“The magic has gone. I’m trying to find it in other places”: The Norwegians who abandoned black metal to re-enact the psychedelic era – covering songs that weren’t always their favourites

Ulver in 2012.

Once heroes of the sometimes-controversial Norwegian black metal, Ulver later transformed into prog high-conceptualists, techno artists and more. In 2012 they released Childhood’s End, a captivating covers album that strived to explore the cultural loss of innocence towards the end of the pyschedelic 60s. Band leader Kristoffer Rygg explained their vision.

It’s easier to say where Ulver haven’t been. The Norwegian band began as a punishing black metal combo before morphing into a progressive art-rock band with a thing for minimal ambient music, bleeping electronica, improv and symphonic pomp.