Madrigal via a big label was kind of an antagonistic move. They probably expected a prettied-up Bergtatt, you know? We didn't want to conform to any business model. We still don't. It got into the mainstream and people became very adept at playing and producing professional records, and as a result of that it lost a lot of the magic that it held to me when I was a teenager listening to old Celtic Frost rehearsals, or old Mayhem demos. I'm still very much like that. I'd rather listen to old lo-fi recordings than the perfect retro-band, you know. So I was part of a different scene, a different vibe." Adding, "We composed Nattens Madrigal quite quickly after Bergtatt. And while we were rehearsing the Madrigal we recorded Kveldssanger, the second one. So I think that we spent about a year on that record. It was written in '95, recorded in '96, and was finally released early '97." Critical reception Writing for AllMusic, Steve Huey argues that the essence of the album is its "sheer sonic force", which John Chedsey, writing for Satan Stole My Teddybear, finds unpleasant, remarking, however, that the songwriting is an inventive "tour de force" of extreme black metal. Deathmetal.org, to the contrary, says that although Nattens Madrigal boasts "an enticingly slick take" on black metal aesthetics, they label the album "a classic Darkthrone ripoff" attempting to make a competent but unoriginal product accepted by the mainstream, noting its kinship to preceding styles of popular music. In 2009, IGN included Nattens Madrigal in their "10 Great Black Metal Albums" list. Track listing Personnel Ulver Kristoffer Rygg (credited as "Garm") – vocals, lyrics Håvard Jørgensen – guitar Torbjørn Heimen Pedersen (Aismal) – guitar Skoll – bass guitar Erik Olivier "AiwarikiaR" Lancelot – drums, percussion, lyrics Other Credits Ulver - arrangements Tanya "Nacht" Stene - album cover design, photography Anders G. Offenberg Jr., Andun Johan Strype and Helge Sten - engineering Helene Broch, Morten Andersen and Torgrim Røvreit - additional photography Jørn Henrik Sværen and Kai Frost - lyric translation Trivia A poster for Nattens madrigal appears in an episode of the HBO drama The Sopranos. The poster also appears in the movie Senseless. References 1997 albums Ulver albums Concept albums