Having been known for their more folklore-tinged black metal compositions on early studio releases, in late 1997, mainman Kristoffer Rygg invited keyboardist, sound conceptualist & composer Tore Ylwizaker into the collective & together they devised a plan for their 4th release, The Blake Album; an altogether far more adventurous endeavour than prior releases.
What resulted was a seamless integration of electronic & industrial music, with elements of progressive metal & avantgarde rock, all fused with ambient passages & following Blake's plates as track indexes. A work of deep & personal art, the album, while initially surprising to fans due to its complete shift in genre, has become a classic today & a prime example of the boundary-pushing evolution beyond the confines of genre expectations through the latter part of the 90’s. Upon release, ‘The Marriage of Heaven & Hell’ received widespread acclaim from critics within the rock, metal & alternative music press, being awarded Album of the Month in several high-profile magazines such as Terrorizer, Metal Hammer & Rock Hard.
The album notably includes guest vocal appearances from Darkthrone’s Fenriz, as well as Ihsahn & Samoth; most known for their work in Emperor.
This edition of ‘The Marriage of Heaven & Hell’ is presented on Mid-Price 2CD deluxe digipack format, including full lyrics/text, plus a new article from writer & journalist Jeff Wagner on the background, nature & triumph of such an ambitious release.
CD1
1 The Argument, Plate 2
2 Plate 3
3 Plate 3, Following
4 The Voice Of The Devil, Plate 4
5 Plates 5-6
6 A Memorable Fancy, Plates 6-7
7 Proverbs Of Hell, Plates 7-10
8 Plate 11
9 Intro
10 A Memorable Fancy, Plates 12-13
11 Plate 14
12 A Memorable Fancy, Plate 15
13 Plates 16-17
CD2
1 A Memorable Fancy, Plates 17-20
2 Intro
3 Plates 21-22
4 A Memorable Fancy, Plates 22-24
5 Intro
6 A Song Of Liberty, Plates 25-27
