" – 3:26
10. "A Memorable Fancy, Plates 12-13" – 5:59
11. "Plate 14" – 2:08
12. "A Memorable Fancy, Plate 15" – 4:51
13. "Plates 16-17" – 3:17

Disc two

1. "A Memorable Fancy, Plates 17-20" – 11:23
2. "Intro" – 2:27
3. "Plates 21-22" – 3:11
4. "A Memorable Fancy, Plates 22-24" – 4:50
5. "Intro" – 3:59
6. "A Song of Liberty, Plates 25-27" – 26:23

The last track contains roughly 20 minutes of silence, as well as vocal appearances from Emperor

Emperor (band)

Emperor was a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1991. They dissolved in 2001, but reunited in 2006 and again in 2007 for a few festival dates and brief US tours. The group was founded by Samoth and Ihsahn .-Biography:...

's Ihsahn

Ihsahn

Ihsahn is a Norwegian composer, guitar, bass, keyboard player and vocalist. He is best known for his work with Norwegian black metal band Emperor. He has appeared in Thou Shalt Suffer, up until March 4, 2006, played in Peccatum with his wife Ihriel , and now devotes himself to his solo project,...

 and Samoth

Samoth

Samoth is a prominent musician and multi-instrumentalist in the Norwegian black metal scene. He was well known for his distinct guitar work and drumming in the band Emperor, as well as his formation of the death metal band Zyklon...

 and Darkthrone

Darkthrone

Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1987 as a death metal band, but after embracing the black metal style in 1991, they became a driving force in the Norwegian black metal scene. For most of this period Darkthrone has consisted of just two musicians, Nocturno Culto and...

's Fenriz

Fenriz

Leif Gylve Nagell , better known as Fenriz, is the drummer and lyricist of the Norwegian black metal duo Darkthrone...

.

Credits

• Trickster G.
  Kristoffer Rygg
  Kristoffer Rygg , also known as Garm, Trickster G. and recently also God Head is a Spellemannprisen nominated vocalist, musician and producer known as the frontman of Ulver and former vocalist for Arcturus...
  
  – Generation, engineering, Producer
• Tore Ylwizaker - Programming, engineering, mix, Co-Producer
• Håvard Jørgensen – Guitars
• E. Lancelot – Drums
• Hugh Steven James Mingay - Bass guitar
• Knut Magne Valle - Cables, wires & various sound contributions, engineering, Co-Producer
• Stine Grytøyr "Her" - Female voice
• Falch - Vinyl scratching
• Ihsahn - "A Song Of Liberty" 1-7, Conclusion
• Samoth - "A Song Of Liberty" 7-11
• Fenriz - "A Song Of Liberty" 12-20
• Børge Finstad – Mix
• Audhild Johanne Rype - Mastering
• Lamin Nilsen Chorr - Aesthetics