It has been a long time since an Ulver release really caught the attention of our ears here at Metalreviews and even that was 2017's synthwave release The Assassination of Julius Caesar, after having ignored a bunch of releases prior. And here, again, in recent years we have ignored releases such as experimental live release Drone Activity, the horror soundtrack-inspired Scary Muzak, and more minimalist electronica like Flowers of Evil and Liminal Animals, because even though Ulver are still very much exploring themselves and the edges of electronic music, it's simply not that interesting even for fans!

So, Neverland, the fourteenth studio album under the Ulver name (released the final day of 2025) doesn't immediately thrill even before the knowledge that Kristoffer Rygg and co are still in experimental electronica land. And those who stuck around for Mr Rygg's vocals, well, disappointment beckons; this is largely instrumental music barring some spoken word passages or airy female vocals here and there. The band themselves describe this as "the sound of an escape. A journey into undiscovered lands" and talk inspiringly about how the creative process was "more dreaming, less discipline" - worrying to those of us with a keen nose for bullshit...

And indeed, listening to Neverland we discover a very new age-sounding ambient electronica album as was the vogue in the early 00s, in some ways a nicer, more blissful reference back to the Perdition City era. None of this is automatically a negative, and the album certainly manages to pack in some varied and distinctive sounds, the bloopy ambience of early pieces such as Fear in a Handful of Dust and Weeping Stone contrasting nicely with the more danceable trance of People of the Hills. Yet it lacks a cohesive theme or feeling of progression throughout, with ideas appearing and disappearing relatively quickly, and it's hard to see fans of trip-hop or otherwise finding much here that is either cohesive or memorable. A mood album, for sure, for spacing out to as a whole and enjoying the "vibes" rather than close listening...

Which isn't to say that certain moments can't be enjoyable, for sure. People of the Hills has a solid atmospheric pulse, as does the following more industrial They're Coming! The Birds! Neither sticks around long enough to make much of an impact however, the band choosing to tinker with sub-three minute pieces like Hark! Hark! The Dogs Do Bark which indulges in trip hop and stands out simply by being noisier than its surroundings. It seems harsh to damn the band so easily, yet there are point here that feel like Ulver simply dabbling with electronic music as though it was their first steps into the genre! And considering that this is the band that created Perdition City, Blood Inside, and Shadows of the Sun, it is not at all unreasonable to ask that they hone their experiments to the point where the atmospheric impact is at least comparable. Hell, just put Rygg's wordless crooning over much of this and it would be vastly improved! Directionless and disappointing if not entirely without merit and fun enough for electronica enjoyers whilst it lasts, Ulver fans will want to like this much more than they actually do.