Wars of the Roses (album)
| Wars of the Roses | ||||
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| Studio album by Ulver | ||||
| Released | April 25, 2011 (U.K.) May 3, 2011 (U.S.) |
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| Genre | Art rock, dark rock, dark ambient | |||
| Length | 45:29 | |||
| Label | Kscope | |||
| Producer | Ulver, John Fryer, Jaime Gomez Arellano | |||
| Ulver chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Metal Storm | (8.7/10) |
| Sea of Tranquility |  |
| Prog Sphere | (favorable) |
| Sputnikmusic | |
Wars of the Roses is the eighth studio album by the Norwegian experimental collective Ulver. The album was produced by Ulver, with John Fryer and Jaime Gomez Arellano, and issued in April 2011 via Jester Records and Kscope, preceded by a single, "February MMX,” in February. Wars of the Roses is the first album to feature new member, British composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan (Æthenor, Guapo, Mothlite).
Wars of the Roses amalgamates ”musical traits from its predecessors while re-shaping them with a more direct approach." SputnikMusic noted, "Wars of the Roses’ thoughtful conception and execution serves only for a thoughtful listen. After all this time, it still remains a privilege to bear witness to these wolves evolve once again."
Wars Of The Roses was mixed by producer John Fryer (Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, Swans etc.), following a chance meeting outside Crystal Canyon studios, Norway, during the latter stages of recording.
The album entered the Norwegian national album charts at Number 17, based on sales from one day alone, holding up for two subsequent weeks. It also entered the Finnish national album charts at Number 30 where it held up for one week.
In an interview with Puregrainaudio.com, Rygg commented on the inspiration behind Wars Of The Roses, “I think the last couple of years we've been getting kind of wanting to make not only kind of cinematical [music] but also pictorial lyrics to accompany it, so I think that kind of an idea we've taken a bit further this time, whereas the music itself is a bit more fragmented, the songs are more of [individual] pieces, as opposed to Shadows, which was a more holistic thing. Also lyrically, it may be a bit more internalised on this one. It's kind of like painting lyrical postcards almost, touching on cultural traditions and things like that.”
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Wikipedia