Few bands have changed as much or as consistently as Ulver. Norway’s wierdnoid black-metal-cum-folk-metal-cum-ambient-cum-electronic group has never been content to duplicate a sound. This is a band that created one of the most raw, poorly-produced and vivid black metal albums, Nattens Madrigal, the group that produced one of the strangest spoken-word poetry ambient albums, Themes from William Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell, we now have this fusion masterpiece.

And that’s what this album is – a veritable masterpiece. This is a band that I’ve heard compared many times to my second-all-time-favorite group, Opeth. And those who compare them are smoking something that I’d love a toke off, because Ulver defies comparisons.

Guitars have all but disappeared from their sound. These guys were once a rather normal sounding raw Northern European metal band, but their evolution has been swift, boundless, and overwhelming. Blood Inside is anything but metal. This is an album that overflows with sound, assaulting you on all sides with electronica, ambience, and noise. But don’t think that this is a melody-less mess; this is, in fact, very ordered, planned out, and structured.

“Dressed in Black” is a strong album-opener, setting the stage for what will ultimately be a complex, difficult album to listen to. Garm (or Trickster G . . . or Krystoffer, depending on the album or the day of the week) is an interesting vocalist; his strange voice soars over the thumpy beats and roaring bass. This continues through the rest of the album, creating a disc full of loss, melancholy, and virtual tears. Truly this is an ambient masterpiece, one that will be a standard for electronica to come.

Tracks to catch: “Christmas”: One of my favorite tracks on the album, it combines classical sounds with a gorgeous violin melody over ambient backgrounds. “In the Red”: A thumpy, beat-filled ambient-fest; better for the average listener. “Operator”: Easily the best song on the album, this ends everything with such force, power and decisiveness.