Burzum Boots

 Black Metal is a thing that although I'm pretty selective about, I get really in to when the mood is right. It seems to be an over-saturated genre these days (aren't they all?) but I like what I like. And the weird stuff that happened in Black Metal circles can't help but draw you in. With that in mind, I'm going to be waxing lyrical about possibly the most infamous name in the genre, Count Grishnackh / Varg Vikernes / Burzum. 

I'm not going to post any pressing info on this post. Purely as I don't know it. There's a hint that only 100 of these exist. But if someone is doing a bootleg release, 100 just seems a little unrealistic. These started lingering about in 2012, and pop up for sale every now and then. 

Back Cover // B-Side (Winter)

Apparently these boots stay pretty close to the original packaging of the official DSP release from 1992. Now it's very unlikely that I will ever throw the £250 odd going rate of a 1st press; but knowing the budget that Euronymous was working with at Deathlike Silence Productions I would imagine there wasn't the greatest sleeve quality holding those records together. The centre labels are definitely different though from what I've seen on eBay auctions and such?

Jannicke Wiese-Hansen (although credited a Wise on the sleeve) was responsible for the artwork on this LP, and did a bunch of work for Burzum, Immortal, Enslaved and a few more back in the day. 

As we're on the subject, lets skip to the next Burzum boot, the Aske EP. 

Some people say this was a 2012 re-issue like the S/T, others say 2013 so both tied in with the 20 year anniversary of the original release. Again, the rumour is that 100 were pressed, but I would imagine it's way higher. The weird one here is that Aske did get a pressing on Red prior to this turning up. However, the different centre labels and the different variant (transparent blood red) are an easy giveaway. The legitimacy of that press is also something that people have a gripe about. All I know is it fetches a bunch more money than this copy probably ever will. 

Much the same as before, the sleeve is a fairly okay repro of the DSP press, but the labels are different to the original. Most of the Black metal scene had a real thing against Lavey for being too soft or something. Don't get me wrong, I love fairly decent chunks of the genre, but some stuff is just a little too out there for me. You won't catch me wearing corpsepaint, unless I'm getting really ironic with some buds. 

Aske is Norwegian for Ashes, and the cover is graced with a post arson snap of the Fantoft Stave Church in Bergen. All aesthetic aside this was a real nice looking church (as were a bunch that got torched through the 90's in Norway). Although Vikernes is highly suspected of both the arson and subsequent photography; he was never proved to be a part of this one. Although this EP cuts in about 20 minutes, I return to this way more regularly than the S/T. 

This is a copy of the S/T held to the light, though they both look pretty similar. The blend inside them both is pretty cool and I don't mind at all that they are boots. It's funny, all the other Burzum records I have are the RSD '13 presses on splatter vinyl. I bought these boots (that worked out only a little cheaper than the RSD press) purely because the RSD release packs both releases together in a 2x12'' deal. I know it makes sense to package them together financially (would anyone drop £22+ on a 20 minute EP?) but they are separate releases and so should be kept that way to me. I'll probably grab the RSD press in time, just to continue on a theme though. For now these will do just fine though. I need to grab a Mayhem record or two next. 

Cheers for reading!

EDIT: speaking to good guy Alan Beningfield it turns out that these are /100. However there are 4 or 5 colours out there from this press. I'm more than happy with this one though!