Review by Vladimir on May 2, 2023.

Polish one-man black metal band Zørormr returns after 7 years with its fourth full-length album The Monolith, which was released on March 24th through Moloch's label Via Nocturna, featuring Icanraz (drums) and Quazarre (lead guitar) as guest musicians.

The Monolith begins with the title track, which starts out slowly and eerie with synths and some chilling sound effects before drums and guitars take the lead. Although rhythmically slow at first, it quickly changes to aggressive tremolo riffing and blast beats, with harsh vocals joining along for the ride. The good thing about the song is that it constantly changes tempo and I really like the fact that it's pretty dynamic, even though I was afraid that it might be monotone. The track which I like particularly for its aggressive riffing, wonderful solos and even the title is the fourth track 'I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream'. To some it may seem like a cheesy song title, but I personally found it to be quite a powerful message. Tracks on the album don't really differentiate all that much, but what I like a lot is that there are always powerful lead sections and guitar solos that go along nicely with the heavy and melodic riffs. When paying closer attention to the musical style all the way down to the riffs, drumming, solos etc., during certain sections it felt like I was listening to some later Necrophobic albums which have songs in a similar songwriting fashion. Although the songs are impressive sounding, I did have a bit of a hard time to really get into this album as a whole. My problem with the songs is that they aren't really all that memorable and strong for me to get immersed or sucked into, despite having very cool moments from time to time. Maybe it's just a matter of preference, but I think that a lot of other people who search for something "tangible" in the music might also have a hard time finding something to their liking. Another thing I would like to talk about is the album cover by Paweł Kuranda, which although looks impressive and awesome, felt a bit strange because it looks like it's something that came straight out of a comic book, even the character on the cover looks like the Silver Surfer from the Marvel comics. The album's production is very modern and high quality, but generally speaking, the heavy guitar tone, distorted bass, heavy drums and harsh vocals are all top notch.

Although the album isn’t something that could hold my attention from start to finish, nevertheless managed to provide some decent level of satisfaction. It's far from a bad experience, but I wish there was a bit more to what I could grasp and enjoy. I would say that is more or less meant for fans of modern sounding black metal bands that don't necessarily excel or stand out.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Denis on April 29, 2003.

Let's pretend for a while that I'm an art critic and you are a class of art students or just a bunch of art fanatics ok? Today we'll talk about some abstract painting or something like Picasso's work. You'll see the similarity to this CD if I say that we have a piece of art with a title that most of us (if not all of us) don't understand; made of ten songs that have no titles besides 'Theme' and are all actually instrumentals. Pretty abstract isn't it?

"Lyckantropen Themes" is a soundtrack for a short film from Sweden being produced and directed by Steve Ericsson. The themes themselves are improvisations done over three chords and are as far away as it could be from metal. Relaxing, ambient, and twisted to the very end. The atmosphere can get pretty dark or mysterious in most of the recording time but when it comes to the last three 'Themes' out of whack is the best way to describe the mood. The electronics used to create the sonic scenery are not without reminding us of past work from legendary keyboard wiz like Tangerine Dream or Pink Floyd. The more experimental segments are kind of a mixture between Zappa and avant-garde. Being a big fan of Mr. Zappa and craving for avant-garde, I specially enjoyed the last three themes. The relaxing stuff is kind of cool too.

Bottom Line: A different breed of cat and different is good.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7.5
Atmosphere: 8
Originality: 8
Production: 8.5
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Jack on March 3, 2003.

Let me say that I think I have approached "Lyckantropen Themes" in completely the wrong frame of mind. For me I have been expecting "Lyckantropen Themes" to be the follow up to the much acclaimed "Perdition City". I was expecting to be blown away by an awesome follow up to 2001’s interstellar album, but unfortunately for me I was delivered anything like what I was hoping for.

"Lyckantropen Themes" whilst being in a similar vein of music to "Perdition City" is clearly on a different plane of musical impact. Whereas "Perdition City" was a bit more upfront and personal, "Lyckantropen Themes" is decisively more subtle and more of a soundtrack. I guess this is up to each discerning individual to decide whether this is a good or bad thing. But for me, Ulver are at their best when they have the flexibility to create what they really want to create, to build what they truly believe in. I can’t help but think that "Lyckantropen Themes" was hampered somewhat with a strong correlation to the movie it is going to be for, that Ulver perhaps didn’t have the freedom to create what they are truly capable of. I am obviously speculating here, but I don’t feel "Lyckantropen Themes" measures quite up to the lofty Ulver standards set through their last three discs.

Bottom Line: A decent album, sure, but I do feel a bit let down. Worth a look in any event.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Production: 7.5
Originality: 7
Overall: 5.5

Rating: 6.6 out of 10