Filosofem

The album's cover.

Filosofem (Norwegian for "philosopheme") is the fourth studio album of Varg Vikernes published under his one-man band, Burzum. It is the most popular black metal album.

Description

This album is considered as the best of Burzum. It is an album of black metal, dark ambient and atmospheric black metal released by the labels Misanthropy Records and Cymophane Productions, the Vargs' label, in January 1996.

Music

The album is very minimalist. The first song, Dunkelheit, is a synthesized music, accompanied by powerful repetitive distorted guitar riffs and Varg's death growl. Jesus' Tod is based on a single riff that is varied for eight and a half minutes. The song Rundgang um die transzendente Säule der Singularität is a dark ambient song that is a simple rhythm that repeats for 26 minutes with some minor variations. A short version was used for the movie Gummo.

Recording

The whole album was recorded in 1993 except for the dark ambient parts which were recorded in prison. The album is lo-fi and he had asked the sound technician to use the worst microphone he had and then he gave him headphones to record his voice, which sounds distorted and distant.

Cover

The album cover is a drawing by Theodor Severin Kittelsen, titled Op under Fjeldet toner en Lur, "On the hills resounds the ringing call".

Tracklist

N°	Norwegian-English version	German version	English translation	engthL
1	Burzum	Dunkelheit	Darkness	7:05
2	Jesu Død	Jesus' Tod	Jesus' death	8:39
3	Beholding the Daughters of the Firmament	Erblicket die Töchter des Firmaments		7:53
4	Decrepitude I	Gebrechlichkeit I		7:53
5	Rundtgåing av Den Transcendentale Egenhetens Støtte	Rundgang um die transzendente Säule der Singularität	Tour of the transcendent column of singularity	25:11
6	Decrepitude II	Gebrechlichkeit II		7:53