• Grey Marble
• Limited Edition
• Gatefold sleeve
• Includes Burzum and Plastic Head merchandise sheets
• Import
  
  

Burzum's Aske arrived in 1994 as a mini-album follow-up to the project's self-titled debut, capturing Varg Vikernes at a pivotal moment in Norwegian black metal's emergence. Where the debut established raw, lo-fi atmospheric darkness, Aske refined that vision into four tracks of skeletal composition and tremolo-picked riffing that would influence the second wave's aesthetic for decades. The record stands as essential documentation of Burzum's creative arc before circumstances curtailed the project's early momentum.

The four compositions here—"Stemmen Fra Tårnet," "Dominus Sathanas," "Hjalfnir," and "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit"—showcase Vikernes' approach to black metal as chamber composition rather than assault. Synth layers drift beneath corrosive guitar work on tracks like "Stemmen Fra Tårnet," while "Dominus Sathanas" pairs martial percussion with minimalist tremolo patterns. The production deliberately obscures rather than clarifies, rendering vocals and instrumentation as texture within a broader atmospheric wash. Thematically, the record trades the Norse mythology of later work for ecclesiastical darkness and introspection—a record of isolation and ritual rather than grandeur.

This 2022 Back On Black reissue restores Aske to vinyl with a gatefold sleeve and includes merchandise sheets. The limited edition pressing brings the mini-album's stark production into focused relief on 12", making a case for this brief work as foundational to understanding black metal's development in the mid-1990s.

Tracklist:

A1. Stemmen Fra Tårnet
A2. Dominus Sathanas
B. A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit