It is that festive time for traditional Burzum fans like me. According to my ritual I make it a point to buy incense sticks and flowers so I can get down to chanting my prayers for the black metal god - Burzum. Die hard is not enough to express the respect. Last year it was his release from prison and of course the life-changing Belus that had given me a new lease of life. With Fallen's release - Burzum's eighth full length - this decade has already gotten me to mumble that everything is right, everything is bright.

The seven songs on Fallen accommodate a musically ripe Burzum who was amongst the first ones to write the black metal rules. Not caring how anybody judges his music, Burzum has yet again picked the right cards. With a minute of whispering on Fra Verdenstreet, the familiar raw riffing on Jeg Faller reminds me as to why exactly I could not wait for the release of Fallen till the month of March. On Fra Verdenstreet (as well as on Enhver til Sitt), Burzum can be heard speaking on and off while we are getting doped up by his screeches.

Fallen has a lot of clean singing being sprayed into our ears, and we can hear that on one of the richest tracks - Valen. Repeating the melody in bits and pieces ensues on Valen as well as the next tracks Vanvidd and Budstikken because seemingly that is what makes Burzum who he is. Infact Vanvidd is where exclusivity is bred as Burzum tries more depressive and possessed vocals. The custom of long tracks continues with Budstikken (which clocks over ten minutes) and Valen (over nine minutes long). The outro Til Hel og tilbake igjen has various beats and is more along the ambient lines.

It is a close call between Belus and Fallen, and with much mental suffering I have to say that Belus has that edge over Fallen. The madness that had followed the release of Belus had beaten the colossal effect that Det Som Engang Var had made, and Fallen very minutely settles to a close second spot along with the 1993 album. I'm unaware of this French artist Adolphe-William Bouguereau whose painting was chosen to grace the front cover of Fallen.

There is some kind of an emotional jolt when I have to think of winding up another Burzum review but not before I shoot my words in my own style. If there is a separate planet for all the black metal bands and fans then it would be Burzum who'd cut the ribbon following which he would call the shots. And the rest of us can be sure of dancing to his tunes as he helps our mind to flow along an indubitable path to nirvana.